Rescued With Love Inc.

Sometimes in Rescue a dog will haunt you.  And you know you have to rescue it inspite of it's age or health or the thought of how you are going to explain to your family that there was another dog you 'just couldn't walk away from".  We have all done it.  We will continue to do it.  My one that I couldn't walk away from was Dolly.

She was in the Pound in the Sick and Injured Section.  A very kind foster carer, who loves little white fluffies spied her straight away and said she would definitely take her on board.  She would be a labor of love, older, in need of a groom, some attention to the teeth, Dolly would be spruced up to be a good looking girl in her Golden years.  I put down my name against her for the Foster Carer in Canberra, with the intention of flying her up to her new home when she could be released.

On examination at the Pound we were told Dolly had a serious heart condition which turns out to be a Grade 5 heart mumur.  The worst.  And her days are severely numbered.  The Pound said they would put her to sleep, but something inside said I should take this girl, and so after discussions with two great Rescue Girls, and their agreement in what I wanted to do, we approached the Pound who said under law, Dolly had to be desexed before coming to us.  Plus her teeth were rancid, so she needed a dental.  A big ask for a dog so seriously ill and probably wouldn't survive.  Again more conversations, and the idea was if she died on the table, we had at least tried to give Dolly a chance.  If she survived, then she would have the best of life while she was with us. 

Well Dolly astounded us, and survived the surgery.  Her frail little body is made of strong stuff, and her will to life must be forged with iron.  Dolly came to me last weekend, weighing in at under three kilos.  Matted, weak, and terrified, I wrapped her in a towel and took her home.

Dolly was examined by my vet who immediately put her on mega dose heart tablets to help with the cardiac function of her heart and to slow the blood pressure into it.  When you hold Dolly, you can feel the whooshing of her blood in her bird thin chest.  It revolts me to feel it, I must say.  My vet was astounded that she was still alive, after the surgery ordeal, yet her lungs are clear of fluid and she still had a little pep in her step. He said to bring her back in a week.

Dolly is around 8-10 years old.  Not old for a maltese.  But she has been severely neglected all her life and is extemely emaciated by the time I rescued her.  She had matts as hard as golf balls hanging like Christmas baubles off her legs and body.  Dolly's life has, in short, been a misery.

As Dolly is so fragile in health it has been advised that she not travel.  At least not yet.  Maybe not ever.  So she has come to live at our house.  If she is ever well enough, she will go to her Canberra Mummy and stay with her.  Otherwise she will stay with us in Melbourne for what little time she has left.

Dolly, despite all the lack of care is extremely sweet and gentle natured.  She is always happy to see me and will softly wave her tail back and forth to say hello to me.  She likes all my dogs and they all afford her a loving respect, knowing somehow that she is different and needs to be treated as such.  She enjoys her meals, is starting to love a cuddle, adores a sit in the morning sun, and will happily take a turn around the garden.  She is fully house trained, even in her sick state she still goes outside without one mistake.  While on her bed she rests and watches the outside world, the other dogs playing and me as I move around doing daily chores.  Dolly's life will be that of a cherished and loved little girl for as long as she stays. 

She has many Rescue Mummies and Aunties who adore her and from both Dolly and myself I would like to say thankyou to each and every one of them, along with a hug for your support, both financial and emotional, and most of all your understanding.  I am truly humbled by your kindness and generosity. 

I would also like to thank the Vet Team for providing Dolly with such extraordinary care.  And my husband who knows that doing this makes me the happiest and luckiest girl, even if you don't understand why I want to.

Dolly has just come back from her 10 day check up to get her stitches removed and get her heart checked.  Her condition hasn't deteriorated according to the vet, and that pleased him.  Infact she was very chirpy and he thought she had bounced back quite well after surgery.

Due to Dolly having teeth out (and I wasn't told) her ability to eat has been hindered, along with her appetite, and so she hasn't gained any weight which she badly needs to do.  This worries me that I cannot fill her up enough, so I will have to feed her constantly throughout the day.  I hope things improve rapidly.

Her spindly little legs are working a little better, she is still terribly frail, and I am not sure how long we will have her for.  But she is enjoying herself immensely.  She is safe, loved, happy and content.  Clean and comfortable, full and has a family and doggie brothers and sisters who all look out for her.

Lets hope she is here for a little while longer.

Well Miss Dolly has been with us for 6 weeks and 4 days.  I didn't think she would last a week.  She plays beautifully with our other dogs, is extremely sweet and gentle, eats well, is perfectly toilet trained, she is an absolute DELIGHT! 

