Senior Dogs Rescue

Here is the new improved Dexter!! Looking like a real dog again and cheeky to boot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note the coat is almost covering his back, just a few thin spots left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the toenails....

Well it's all good for Dexter! No heartworm, no heart issues, no kidney or liver concerns, clean ears, clean glands, clean teeth (sadly he lost 4) and minus those awful toenails and some 'tackle'!!

Our boy has sailed through the surgery. A skin scraping confirmed that he has Demodectic Mange and treatment with Advocate will continue for some time hoping to keep it under control.

His long term problem, his eye, is just one of those things we can only hope improves. I just need to continue his meds routine.

His friend Taffy was also desexed and had 2 teeth removed and she too has come through very well with no problems at all!

It's clear to all that Dexter is one happy, blooming little chap. His coat is so close to being 'there' again and he has an awful lot to say about who knows what. He even has a new expression, something like Dracula as when he gets very excited he draws back his tiny lips to reveal just two large 'fangs'. It's hilarious and I promise to capture on film soon.

This lovely man goes from strength to strength.

Just a brief update, Dexter is doing really well, his coat is growing back slowly but surely and he is full of life and fun and has an awful lot to say about just about everything. He also gives away thousands of kisses.

His eye is still a constant battle and I will see what Glenn has to say about progress there soon. He will be having his vet work within the next few weeks - a dental, desexing and nail trim - after a full blood assessment to be sure he is well enough.

 

Help from the natural Vet for Dexter - after today's consultation I will be adopting the following recommendations:

*Qing Ying Tang - each day to help his inner health added to his dinner.

* Flaxseed Oil - each day to help heal and soften his skin, added to his dinner

* Green Tea - on his skin as a soothing spritzer

Let's all hope that this will boost him that little bit more and see his progress back on track. Anna said today that she saw great improvement overall and that is encouraging to me. Oh and she wore her Dexter T-shirt but I forgot!

The best news is that since his first weight of 2.7kg Mr Dexter has increased his weight to 3.2kg!! Not bad for 12 weeks.

 

how Dexie is so I guess I've been a bit lazy, the truth is I have been a bit reluctant as the news is not that inspiring and it's hard to share news like that. Dexter has taken a few steps back in his recovery. Even though he is so happy and plays with toys and barks his head off out in the sun his skin is not so good and his eye is a constant struggle and makes me concerned about the future. I hold on to the fact that he is loved here and loved out there in netland.

Here is yet another of his new coats. 

It's been 2 months since Dexter left the pound and here are his latest photos.

 

Looking at his front legs you can see that instead of crusty scabs that wept after the bath he has little brown and black hairs growing through. Sadly his nails are still shocking but the swelling at the quick makes it too sensitive yet to touch.

 

 

Check out the 'action shot' of him barking at me, tail going ninety miles an hour and happy as a clam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is my boy.......

2 updates tonight :

* Dexter has had his first 'play' with a tiny stuffed toy tonight! To me that is a sign of a happy dog.

* Dexter was 'introduced' to his bone tonight! He has happily licked off the E and the R.

What a happy little man.

Dexter has a new coat. No off the rack for him, he now sports custom made, thanks to Helen! This coat is so soft and double thickness and he quite likes it. This boy now needs a wardrobe for the coats that have come his way!!! Thanks to all of you.

There isn't much news to report. He is getting more joyful and playful, but his skin seems very much the same and I just can't touch those nails yet. The bad eye is constant work.

He gets on with all of the dogs here and they all seem to realise they need to be a bit gentle with him.

It's going to be a long time, I know, before he is healed but every day I fall a bit more in love with his gorgeous, sweet, giving nature and wonder how I would ever part with him.

The treats that Helen sent have been a real hit with a 'reward' coming from the big box every time I treat that eye. It eases the displeasure I'm sure.

 

Lucky for Sydneyites we had a nice sunny weekend, well that's by day of course  it's still damn cold at night. Dexie spent a lot if time outside and enjoyed sitting on a dog bed and barking his head off. Why? Well I'm not sure, but Anna thinks it's just a release. Suddenly he has realised that he is safe and getting better and having plenty to eat and he has something to say about it. We can only surmise.

Dexter's new photos are courtesy of a lovely person, Paige and her brother Damien who spent ages photographing our dogs with their skill and patience. I thank them sincerely.

Dexter is improving, slowly, and this week he is going back to Glen (Petvet Petersham) for a review so more news then. For now I thank all of the support, gifts and donations.

