MEET OL’BLUE EYES…

*UPDATE 4/20/14:  Blue  is doing VERY WELL!  She is a LOVE!  This girl is so gentle and sweet.  She basically likes to snooze on her dog bed and eat (yep…she is a chunk still).  We are hoping to work on her getting used to the sights and sounds of the neighborhood on some walks (so far we  have been on a few walks late at night when it is quiet and she has done well).  We would LOVE for Blue to find a local foster home (Memphis/West Memphis area) with a fenced in yard so we can see how she does in a home-like environment.  We will provide everything she needs! 

 Yes we realize this precious girl does not have blue eyes.  Long story short:  Blue Eyes was named by her previous “owner”.  She is approximately 3-4 years old and lived in the country with up to 35 dogs at one point not long ago.  We saw a post on Facebook from a friend of a friend about “tons of dogs left to fend for themselves”.  I (Allie) went out there to check out the situation one day and took pictures of the dogs.  WOWZA…lots of dogs for sure.  There is a man who takes care of them, Mr. B, but  he has limited resources as well.  Mr B. is essentially homeless and lives on a passenger van basically with some of his dogs (yes we have tried to help, but he prefers to stay there).  We became friends over the next few months and offered to help him get his dogs spayed/neutered.  We were able to get all of the females spayed except 2 (they were feral…still working on it though) thanks to many doggy angels who donated funds, etc.  That’s when we met Blue Eyes.  Ol’ BLue Eyes was pregnant along with another female, Wolfie.  Between the two of them, they had 14 babies.  Wolfie did not appear to have enough milk to feed the babies, so precious Blue Eyes nursed them all (that is what we suspect based on numerous “clues”).  We found rescue for all of the puppies when they were ready and proceeded to have those two spayed not long after the puppies were weaned.
Blue Eyes is on the right in this picture (taken in April)

 Puppies the day of the rescue!

SAFE AT LAST!  YES…ALL FOUND WONDERFUL HOMES! 

Blue and Wolfie came to stay with us after being spayed in July with the intent to return them to Mr. B after a few days of recovery.  We realized that Blue was just miserable out in the heat and could not breathe very well.  Wolfie was not happy being confined and spent much of her time outside, but Blue was different.  She clearly enjoyed the air conditioning and soft beds that we provided.  It became evident that we would just HAVE to keep her.  We returned Wolfie to Mr.  B after she healed and she was elated!  Blue is a shy girl, but she has already come so far!  She absolutely ADORES treats when she comes in from outside!  We knew that Blue would be heartworm positive because she had never had heartworm preventative and had lived outside 24/7 for 3-4 years (her entire life) with a zillion mosquitoes (that is how heartworm is transmitted).  No biggie…we would just treat her after she became stronger and gained some weight like we had done with many rescued doggies in the past.  

Blue began coughing and having a difficult time breathing.  Her tummy has always been distended, but we became worried about that too.  We took her to the vet only to find out that her heart was VERY enlarged and she had fluid on her lungs (pulmonary edema).  The xrays don’t lie…HUGE heart :(.  Doc is fairly certain the heart and lung “changes” are the result of heartworm disease.  Xrays also revealed this poor baby had been shot (buckshot…5 visible fragments if you will show on xray).  Anyway, Doc put BLue on several medications and asked us to return for a follow up visit today (October 18th, 2012).  Repeat xrays were done and the results were the same.  Blue’s prognosis was not good based upon her enlarged heart and lung changes.  Doc was going to start heartworm treatment today (stage 1), however she is not sure that Blue would survive (well truth be known, deep down, neither of us thought she would make it).  The next step is to consult with a fellow veterinarian on Tuesday to determine whether she may be a candidate for surgical removal of some heartworms from the right atrium (heartworm embolectomy).  She is technically in the 3rd stage of heartworm disease (thankfully has not progressed to the final vena caval syndrome yet, which is deadly).

So in a nutshell, Blue Eyes needs a miracle.  She has many supporters who love her and pray for her, but we can always use more.  We will update everyone when we hear more from the vet next week.