Rescued With Love Inc.

A fellow rescuer emailed me about a little girl in a country pound.  "She has three legs!" they said, "you have to take her."  I looked at her pic and thought, wow, what a cutie, she will find a home no problem.

Pound Picture.

So I rang the pound and they told me that she was going to be in the local newspaper as "pet of the week" and usually they got a home within a day.  I said I would call the day after the paper came out to see if she was adopted.

I called the following week and the local newspaper forgot to put her in the paper, she was still in the pound!!!  They were putting her in the next week.  And then her picture went off the website, so immediately that was taken that she had a home.

That was late November/early December.  Three days ago I got an email from Julie the ranger.  Did I still want the three legged girl?   YES!  So Jetpets was called and booked, she was flying with REX airlines and I would pick her up at 3.00 pm the next day and deliver her to her foster carer.

I got to the airport.  No dog.  No one had heard of her.  No listing was made!!!!  I rang the airport and ranger, and the airport said, all dogs went to Sydney.  Yes, this little girl went on a day trip to Sydney despite the flight number, the contact detail and the destination being listed as Melbourne!!

I drove home with no dog, and the promise she would be flown down later that evening.  Her foster carer drove out and finally collected her at 8.30 pm.  She had been in a crate since 10.00 am!!!  Poor little girl.  But she was happy to be out and racing around with her funny little front stump thrilled to be out of confinement.

This morning I got a call from her foster carer.  Cricket, (three wickets and one stump, plus she is the size of a cricket which are good luck) was screaming in agony with her stump dislocating.  I drove over and said I would take her to my vet.  Her foster carer, having enough on her plate with other dogs, finally relented and Cricket is now staying with my husband and I and the rest of our brood.....

My vet has recommended that the stump be removed.  It is below the elbow, and causing pain.  And the sad thing is, that it has not been deformed, or surgically removed, it was either an accident or severed by human means.  So was her tail.  We think Cricket has lead a shocking life.

Weighing in at 3 kilos, skin and bone, starving beyond and inch of her life, and having been mutilated, we think she deserves the best.  So Cricket will have her stump removed to make her more comfortable when she is able to be desexed.  At the moment, she is half way through being on heat, and that means no desexing until her body calms down and her blood flow is normal.

Cricket is sweet, tiny, kind and full of courage.  We adore her.  And she is completely in love with my husband.  She follows him everywhere!  Cricket has now been microchipped, heart worm tested (negative), vaccinated, and checked over.  She has had a bath and flea treated and wormed and has a full tummy and new pink velvet bed, and pink collar and a new haircut.

We will keep you up to date on the life of little Cricket as we go.

Cricket has been with us nearly a month.  Wow, what a great little gal.  She has no idea that she should be tacking a slower tack in life, she just LOVES being with us, and at warp speed too!

Today we went along to visit Lewis our vet, and receive her C5 booster and get her leg/stump checked out.  Good news all round.  No dislocating for weeks now, and we THINK what happened is that she was injured in the crate on the way down somehow and it was painful when she knocked it, or when she was playing.  So, as it doesn't seem to bother her, she won't be having surgery at this stage to have it cut back to her body, we are just going to 'wait and see'.  Hooray!

She has good ears, eyes, teeth, (the most amazing overbite, but that adds to her charm!) her heart is strong and steady and her back legs show no sign of luxating patella.  Her ribcage is slightly malformed, maybe due to the weight transferrence on her front foot or it could be congenital, we don't know, and it makes no difference.

She is slightly lopsided over her shoulder area, with a big dip down her spine, Lewis said we could X-ray it, but there doesn't seem much point because she is not in pain, moves like the wind and there for this is how she is!

Cricket is still just on the end of being on heat and so will be desexed in about three weeks.  And then she can be up for adoption to an extra special home, and she MUST have a doggie friend, because she loves to play!

Here are a couple of pictures of the lovely, charming and complete Cricket....sporting her new pink flowery canvas harness from her Auntie Janet.  Thankyou, that was so kind, and we just LOVE it...

And Miss Cricket, sitting on the sun chair outside, relaxing.

Cricket was desexed today and checked over by the vet to make sure that her stump and tail, along with her spine are all ok.

This morning a tantrum of gigantic proportions occured when .......Cricket was not allowed to have breakfast!  The others were all feasting on the food, and I picked Cricket up to hold her away from the food and presto, she lost her cool and had a tantrum.  Trying to leap out of my arms I had to hook my finger through her collar to keep her from falling, I took her around the corner out of sight and she screamed in fury!  Cricket, is 100% food driven.  She covets food.  Anyone's food.  And she will nail it too, given half a chance.  So the morning did not bode well.  But we got to the vets with our dignity in tact and bailed up a kelpie and a brindle staff cross with a volley of loud barking that would have made a street dog proud.  Because she is so cute, she gets away with it, in her pink collar and pink Fluppies harness that Auntie Janet bought her.  Plus being around 3 kilos she doesn't pose much of a problem.  Not that anyone has told Miss Cricket.....

So she is now desexed, and had her hernia repaired and she has had her dinner (I think she either inhaled it or ate it in one mouthful) and has retired gracefully to her bed with her baby blanket and was gazing out into the garden with a zoned out look on her face.  No doubt she will be up and hopping tomorrow.

This means Cricket will be up for adoption soon.  She has been with us going on two months now and the house was very quiet without her.  It will be extremely hard to see her go.  But of course she will only go to the absolute perfect home, like all our dogs do.

Cricket, I have discovered is not people savvy.  She loves a play mate, and loves me, but she is not people oriented.  I would say from her behaviour, she has been left alot on her own, or locked away from others.  She really needs to bond both with her new owner and a new play mate for her to be extremely happy.  This is what we will strive for when we start looking for her to go somewhere.

Cricket is now ready to find her forever home.  She has been with us nearly two months now, and it is going to be very hard to see her leave, as she fits in so well with the gang, and we adore her completely.

Cricket is not going to be rehomed where there are children.  She is just too small and she needs ultra special care because of her missing limb.  And she can't be rehomed with anyone elderly either because she would trip them over in now time, seeing she is a busy little gal!

We think a home where people are home all the time, and have another little mate might be just the ticket for her.  And someone who is willing to let her burn off a bit of energy as she is quite a busy little girl, and needs alot of love around her.  Also she will need somewhere with a secure yard (she LOVES to run away, and NOT come back, thinking it's a game!) and where there are very few stairs, so she can have 24 hour access inside and out.  Being so small she might even find a doggie dog a challenge, but no doubt she would be very happy to try.

After all she has been through, Cricket will only be going to the perfect home.  We are happy to wait and find it for her.  Meanwhile she is recovering after her desexing and hernia operation, and even though she was in quite a bit of pain because of the shape of her little body, she is now up and around and playing normally.

Let's hope the best home of all comes along very soon, she deserves the best!

While Cricket was having her leg amputated when she broke it a month ago (see The Dog Diary Archives) my husband and I decided we could not let our Bickets go.

So we would like to welcome Cricket Elizabeth Norman into her new home.  Well her only home for the past 6 months.  While people didn't think she was enough dog for them to adopt, she is more than enough for us!  We adore our Bix, there is no doubt.

A happy ending for a little unwanted girl, who cheers and loves us every day she is with us.