Fri 19th Feb: More sad stories

Jake-was-Jack is adopted

 Starting with the good news of the day, puppy Jake (who was Jack at Ap Lei Chau) went home today, following brother Jim's recent adoption. 

Dilly

The two dogs from AFCD Sheung Shui arrived at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre, one of them a corgi girl, almost six years old and very sweet but with what looks like a chronic skin problem (almost certainly allergy related).  Her poor little ears are flattened and crumpled from long-term infection, so that will need sorting out.  I called her Dilly. 

Frito

Frito the sheltie is a very old boy, and it's always heartbreaking to see dogs like these being abandoned at this time of their lives.  He's almost fourteen, so we're hoping he can find a retirement home before too long. 

Betty was a keen student

As always there was so much happening today behind the scenes, a lot of it concerning vet visits for the various dogs and decisions to be made about treatment.  Little foster dog Betty, with a face I have always loved but I suspect wasn't everyone's cup of tea, was diagnosed with lung cancer after recurrent respiratory problems, and although it was agreed that it was time to say goodbye she died by herself before the long-term foster family could make it to the clinic to be with her for euthanasia.  Although Betty was never formally adopted, she was adored by her foster family and had been with them for so long I think it counted as a forever home.

8 of the 9 poodles

The nine poodles that came to us as a group, and all with tick fever (erlichia) as standard, have been going in ones and twos to have their respective treatment for all of the other health issues.  Jasmine has a broken jaw due to severe periodontal disease (rotten teeth and infected gums), and there is the option to have remodelling surgery to try to fix it, but this is complicated surgery that may in the end not even work.  With all of the infected teeth removed and gum cavities cleaned and treated, Jasmine will be fine as she is on a soft diet, so I decided not to put her through the surgery. 

We're also still working our way through the group of poodles, poms and bichons that came to us not long before the poodles, and they too have had various and multiple issues to be dealt with.  This was a "B" collection which included Bingo, Basil and Button, and all three of them have varying degrees of health issues, all of them chronic and due to previous neglect.  

One of the very common issues that poodles have is food allergies causing skin, ear and eye problems that if ignored develop into serious and painful conditions such as dry eye, leading to blindness.  Almost all poodles have this problem, and it's important to identify it and adjust the diet accordingly at a young age.  This also means restricting treats that contain the common forbidden element - chicken.  Seeing these poodles with so many problems at this point, especially knowing how painful they must be, is really very sad.   We will do what can be done, but some of the conditions are beyond help as they have been left for so long.