Everyone LOVES Miss Dolly when they come to visit, she is charming, totally unaffected, and totally unaware of her serious condition.

She is gaining weight, her fur is growing and she looks healthier by the day.  Her quality of life is first rate and we love having her here with us.

Even though we don't know how long she will stay with us for, we adore her and think of her as part of our family.  She is a character, and has stolen all our hearts.  Go MISS DOLLY!

Miss Dolly has now been with us for 11 weeks and 2 days.  Her heart while still racing around in her chest like a fire engine, is still beating!!!  And her quality life, as she gets into her groove is fantastic.

Two things about the Doll-star.  The first, she loves watching TV.  I have never seen a dog actually watch telly.  And she barks like a maniac if she even sees a dog on the screen. (Inspector Rex has now become a thing of the past in this house due to the racket Miss Dolly makes when she sees Rex).

And the other thing she now gets her own little walk every day.  The others get a round the big block two at a time.  Dolly waits patiently, hopeful that it is her turn to clip the leash on...At the end she wears her little pink harness and we walk at a snail's pace up to the corner of our street, around the corner to the telephone pole and back.  She walks on the grass,  prances and leaps, happy that she is one of the dogs getting a walk.  It is great excitement!!!

She sniffs the corners, does wee and then does the scuff, and feels extremely tricky and very doggie.  We then take the tour home through the side gutters and around the edges of the trees and driveways and in through our side gate safely.

Miss Dolly is a lesson for anyone who thinks about rescuing a dog with a major condition.  If you think you can manage with their condition and have the time to spend with them, do it.  The rewards are something else......

The beautiful Miss Dolly........

Yesterday I needed to take one of my littlies to the vet for her annual vaccination.  I thought I would take Miss Dolly along and weigh her, and see how much she has put on  since she has been with us.

The other vet was on and he hadn't heard the washing machine woosh of Dolly's heart, who obliged him so beautifully, tail wagging back and forth, calm as can be in comparison to when the original vet saw her, neglected and starved, straight out of the pound after desexing....

Lewis listened for quite a while, making me concerned about what was happening in Dolly's chest.  Finally he said, "I'm not sure, but I think she has Patent Ductal Arteriosus. (WHAT?) known as PDA.  While we all thought that Dolly was old, and believe me she looked 100 when she came from the pound, we thought her heart condition was from age, not congenital. 

I mentioned to Lewis I was taking Moe to Werribee Hospital to get his stitches out the following day and he said, if Ben has time, see if he can have a listen to Dolly's heart.  And so I did.  Ben was really kind and had a listen and he agreed with Lewis.  Miss Dolly, in all probability has the congenital heart condition PDA.  The only way to confirm this is through an ECG.

Asking Ben what this meant in terms of Dolly's life and health etc. it means that without anything happening, if she stays as she is, Dolly will die.  If she has the ECG and it is discovered to be positively PDA (and there is a good chance it is), she can have surgery to fix it.  And live a normal, great life.

You can imagine my shock, here I am with Dolly, whose heart is likely to conk out at any time being told that she might be able to live a normal life!!!!  There are risks, setbacks, and it is EXTREMELY serious surgery, like Moe's Liver Shunt operation.  But one of the top cardiologists works at Werribee with Ben.

So I have bitten the bullet and made an appointment with the specialist and for Dolly to have an ECG.  We can see what her options are after that.  A dog of Dolly's age, and it is extraordinary that she has survived for so long as most dogs die in their first year, we are not sure, but Dolly is between 5 and 10 years old, but definitely no older!  An older dog having this surgery it is very risky and so I have to weigh up what decision I have to make to ensure that Dolly has all chances....

Dolly has her ECG on the 24th of April.  I will let you know what the results are and what is recommended.  Whether to go ahead with surgery, or to let Miss Dolly live her days as she is.....

Well Dolly is a lucky girl.  After her appointment with Dr. Russell Mitton, we have discovered that she does indeed have PDA.  And it is operable!

But under advice from Russell, as Dolly shows NO symptoms at all, he has recommended us not to do surgery.  Should she ever show the slightest symptom, we will be making the very next appointment to have it corrected.  Dolly will never ever be left to suffer.

So apart from only being allowed to walk on a leash around the block, and not being allowed to do anything too stressful (such as the stairs, or anything that stresses her) our fiesty Miss Dolly can live life to the full!  And boy does she ever!

I am truly blessed that she came into our lives.  While she never made it to her Canberra Mum as originally expected, Miss Dolly has found a place in everyone's heart here.  She is the perfect little girl and we love her enormously.