The first time I walked the Rottie about a week ago, she wasn't high energy but she was at least enthusiastic when she saw me approach her kennel and she was more than happy to go out for a walk. She even pulled on her leash a bit, eager to get going.
This afternoon, when I approached her kennel, she was lying on her blanket and she looked up but did not move. Even when I opened the kennel door and put the leash on her, she didn't seem to want to get up. I knew she hadn't been out in while, otherwise I would have just left her, so I tugged on the leash gently and encouraged her to follow. She obliged but slowly. As we reached the elevator, she slowed down again and then stopped just as she was stepping across the elevator threshold so that the door banged into her as it tried to close. I pushed her into the elevator.
By the time the elevator reached the ground floor and the door opened again, she seemed a little more enthusiastic and we made our way to the exit. As soon as I opened the door, though, and she got a whiff of the sleet and the wind, she stopped in her tracks again. Again, I encouraged her to follow me out and she did slowly. Outside now, we ambled along for a few minutes and she did her business and then we walked back into the building.
Back inside, I talked to one of the staff who said that the Rottie had lost a lot of weight in the last few days and that it might the cancer. I dried her off and then spent some time with her in the upstairs foyer and by the time I brought her back to her kennel, she walked in without complaint and lay back down on her blanket.
When I took the sister Dobie out, she seemed as excited as usual but her breathing had definitely taken a turn for the worse. That first day, she sounded raspy whenever she exerted herself but now she was raspy all the time.
She did the same thing as the Rottie when she first stuck her head outside and felt the sleet and wind. She immediately backed up. But she too hadn't been out in a while so I gently pulled her outside and we went for our short walk.
Her breathing was really giving her a hard time, though. Every minute or so she would stop and sit and tilt her head up and back to get her breath back it seemed. Five minutes later, she decided she really didn't want to be outside at all so we headed back in. The Dobie wasn't housetrained, having come from a puppy mill, but tonight wasn't going to be the night to learn anything different.
After a towel dry, I sat on a bench and massaged her neck and back a bit. Her breathing was bad the whole time. Even when calm, she was struggling with it.
The vet will be coming by on Monday. She'll assess these two dogs and give her recommendations. If anyone feels they can do anything for either of these two, now would be the time to step up. If not, then save a few words for them in your prayers.
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7 comments:
Hey Fred,
I want to help the Rottie. I have a houseful of cats and an older female dog. What can I do to help?
Do you still have my e-mail address?
Beth
Definitely praying for these two. I hope somebody can help them.
I just can't stop looking at these two... It is so unfair. Fred, please let me know what their diagnosis and prognosis is and what, if anything, I can do. Perhaps I could come down on Saturday and just pet and brush them and give them hugs if they are still there (fingers crossed). I could bring some toys and we could sit together and talk. Let me know.
The vet was in today but left no info on the Rottie or the Dobie so no one is sure if she got around to seeing them. Apparently, 35 cats came in last night so everyone was pretty busy.
The vet may leave some notes tomorrow. I'll keep everyone up to date on this as soon as I find out more info.
The vet did leave some notes today on the Dobie and the Rottie. She thinks that the Dobie's breathing problem may be congenital or a growth and not necessarily something infectious. It's going to be costly to pinpoint the problem, but it looks like there's a good chance a Doberman rescue came through and might take her.
News for the Rottie isn't as good. The vet thinks she's dying of some internal organ failure - probably the kidney. Again, nothing's certain without testing. She's being put on a Metacam dosage to see if that helps improve her spirits a bit.
Poor poor girls! The female Dobi is in rough rough shape!! she needs to be rescued BAD!!!!!!!!! the Rotti (Abby) not much better. It was very hard to see them like that yesterday. They are so sickly skinny it's actually frightening. The Dobi was in heat yesterday too and I really felt for her. She is very very sweet and looks right at you with what I call"that pleading stare," She has so much potential(unless there is something fatally wrong with her which is destroying her lungs)man Im no vet but when a creature is THAT UNDERWEIGHT it must least to a multitude of health problems. I am praying hard for these two loving souls and also for my Girl Daisy who has managed to worm her way into my heart with very little effort. This year my family is donating to charities for christmas and my dad and I Made a donation to Toronto Animal Services yesterday. I just pray the money goes exactly where its needed. I have faith it will.
Susan
I think it was definately Abby's lethargy that has me worried. She was good outside, though, which was encouraging. She definatly enjoyed just lying at my feet while I chatted with one of the other volunteers. Every little of human companionship is helpful for her at this point, a ray of hope.
On a more positive note though all the dogs that came in from Montreal seem to have found a home this past week and the adoption room is empty. It really is a neverending cycle in the world of animal rescue.
Susan
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