A call came in to Rescue in February 2004 about an 8-year-old female
named Brittany who needed to be
surrendered because her ailing owners
could no longer properly care for her.
Volunteers went to evaluate Brittany and
found her to be so ill that she looked
and acted much older than her 8 years.
Between her obesity and long nails that
had curved under her paws, Brittany
could barely walk and had to be lifted
into the car to be transported to her
foster home … no small feat given that
she weighed 134 pounds! Brittany was
not a pretty picture. She had
horrendous skin infections that left her
with red patches, black patches and bare
patches. Areas of skin were covered
with scales, scabs and flakes. Her hind
legs and tail had no hair at all. To
add to her discomfort, she was also
suffering from bilateral eye and ear
infections.
Once in foster care, Brittany was vetted and groomed. Blood work
confirmed what was expected … Brittany’s
primary medical problem was a thyroid
imbalance. She was prescribed thyroid
medication, antibiotics for her multiple
infections and medicated shampoos.
Within just a week, her foster Dad
reported an amazing improvement in
Brittany … her eyes were a lot clearer,
her ears were looking better and a lot
of the scabs and scaly skin had already
sloughed off. She was also getting
around much better but Brittany still
had a long road of recovery ahead of
her. Her golden spirit was also shining
through more … she was getting more
chatty and persistent with her nudges
for attention.
Brittany’s foster Dad was prepared to nurse her through the months ahead
but fate would change those plans. One
of our volunteers and her husband had
been closely following Brittany’s story
and were deeply moved by this girl’s
plight. They asked if they could adopt
Brittany. Normally, we would not place
a dog that was still ill but Brittany
was already bonding intensely with her
foster Dad and it was decided it would
be best for Brittany if she was placed
now before she became more attached.
Her adoptive parents would assume her
daily care and GRRI-NJ would continue
being responsible for her vet bills
until she was well.
With her new parents, new home and new four-legged brother came a new
name … Brittany was now Sophie. Sophie
quickly learned her new name and settled
in with her new family. The four baths
a week were working wonders on her skin
and by late April her hair was growing
in all over … she finally even had fuzzy
new hair on her tail! By this time,
she’d already lost 21 pounds and her
nails had been gradually trimmed back
allowing Sophie to enjoy her three walks
a day. She could even run a little
bit. In fact, walking was now one of
Sophie’s favorite activities and she
would roo-roo-roo as soon as she saw her
leash. When Sophie made her event debut
at the end of April, her foster Dad and
volunteers who had seen Sophie when she
first came into Rescue were amazed at
the transformation … they could hardly
believe it was the same girl!
With a whole lot of TLC, Sophie has continued her journey to good health
… her thyroid condition is under
control, her coat is shiny and full and
she is now (as of March 2005) down to a
svelte 74.6 pounds! She continues to
enjoy her walks and can easily keep up
with her brother Nash on their 3 mile
jaunts every Sunday. Quite an
accomplishment for a gal who could
barely move just 13 months before!
We’re thankful that Sophie’s previous owners realized they were unable
to care for her and sought help before
it was too late. And we’re very
grateful to Sophie’s foster Dad who
lovingly started her on the road to
recovery and to her new family who walks
side by side with her for the rest of
her journey.
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