 Have
you ever had poison oak, poison ivy, or another very itchy
skin condition? It's terrible, and makes the simplest tasks
uncomfortable. Luckily, there is medicine that makes that
itch disappear in a matter of days. But imagine having
a horrible itch that you couldn't quite reach for years
and years. That is what happened to our poor Baby. Baby,
and her friend Buddy, were someone's back yard dogs. They
probably didn't get a lot of attention, either medically
or otherwise. They both developed a horrible case of flea
dermatitis, which basically means they had fleas for so
long and itched so much they started to loose huge patches
of their fur. Baby and Buddy received a reprieve in an
unlikely way. Their people decided to move, and they were
not going to take Baby and Buddy with them. Clearly, they
didn't really care what happened to the dogs, and they
planned to drop them at a shelter, or maybe take them to
a vet to put them to sleep.
Luckily, they needed to call in a real estate agent to
sell their house, and that nice woman was Buddy and Baby's
guardian angel. She couldn't believe that the people were
simply going to dump their dogs, and she was shocked at
their neglected appearance. She took them immediately to
her vet, the first of a series of many many vet visits
for Baby. The vet gave the dogs a much needed bath and
flea treatments, and send them "home" for recovery.
The real estate agent called some friends, and eventually
brought Baby and Buddy to live with us at Pacific Coast
Dog Rescue.
 Buddy
responded to the flea treatment right away, and soon caught
the eye of a wonderful adopter (you can see him on our
Success Stories Page!). Baby, however, was not responding
so well to the treatment. Her fur was not growing back
as quickly, and she was still itching. Our wonderful vet,
Dr. Nunez at the Burbank VCA, did every test imaginable.
We ruled out mange, and a couple of other common skin conditions.
We tried several different treatments, and currently have
her on a combination of a low dose of steroids and a special
diet. She is MUCH better than when she first came to us
- her hair is growing in, and the steroids definitely relieve
the itching, but we still have some work to do.
So, for now, she is one of our "office dogs" and
is actually sitting right at my feet as I type this (she
wants to make sure I get it right!). She hangs out with
us in the PCDR office, and helps us answer phone calls,
email messages, and conduct the day to day PCDR business.
We're hoping that someday soon one of those phone calls
or emails will be a kind soul who wants to welcome Baby
into their home or office. Until then, we'll continue to
feed, care for, and take our Baby to and from the vet.
Hopefully, with Dr. Nunez's help, and the help of our loyal
supporters, we'll find a scratch to Baby's itch sometime
very soon!
If you'd like to help us care for Baby, please refer
to the "Sponsor A Dog" info.
If you'd like more information about Baby, or think you
might like to let her retire in your office, please send
an email to Baby@pcdogrescue.org. |
