Buttercup

Meet Buttercup. Miss Buttercup is a wire-haired Dachshund and her color is called Piebald. What makes this girl even more special is that she is totally blind. Buttercup was turned into rescue in pretty bad condition and she will need a lot of help to get her ready for a new home. The first problem was her eyes, she had corneal ulcers in both eyes. We had our vets looks at her eyes and run a few tests and after discovering the ulcers put her on some eye drops that should help heal them up just fine. The second thing we noticed was that she was not spayed and her teeth were horribly filthy and full of tarter and her gums were inflamed and infected with pus oozing from some spots. We than noticed that her toe nails were about two inches long with some curled around into her pads and also that she had oobs and gobs of dog poop stuck to the hair in her feet, pads and toenails! I put her in the bath tub and soaked and scrubbed for over half an hour and still couldn't get the poop off so the vet and I shaved the hair and the poop off. Underneath the poop and hair, the skin was bright red, inflamed and infected. So, Buttercup is on oral antibiotics for the infection in her feet and gums. Lastly, Buttercup is overweight weighing in at 20.2lbs (she should be around 15lbs) so we bought some diet dog food and she is on her way to a new slimmer body! All of this is going to take some time and a lot of money. We will wait until we have the eye problem and the infection in the feet cleared up before we have her teeth cleaned and have her spayed. We would also love to visit Dr. Brinkman, the doggie eye doctor, to find out what the cause of the blindness is but the cost of a consultation is $200.00!!! Aside from that, Buttercup is a wonderful, beautiful girl. This dog has the most wonderful personality and is always happy and her tail never stops. Buttercup is good with dogs but can become alarmed if they approach her to quickly. I was told she is good with children as well as cats. Blind dogs get around very well and live a fairly normal life. There is a wealth of information on the Internet to help owners of blind dogs as well as books. For more info please contact Brenda at 256-0321.

Update 4/25/08: Today Buttercup visited the veterinary ophmologist for a wellness exam/check up of her eyes. The doctor told us that Buttercup is 95% blind and will be 100% blind soon, her official diagnosis is PRA or progressive retinal atrophy. PRA is a genetic disorder so her parents carry the gene and will continue to pass it to their offspring if bred again. There is no cure or treatment for PRA and Buttercup will be blind for the rest of her life. There is no treatment needed and blind dogs live a very normal life, the good thing in this case is that her blindness was gradual over months so she could get used to it. We plan to have Buttercups teeth cleaned Monday the 28th and than she will be going to live in a foster/possibly forever home.

Update 4/28/08: Today Buttercup went to another vet to have her teeth cleaned. Buttercups teeth were in horrible condition but they now look as good as new! The doctor did have to pull two molars as they were abscessed but she should be feeling just fine in a couple of days. We are also happy to say Buttercup has already lost 2lbs, she is now 18.4lbs.

Update 5/15/2008: Sad news for Buttercup, she isn't working out in her foster home. Buttercup is not being accepted by the other dogs in the foster home and she is now back in rescue. We desperately need a foster/permanent home for this special girl. Other than this setback, she is doing great.

Update 6/8/2008: Miss Buttercup continues to do well in rescue but has not yet found her forever home. Today we weighed Buttercup and she has lost another pound, she is now 17.1lbs. We have learned that Buttercup has some alpha issues and can be aggressive with dogs she doesn't know well initially, after several days she is fine though. It would be best if she didn't go to a home with a very submissive dog as she may bully them . We have our fingers crossed that her new home will be found soon.

Update 10/28/2008: Miss Buttercup is sadly still in rescue. This wonderful girl deserves a forever home, please consider her. Buttercup has settled in and there have been no further issues or problems with the other resident dogs. We continue to keep Buttercup on a diet dog food as she tends to gain weight easily. Buttercup is a very easy going dog who loves to lay in the sun or on a dog bed. We will need to have another dental done on Buttercup in the very near future, it will be her second. We appreciate any and all donations as they help us provide medical attention to our special needs dogs.

3/1/2009: Great news for Buttercup, she went to live in her new forever home today! Buttercup will be the new family member to a couple who live in Oregon and have no other pets, she is going to be one spoiled little doxie! Buttercups Mom is an RN and her Dad is retired so she will have plenty of company. Thank you to everyone who has donated to Buttercup and to those who have said a prayer for her.

Here is Buttercup with her new Mom at the airport getting ready to board the plane to her new home

Age: 5-6 years old		Gender: Female
Special Needs: Yes		Good w/ Kids: Yes
Spayed/Neutered: Yes		Good w/ Dogs: Yes
Housebroken: No		Good w/ Cats: Yes