A special mention of the 'treat box' sent by Helen. Purchased from Happy Yappers it's full of gourmet treats the like of which our Dexter has never even sniffed before. And thanks also to Millie of Happy Yappers for the 'extras' she threw in when she heard of Dexters' story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dexter discovered.......Suzie the Silky. Of course fate had lent a hand and saw her on heat!!! and Dex very very alive and suddenly awake. And that's NOT funny. I've had a nightmare of close shadowing, nappies and a very sickly nervous tummy.

A quick visit to our vet Glen and the wonderful news is that Suzie is now a candidate for desexing surgery. I am still a bit shocked at this turn of events. Long story short once considered too risky is now an option pending X-Rays and Blood screening. It will mean that Suzie will be safer (from cancer, pyometra, pregnancy etc) and completely rehomable.

Dexter will have less.......ummmm...distraction and can concentrate on getting some condition on and getting his health back to standard.

Phew...what a turn of events!

Caught our little man in the sun.......happiness level improving, eye improving, skin.....well not sure about the level of improvement, but slightly less crusty. All small positive steps.

Thank you to the lovely people who sent him coats and blankets and eye wash this week - Helen and Alanna - how kind to think of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Mr Dexie has been here for 1 week now and I just hope that he hasn't suffered too much. The endless eye treatments the cream and oil on his skin, the ear cleaning and drops are a lot for a tiny very sore boy.

I had wondered why he sat often lifting his bottom in the air and I found out why today. The skin around his ah.....nether region bits and inner thighs is SO thick with huge chunks of dead skin and scabs. It must be awful. How brave is he to carry on?

So today he has had his second bath and conditioning, has a clean undercoat (thanks Nora) and a new over coat (thanks Nicole) to keep him warm. Both are extremely soft hoping not to irritate him any further. Quite a bit more of his skin came away today and there were spots of blood on the towel despite how gently I washed and dried him.

Right now he is cuddled in my arms and is no doubt hoping for an early dinner. I have kissed him so many times today and asked him if he knows how much he is loved here and over the net.

His bad eye is much improved with the white now pink rather than red and the lids less swollen. I am just amazed as I had honestly thought there wouldn't be a viable eye under that thick brown scab and urgent surgery would be needed to remove it.

Here he is taking a late afternoon stroll with Jen Jen who seems less than interested. In reality they are both such gentle souls and very good together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Nora, Dexter has a lovely new corduroy coat (he will sport that after his next bath). He is such a spoilt boy with another donation from Andrea as well. Thanks to all who have taken Dexter into their hearts.

He is certainly more sprightly today but he is cold and staying close by the heater whenever possible. On the positive side I feel his eyelids (bad eye) are a little less swollen and imobile. I'm sure I'm not imagining it and I know there is a long way to go but it still is an encouraging sign.

Sadly my attempt at trying to lightly trim a toenail met with a tiny painful cry so that is on hold for now. The beds of his nails are so swollen. I'm sure that time will see some improvement and I can try again.

This is the funny way he likes to lie. I think that his skin has so little flexibility he doesn't want to tuck up properly.

Thanks to the many donations I have just bought a Heat Pad bed for him to plug in allowing him to be warm while I'm away.

Dexter and Dickie made friends today. Dickie the difficult teeny Chihuahua and our little angel Dexter had a few little sorties dancing around each with tails wagging and ears pricked and tiny kisses. It was beautiful.......

Little man is much about the same. That bad eye is very disturbing as it never blinks properly despite all the moisturising and lubricating and meds he has. His little eyelids seem to turn in which may be a problem we will have to deal with in the future.

The one thing that truly encourages me is his appetite is so good and he seems quite determined to be here. His nasty little cough sounds pathetically sad but it's not prolonged enough to warrant a return to the vet at this stage. Hopefully the anti-biotics will do their job.

I need to be patient and just know that whatever stage we are at with him it is a whole lot better than a week, a month or even a year ago.

Thank you Anna P for your donation.

It's awful to come home to a tiny fellow coughing and shaking but after the heater is on, a sturdy dinner and a cuddle he is a much more settled chap, much to my relief.

Again he cried last night at bed time so the bed came in beside mine and he finally settled after some pats. I guess that this is his preferred night time ritual and how can I deny him such a small thing?

His eyes are slightly better with less film over the bad one than yesterday but they are so dry it must still be painful for him. I'm going to oil spray his sore little legs tonight as he still is very resistant to touch and I need to start slowly trimming back those shocking long, distorted nails soon.

Thank you Alison, Kaleigh, Helen and Celia for your generous donations for Dexter. 

