Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

THURSDAY MAY 20 2004

NOON UPDATE

Rocky's eating well, but he tires so quickly

      Yesterday was a good day for the old fellow as he recovers from surgery and from an almost fatal bout with what Dr. Reeves is now convinced has been tick disease. Rocky's taking his medicines (reluctantly) and had a good appetite yesterday and this morning. After each of his many meals he seems eager to go out into the fenced yard and walk around sniffing and pottying. He's had good bowel movements with no visible traces of blood. He does tire quickly and heads for the door so he can get back on the couch or lie down in a nice cool spot on the floor. Dr Reeves said it would take Rocky about 30 days from his last blood transfusion before the foreign blood from his donors will be completely changed out with his own newly made blood, so we shouldn't be expecting miracles at this point, though his making it this far after almost dying is in itself a miracle.

Update on Angie and Patch

      Angie will be calling Patch's future foster home to find out some information she needs to know before scheduling the surgery for Patch's bad legs.

      The doctor plans to fix one leg at a time, and he will do the neuter surgery along with the first leg. Angie would like to schedule the surgery for next week, but she told me today she wanted first to find out more about the foster home. She wants to ask if Patch will be separated from the fostering woman's other dogs so that Patch can be safe while he's healing? Will the woman be home enough to monitor Patch and administer medications? If Patch needs physical therapy, will the woman be able to do this? We'll wait for the report from Angie.

An email to (and the response from) Erin regarding contributions toward Patch's surgery

Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 01:24:26 -0500
From: "Erin Arnold Johnson" <straydog@straydog.org>
To: "Susan P."
Subject: Question/Answer about Patch

Susan P. wrote:

What's the update on the Pit Bull with the messed up hind legs? Are you collecting money for this dog on her behalf? I didn't want to send money to just anyone. Please let me know, as well as an address, and how much she still needs, if any.

Thanks
Susan

Erin's response:

Hi Susan,

Yes, we are collecting money for Patch. You can send a donation directly to the vet if you'd like, and write a note that it is for Angie's dog, Patch. The clinic where Patch will have his surgery is: Sherrill Veterinary Clinic, 1709 E. Beltline Rd., Coppell, Tx. 75019, or if you'd like a tax deduction you can send you donation to Straydog, PO Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Tx. 75124 and earmark the check for Angie.

Angie takes care of close to 60 dogs along with feeding many neglected dogs in her neighborhood and buying appropriate leads for the chained dogs in her neighborhood. Angie also contributes money towards spaying and neutering the dogs in her neighborhood. All of this from her social security check, and kind contributors like yourself!

As of now, a handful of folks have said they'd like to contribute towards Patch's operation. After adding up the amounts people have told me they will send, the leg surgeries aren't covered yet, though Straydog will make sure that the vet is paid.

Anything that you would like to contribute towards Angie's work for the helpless animals in her neighborhood will be appreciated and used wisely I'm sure. Our contributions and prayers will hopefully help Angie to know she's not all alone.

Another email regarding donations to Angie

Charlie G. wrote:

Dear Bill and Erin,

Sharon and I sent a check for Angie to City Uptown--$50. We thought it would go towards Patch, but it will help somewhere.

Charlie G.

Dear Charlie,

Thank you. It will be put to very good use I am sure! I was talking to Angie today. I am sure glad that some people are helping her after reading our recent website updates. Angie is really working hard and going through quite a lot to help the helpless in her neighborhood.

Thank you again,

Erin

Wishing for a foster home for Lydia

      For two days now Angie has been surprised by one of her newest female dogs, a rescue named Lydia, who's being picked on by her other dogs. This had escalated to actual fights with Angie having to pull some of her dogs off of Lydia. Even the puppies are picking on the new dog, Angie exclaimed! Except for when she's walking Lydia, Angie now keeps the dog in a crate at all times for her own protection.

      This is normal dog behavior when there are too many dogs in one house! Does anyone know of a possible foster home for Lydia? We will try to get a picture of Lydia.

Summertime blues: too much heat and too much hair

      Many of our dogs (especially with long hair) are not welcoming this fast approaching summer heat! Fritz, with a damaged wind pipe, is already breathing harder. We have found a new groomer to begin taking the dogs to for their summer cuts (as our former groomer told us she couldn't work on the large dogs anymore due to her heart problems). Straydog volunteer and friend of many years, Ofelia Gipson, has offered to contribute towards our grooming bills again this summer! Thank you Ofelia!! We will be calling today to schedule first the doggies who need grooming the most.

Please consider adopting Mandy

      Mandy is one of our long-haired dogs who would rather be in Canada or Alaska than here in Texas! She would love a home where she could be inside the air-conditioning and on a loving guardian's bed! Mandy is very sweet and playful. She's is approximately seven years old and gets stressed out going to Adoption Days, so we don't take her often. Occasionally (but not often enough) we feature Mandy here on our update to give her another chance at someone seeing her who might want to adopt her. Some folks have written in about her, and contacted us, but no potential adoptions have worked out so far. Sometimes Mandy is picky about being friends with other dogs! Right now Mandy has a loving kennel-mate named Bear, so she isn't too lonely here at Straydog. But it's just not the same as being an inside member of a family that would be able to spend a lot of quality time with Mandy. Does anyone know of a nice home for Mandy? You can read more about Mandy via "Our Dogs for Adoption" link below, which takes you to our Straydog pages on Petfinder.org.