Great news!

I've become a grandma again.  Sophie came to live with her mom & dad (D & R) yesterday.  We were all in love with her before we met her.  We knew she:  was a beagle mix, had been dumped in an outdoor kennel on a cold night at an animal control facility that couldn't provide her the necessary care or keep her, was 9-10 yrs old, had been significantly abused, had mammary tumors, was heartworm positive.  Though that all sounds awful, I had previous experience with a dog with mammary tumors and one with heartworm.  Both had also been significantly abused and were between 6-9 yrs old at the time of the disease.  Both survived their disease, recovered and lived many healthy years beyond.  With D, R, M & I supporting this effort, and Sophie illustrating an amazing, beautiful being with a desire to live, the odds are in our favor.

When we picked her up yesterday, we found that she was much tinier than we had pictured.  She's only 13 pounds.  She's afraid of everything, and belly crawls timidly (though she doesn't do that in her home) , but she's a complete lover.  She rode the entire three-hour trip home in the back seat sitting between D & R.  She really bonded with them and quickly started to hide her head in the crook of R's arm whenever she got nervous or frightened.  She's quite a daddy's girl already.

We became increasingly concerned by her not eating.  We weren't too worried last night, because she had a big day with a long car ride and a lot of stress (which makes sense given how her last car trip ended).  Dej couldn't get her to eat today and felt by watching that she was having problems with her teeth.  She also had a snort/snarffle thing going on, and I was quite worried that it indicated heart damage, though I kept that to myself.  D found she would eat soft food, so put her dog food in hot water and she scarfs it right down.   

She had a vet appt this afternoon, after my first final (student presentations) of the week end.  She had xrays, bloodwork, and a thorough examination.  I was so relieved to find that she didn't have heart damage.  The reason for the strange noises was something above the larynx--maybe a polyp, a sinus infection--we will find out when she is anesthetized to have her teeth taken care of.  The few teeth she has left are pretty nasty--some broken, infected. She has a big raw, scabby patch which is infected.  Poor baby.  She is on Clavamox right now, which should help the mouth infection, may help the sinus infection, and will also help the skin infection.  She will be feeling like a new dog within the next two days.  Her prognosis is actually better than any of us expected it would be.

When all of her blood results are back tomorrow, we will schedule her surgery and also determine what will be done in this surgery.  She has to have her teeth taken care of, exploration on the sinus issue, get spayed, and have the mammary tumor(s) removed.  Doc  wants to look at all of the results and prioritize and determine what she can handle.  Her organs and overall health are pretty good, so that helps a lot.  The heartworm is actually the easy part; she will take antibiotics and a heartworm preventive until they are gone.  [I mean "easy" in the comparative sense, not in that it's really an "easy" or minor thing.  All dogs are at risk for HW if not taking a preventive consistently during the season.]  

We learned at the vet today that she tolerates absolutely anything without any aggression at all.  He called her a "gentle soul."   She seemed to feel at home as soon as the kids put her down in their dining room.  She ran around with her tail wagging, sniffing (and snarffling) like a puppy!  She met the cats, and there was no aggression from anybody.  She and Sparta (mommy cat) have already become snuggle buddies.  She spent last night on the bed snuggled up with the kids and sometime cats.  She's already selected a favorite spot on the couch.  She's made herself at home and settled in surprisingly well.  We're so happy things have gone so smoothly!

It's been a very busy couple of days, so not nearly enough pictures yet.  There will be many, soon.