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Spanky
ADOPTED!!!!!
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Age:6 Years old |
Gender: Female spayed |
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Special Needs: Yes |
Good w/ Kids: Yes |
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Spayed/Neutered: Yes |
Good w/ Dogs: Most |
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Housebroken: Yes 100% |
Good w/ Cats: Yes |
About Me:
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Meet Spanky. Spanky is a 6 year old Red female Doberman who came into rescue in pretty bad shape. Spanky's story is a long one so I am going to shorten it up some. Back in April, the end of April, of 2009 Spanky came into my clinic a beautiful, vibrant Doberman in great physical condition. The reason for the visit was Spanky had been drinking a lot of water and was losing weight even though she ate a lot. After some blood work was performed the doctor diagnosed Spanky with diabetes. Spanky spend about four days being hospitalized and having her insulin regulated before she went home. The owner was given explicit instructions on how to care for a diabetic dog and was sent home with insulin, syringes and special prescription dog food. A recheck appointment was made for a week later to see how things were going. Well, the owner never came in for the recheck appointment and repeated phone calls to check up on Spanky by the doctor were not returned. Fast forward 8 weeks to the end of June I was looking over our daily schedule to see what our appointments were for the day and I saw that Spanky had an appointment around 5PM for vomiting and diarrhea. I was doing some restocking back in our treatment area when the doctor walked in with a red Doberman at the end of a leash that looked like it was about to fall over and die, it was Spanky. Spanky had lost about 25lbs, all of her muscle mass and fat and looked like she had been in a concentration camp and is now totally blind. The poor girl had her head hanging down, she was lethargic as well as depressed and had vomited pure blood in the lobby so it was all over her legs and face. We were all pretty sure this dog was going to die any minute but we immediately went into action getting an IV catheter in her and started fluids (she was extremely dehydrated), we pulled blood and urine, did an in house blood glucose test and we set her up in a cage for hospitalization. Since her blood glucose was sky high we performed hourly blood glucose tests and gave her insulin injections to try and start getting her regulated again. Since our clinic was closed from 6PM until 7AM I came in after hours to test her blood glucose and give her insulin injections. I told the doctor to tell the owner of Spanky that I would gladly take her at any time if her felt her couldn't care for her which she did and he turned her down. Spanky was not eating any food and hadn't been for at least several days so we offered her anything and everything to try and coax her to eat which after being hospitalized for a few days, she did eat. We kept Spanky hospitalized for a full week and by the end of the week she was bright alert and responsive and was eating four cans of dog food a day so she again went home. Spanky went home on Sunday afternoon and had an appointment for a recheck on the following Friday to which the owner did return for. Again, Spanky was not eating and was depressed and lethargic so we again hospitalized her. This time the owner decided her could no longer afford to care for Spanky and he signed her over to Doberman rescue. So, now Spanky is in rescue and she is doing fantastic but is going to take months of care to get her back into shape. Spanky's kidneys were damaged during the time when she lost all the weight and so now we have her on K/D dog food which is prescription as well as special medication to help with kidney function, both of which are very expensive. Rescue had to purchase a glucometer so we can test her blood sugar at home daily and make sure her insulin is at the correct dose. We have to purchase insulin as well as special syringes, again which are costly for us. We hope to get Spanky back into tiptop condition so she can be adopted out, she had a wonderful personality and is a very loving girl. At some point we will have to get Spanky spayed and have her vaccines updated, of course this is months down the line. We are going to need help financially to care for Spanky. Thankfully the wonderful vets at South Shores Animal Hospital are giving us all of our needed medications, prescription dog food and as well as the glucometer at their cost so we are saving a tremendous amount of money. We are in desperate need of funds to continue treating Spanky so she can live a good life and hopefully be adopted into a loving new forever home. Please consider making a tax deductable donation to help with Spanky's medical care. Thank You in advance for your help. UPDATE 7/11/2009: Just one week in rescue and Spanky has made such an improvement, it is like she is a whole new dog! We now have her blood sugar regulated and she is eating everything that we put in her bowl. We will be taking her to the vet this week for a weigh in as well as a blood test to see if her kidney function is improving. Thank you to everyone who has said a prayer for Spanky, it is working! Thank you to all who have donated to Spanky's medical bills, you have allowed us to continue caring for this special girl. UPDATE 9/2/2009: Spanky continues to improve every day and she is ready to be spayed in the next week or two. I have now placed Spanky on petfinders for adoption as she is ready to go into her new home anytime! We have started to add fresh veggies, some fruits and oatmeal to her diet so she feels fuller, she loves to eat! We have also started to obedience train Spanky in hopes of making her a therapy dog. Spanky loves people so much and I know she would enjoy cheering people up and showing them that anyone can overcome all odds and get better.
Spanky's Sponsors
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