Rescue Journal

Prim and Tootsie

Erin  ·  Feb. 7, 2019

Today is Prim's vet visit. When we brought her to SAINTS Saturday, she both peed and pooped in the van, and tracked through it so she immediately hit the tub. Prim does not like to be touched, she shies away. She let me shampoo her and gave me gentle kisses on my hand as I went. Prim is skinny, her ribs and spine are all you can feel. But theres a pouch to her lower abdomen that I dont think is normal and she really doesnt like her tail being lifted. All the hair is missing from her belly and inner thighs, could be a skin problem I suppose but it could also be she licked it all off. Its possible theres something bad going on in this sweet girl, today we start down the road to answers.

We elected not to spay Tootsie when she came in because she was in pretty poor shape, underweight and frail. Tootsie has kidney disease so every time she gets sedated its risky, putting extra load on organs that are functioning at such an already low level. Tootsie had to have major dental surgery right away, it wasnt an option not to do it, so we went ahead and did it. After that, we decided that because of her kidneys, it was not worth the risk to spay her, perhaps she was too old for heat cycles anyway. Sweet as she is, people are not exactly breaking down our door to adopt her so having an unspayed female while not ideal, is manageable. Tootsie went into heat about 6 weeks ago. Then things calmed down but she contracted a bladder infection and she was feeling pretty low. Antibiotics were helping fix the bacteria but Tootsie wasnt perking up. Other testing revealed a serious infection...but where? Take a wild guess which organ is the prime suspect? Tootsie spent yesterday hooked up to IV fluids and antibiotics to prepare her for surgery today. It is a risky procedure. She may not be strong enough to survive the surgery. If she does, the sedation may push her kidneys over the edge into end stage. Shes going to take longer to heal. Shes going to have a harder time fighting infection. But we have to try.

Fingers crossed for both these two dogs. They deserved better care earlier in their lives. Hope its not too late.

Comments

Carol Albrecht

my heart goes out to both little Prim and Tootsie.
Caring for these little elderly pupsters is a privilege and a heartache. in December we lost our two littles. Daisy and Sandy. My heart aches gor you. Sending love and healing light and hugs too.
❤️🐾❤️🙏🏻🕯🙏🏻❤️🐾❤️🐕🐕