Save Dogs

Update on Bette Davis

This is from her wonderful parents, Andrea and William in Idaho.

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Hi Jon,

Hope all is going well.  I have some news on Bette that I wanted to include you in.  You know how horrible her breath was? Well, we took her in to see what was causing it, and it turns out that two of the teeth she still has are broken all the way down into the gum line, and she has infections in them.  It certainly hasn’t stopped her from eating, and she’s up to 6.4 lbs.  My vet was leery about putting her under anesthesia, due to her realllly slow heart rate, so we had labs run to see what kind of shape she’s in. My vet was shocked by the results – she said if she didn’t know that Bette was 15 years old, she wouldn’t have believed it.  All of Bette’s organs and proteins and everything are in excellent shape – she is very healthy.  Except for her teeth.  My vet is pretty confident that they can do a light anesthesia with a local pain killer and pull those two front teeth within a couple minutes.  They are too deep and attached to just tug them out. As much as we hate to take the risk with any anesthesia, we also don’t want her walking around with raging infections in her teeth and being in pain. She eats well, but she doesn’t want anyone touching her mouth or trying to look in it, so we’re assuming they are causing her some pain.  In the interest of quality of life we’ve decided to go ahead and have those teeth removed.  It looks like she could still have a good amount of life left if we can get her over this little hurdle.  I hope you agree with our decision – if it wasn’t hurting her or they would just fall out on their own we wouldn’t bother with them, but since they’re infected I don’t think we have much choice.

 

Her surgery is next Thursday – she’s on antibiotics for a week to try to get rid of the infection.  I’ll let you know as soon as she’s out how she’s doing.  Because of her slow heart rate they’re going to put her on an EKG while they pull the teeth so they can monitor her and bring her out if she starts having trouble. Cross your fingers and think good thoughts.  We love her so much, and I’ve taken a bunch of pictures so hopefully I can get those sent to you soon.

We’re having a banner week on dogs – we’ve got 2 of them having seizures and on meds now.  Groucho has ear infections and has to have his ears cleaned everyday due to the cropping job he got to make him a “show dog”, the crazy pom has been having confusion episodes all week, and now Bette’s teeth.  Oh the joy of seniors.  Sometimes I just look around here and have to laugh.  Dog toys and dog beds everywhere, crazy dogs barking at walls, blind dogs wandering around, Gladys falling into her food dish and needing a bath, and the constant sound of dog snoring, somebody has to go out and pee every 5 minutes, everyone eats a different food and has to be fed separately, and you can’t sit down without someone pawing at you to be in your lap. It’s a wonderful life, but sometimes I wonder if we must be crazy.  I wouldn’t give a single one of them up, and we’ll rescue another one once one of these goes on from here.  I think we spent about 300.00 in vet bills this week, and we’ll have Bette’s surgery next week.  I was seeing what you were going through with Bullet – you’re doing a great thing. The costs pile up and sometimes you just can’t win, but it’s worth the fight.  I wish we could help you out some more, but we’ve got our hands full over here, as you can see.

Best of luck with Bullet, and wish us luck with Bette Davis.  She is such a joy – I can’t imagine this house without her in it now. 

Best Regards,

Andrea

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Note from Jon: I gave my blessing for the surgery and I know it will make her feel much better to have those back molars removed.  I'm just so glad Bette has such caring parents.

Venting

No more stories about pit bulls.
A pit bull is not a breed.
"Pit bull" is an umbrella term that describes several breeds with similar traits.

Don't ban all pit bulls because a child was attacked!
Unless, of course, you also want to ban step-fathers or...how about any male?

I love my "pit bull".  I don't love all pit bulls because I don't know all pit bulls.
I also try not to make blanket statements about an entire breed of dog.
Stupid people seem to make generalizations because they want something to be either "all good" or "all bad".  French Bulldogs?  Good!  Pit bulls?  Evil!!!!!

Tips on avoiding the total fear of pit bulls:

1. Don't watch the local news.  It's terrifying!  In Los Angeles, they make rainy weather seem like the apocalypse.
2. Spay or neuter your dog.  Just imagine  all the dumb-asses whose dogs will somehow churn out a litter anyway.  We'll never have a shortage of dogs (or backyard breeders).
3. "Pit bull" qualities are not unique to pit bulls.  Aggression and attacks are common in any breed dog that isn't well-socialized, trained, or cared for.
4. Meet my pit bull, Sunny Coco Bubbles.  She is an American Staffordshire Terrier and she sleeps in my bed every night.  If they banned her, my life wouldn't have nearly as much joy or meaning.  She is my little goose-poops and for her I am thankful.

Still Healing

A message from Judy about Bullet:

I just saw Bullet this past weekend.  He looks great.  He is healthy and safe and still healing.

He has a wire in his mouth holding his jaw together.  The wire cannot be removed until Jan 30th.  When we have to take him back to Affordable Animal Hospital to have it removed.  (He will stay overnight there).

I recently put up some signs and we had a sighting of his possible owner.  Who we think is named IRA.  SO tomorrow I am putting up more signs in specific places we have heard IRA has been.

The vet who is boarding BULLET said he was a terrifficc DOG!  He does not bolt when the cage is open.  He is still eating his food slowly and carefully (as there is a wire in his mouth).  So he will be boarded until the end of January while we continue to look for his owner.

That is about all I have for now.

I am sorry I do not own a digital camera so I do not have pictures.

Bullet?

My good friends in cyberspace are curious about Bullet.  He is being boarded right now and I am going to get a good update posted later this week.  Judy (who originally found him) has been in charge of his care.  His original health bills were paid in full thanks donations from friends (and many kind strangers)  Hundreds of dollars were sent directly to the veterinarian and boarding facility where Bullet received his life-saving surgery.

Also, Sugar Bean the pug came over last week.  Pictures are on their way!

E-mail from a "Save Dogs" reader

This is the reason I keep my blog going...because I know there are other people who love their dogs like I do.  Here is an e-mail from a super nice reader named Cathy.
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I call this photo "The Most Famous Reindeer of All".  You asked for holiday pics of pets so here is my best one of my favorite girl.  You don't know me but I faithfully read your blog and I think what you do is awesome.  This is my baby Scooby Doo, she came to my husband and I two years ago at age one from a home where she was mistreated and unloved. I don't know how it's possible because she is AMAZING, there is just no other word for her and the love and happiness she brings everyday.  Anyway, here she is and thanks for all that you do, God Bless.

Slow Motion

Mexico was incredible.
I wish I had more to report in terms of dog rescue.
I've actually had quite a hiatus this holiday from the rescue world.
Sugar Bean the pug is coming for a visit tomorrow.  She is just the cutest little dog.  I really miss her sometimes even though she was with me for a short while.  I've stalled in bailing a dog for now while I figure out what I'm doing (on this planet). 

Sometimes going to the shelter and investing all my time in the dogs is my way of escaping the necessary task of picking a solid direction in life.  It's good that I'm aware of that, but it would be even better if I picked a direction.

I have many cute pictures of dogs to post in the very near future.   -Jon-

P.S.  If you have any good holiday pictures of your pets, I'd love to see them and post them.