Really wanted a sickie today but I just can't where I work so I had to leave the boy at home for the day. Apart from a few wees and a poo in the house (oh well) he was OK. Just a little cold and hungry. But he's eaten 2 dinners, had his meds and a few walks in the yard and a VERY VERY big snuggle to warm up as I did some jobs around the house with him in my arms. His eyes where a lot clearer even after all day, so a clean of both and drops and onitment and they are nice and and moist and fairly clean. That build up will recur for some time yet, so lots of attention and regular treatment is so important.

I have rubbed a little oil into his skin, but don't want to go too far. Right now he is sitting on and under his new blankie from Auntie Kayleigh. He is still coughing and cried last night a bit until he was put right beside my bed and patted to sleep.

Here he is tonight tucked up in his bed, he threw off the covers so must have finally warmed up and relaxed a little from the pain. Note the nails and the skin. His legs and paw pads are still very sore.

 

Well Day 2 and the inevitable, Kennel Cough, has rasied it's ugly head. What else can this poor chap endure!! So some quick calls and Anna and I are off to the vet. With a dog so compromised it's no time to 'see how bad it gets' as I usually do with stronger dogs who would be able to fight it.

So tucked up in a blanket like a cocoon we got all the news. The bad news : he has a heart murmur, Kennel Cough, his teeth are "shocking" (Glen's word) his eye is extremely severely infected and painful and his skin condition is the second biggest concern for his comfort. The manageable news : his ears should be fine within 2 weeks of treatment, his nails can start to be slowly trimmed back once the skin on his legs is less painful to touch and hopefully by using some Advocate a skin scrapping (for mite testing etc) might not be needed. The hopeful news: pain relief, anti-biotics, 3 types of eye drops and ointments, eardrops, Malaseb, Aloveen Conditioner, Vitamin E oil, Bio-oil plus a nice healthy, boosting diet might see him recovered enough soon to have his dental (with mulitple removals necessary) and desexing surgery.

All through this he has been a total dream of a dog displaying tolerance, stoicism and giving away kisses to both of us. How could anyone not love him enough to give him appropriate care?????

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well Dexter arrived today, thanks to Sue , and gee he is a mess! The product of long term neglect. Again a challenge for me but with the help and support I have I know there are better days ahead for Dexter.

His skin is the worst problem ATM (this is without his initial vet check to investigate anything not so obvious) with the chest, underside, legs, tail and from half way down his back to his tail all TOTALLY hairless and with greasy, thick skin. The worst area at the base of the tail is in folds of elephant like skin and as you touch or rub it black chunks come away. The smell is something else. I bathed him in Malaseb and rubbed into his skin some Bio-oil and some oatmeal conditioner into the fur he has left. This is going to be a BIG job with lots of work required and a proper assessment of the cause and appropriate treatment.

I gave a gentle, intial ear clean - yes they are quite bad but I'm sure with a few more cleans and some drops they will be fine in a few weeks. 

The photo shows a brown eye, well the brown was a scab, dry and solid covering the main part of his eye. It was hard to look at. I really feared that there was nothing viable left under there so gently put in just 1 drop of eye moisturiser and it immediately started to come away. After a break and a few more drops the whole scab was gone revealing an eye!! The white of the eye is bright red with infection and the surface is a film of scar tissue but having seen the great improvement Anna has achieved with Little Nell recently I know there is hope. For today the improvements came about with 4-5 drops of a product from the Chemist that costs just $6!!! Now of course we need to work out if the vision has been affected. The other eye had puss as well and the white was also angry and red so treatment is needed for this one too. Dexter will need some more heavy duty meds to knock the infection long term, but for now he must be so much more comfortable. Can you imagine the pain of not being able to close your eye because there is a scab there holding the lids apart?? There is a lot of attention required to get on top of this only because it has been left for so long.

I think this and the skin is what brought Sue to tears today, bless her soft heart.

His nails are SO long and just trying to hold his little bald, greasy leg caused him to cry in pain so that is something for another day.

He has had a bath an intial clean up, has a brand new coat on and is tucked up in bed right near the fire with a water bottle and seems OK.

I should also say he is a LOVELY, tolerant boy. He put up with me bathing, drying, rubbing and cleaning him with no fuss. He is friendly with the gang and the kids here and has already given away some kisses. Bless him, he is special and worth all of the effort.

This poor sad old chap is coming to Seniors on Saturday courtesy of Sue (volunteer driver for Seniors). She is driving out to the pound and bringing him to me saving me so much precious time. If you look at his skin (looks like a teeny tiny elephant) and his eye you will see that he is in BAD shape. But let's not create mountains. He is coming to us and will get EVERYTHING he needs.