Monday, April 25, 2016

Too nice to die....

I have an aversion to leaving nice dogs to die... If you are a nice dog but you are an older dog, your chances of getting adopted diminish... I have often thought to myself, "What if people treated other people the same way they treat the dogs in shelters?  Older dogs get euthanized, dogs with medical issues die, even fat dogs don't get adopted as quickly and run the chance of being killed... where would that leave me?  I'm old, I have medical issues, I am overweight...."


Well, Nasir is not overweight but he certainly has won the heart of many TLC volunteers, including mine...  We found him at the Camarillo shelter and knew going in that he had a cataract in his right eye... But that didn't stop us from pulling him...

Shortly after saving him, the cataract 'flipped' and instead of flipping inwards, it flipped outwards... 

When we came into the rescue center that morning, it looked like his entire eyeball was going to burst out of its socket... I will spare you the gruesome image and not publish that photo on this blog...

He was also not in really good health... He was underweight and apparently not been giving good nutritional food for some time... His coat was and thin in places... 

But personality-wise?  He was a love... pure sweetness wrapped up in 5 pounds of heart and affection... 


Off to the vets he went... And then we discovered he had a grade 4 heart murmur... Surgery would be dangerous for him... sigh... BIG sigh...

These are the times I HATE what I do... 

Too many times it comes down to the lack of money to save these dogs... 

An 11-year old dog with an adoption donation of $200 and now facing a $1200 surgery to remove this eye... He's really not old in dog years for this breed, but still... And I know, I know... We can't save them all, but it does not make my job any easier... 

I am usually pretty good at making decisions and I have to - every day - based upon what can we do to save and take good care of ALL of the dogs we save at TLC...  Looking at this logically, we just could not afford this new surgery, and even if we could, would he even survive it?

The hard decision had to be made... And I made it... But I tossed and turned that night... Throughout the night... And unhappy about the decision I had made to have him humanely euthanized the next morning... 


When I woke up, I realized I just could not do it... Some how, some way, I would find the money to get this surgery done... He was just TOO sweet and loving of a dog to have to die because of a medical issue that could be fixed... 

Instead of taking him that morning to be humanely euthanized, I took him in to have his surgery done... And then I nervously awaited throughout the day for news from the vet's office... 

Most of the TLC volunteers sat on pins and needles with me... Nasir had quickly become a favorite of everyone's... It was a big sigh of relief when we learned he had pulled through the surgery... 


Once this eye got taken care of, Nasir had a rough first week... But slowly he started gaining weight and his coat started filling out well... 

Because he is potty trained and oh-so-friendly, we let him wander around in the lobby at the rescue center now... He greets people (and begs to be held) when they sit down to do their adoption paperwork on some other dog or puppy... 

We keep hoping someone will see him for the jewel of a dog he is, and he will find his own furever home... He has such an endearing little almost cat-like sound he makes when he is asking to be picked up and cuddled... That little bob of a tail wiggles to beat the band and you cannot help but fall in love with him!

I think (??) he is getting some extra treats and being sneaked some extra goodies, 'cause he is starting to get a bit chunky 'round the middle... (smile)... And losing an eye has not changed one thing about his personality except to make him even more loving, if that is possible... Maybe there is some internal thing going on that he knows despite not having the money to do the surgery, we did it anyway because he truly is worth it, ya know?

Nasir's own person is out there, and will one day walk into the rescue center and fall in love... I just know it... 

Linda


I'm waiting for my furever mom and dad









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