Straydog UPDATE posted TUESDAY 3/4/03 at ~9:37 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

TUESDAY MARCH 4 2003

Mama Dog Laura is holding her own

      Early this morning I went to our vet clinic to see the Tenison Golf Course Mama Dog, who is now named Laura because we have a dog here whose name is Mama Dog.

      Laura was sitting up in her kennel, her eyes open wide, and she looked as if she felt a little better. She still hadn't eaten, the doctor said, but since I had with me the brand of canned food that Pam had been feeding Mama Dog at the golf course, we are hoping that she may eat this.

      I went in and stayed with Mama Dog Laura for a long time. She made no move to shy away from me. She could have moved away from me if she had wanted to, but she just sat still and seemed to enjoy having her ears rubbed, her neck scratched and her back petted.

      I spoke with Dr. Morton at length about her condition, and he said that when she begins to loose the fluid in her lungs and belly, and seems more alert, we'll go ahead with just the one treatment for heartworms.

Corky is okay too, we think

      After visiting with Jesse-Bear's mother, Laura, I went to see little Puppy Corky, who is also still at the clinic being treated for sarcoptic mange. Corky is so cute! (This is the eight-week-old fellow who was dumped in a box and left on the roadside.)

      Corky was sound asleep in the little bed I had brought to the clinic for him yesterday, cuddled up on his blanket in the middle of all of his toys (which I had also brought for him yesterday). When I went in to see him he woke up and came to meet me and I noticed how huge his belly was! It was three times the size of a normal, fat little puppy. And he has a very unusual walk too. He takes fast, tiny steps with his bowlegged back legs, and his front paws appear to be "flatfooted."

      The doctor examined Corky while I was there, and the tests he did show that Corky has no worms or intestinal parasites, so this could not be the trouble with his tummy, and the vet tech knew that Corky had eaten only a little of his breakfast, which was nowhere near enough food to make his tummy this big. Corky's little flat feet (front paws) could be caused from malnutrition, the doctor said, adding that what we'll do with this little fellow is just keep a close watch on him for awhile. Things may get better after he is with us for a week or so. If not, we'll have further tests done.

5:30 p.m. update on the Tenison Golf Course Family of stray dogs

      Two members of this family of four stray dogs have now been rescued. Jesse, one of the two siblings, was the first to be rescued (on Friday, January 21st), and the mother, Mama Dog Laura, was rescued this past Sunday. (Laura is very sick and is at our vet clinic. See the beginning of today's update.)

      The rescue mission to capture the remaining two dogs was set up again for this afternoon, and Pam, who has been trying to catch/rescue this family of four stray dogs for a long time, called to say that when she and the "search party" went looking for the dogs this afternoon, they couldn't find them anywhere. Pam will keep us posted. We're all hoping to catch the injured father dog soon, as well as Jesse-Bear's sister before she too is hit by traffic as she crosses the busy roads near the golf course.

Two more abandoned puppies will join our Happy Home for Strays tomorrow

      Our shelter is always so full that we often have to turn down people who want us to take in dogs they've rescued, but we always try to make room for the most needy animals, such as the four Tenison Golf Course Strays and little Pup Corky. Now we have accepted two more pups desperately needing a safe haven, and they will be brought to our shelter tomorrow morning.

      More to come as this story unfolds.