Darla

Not the update we wanted to give, Rest Easy sweet girl. You were loved, even if it was just a short time.

UPDATE 4/29/2017:

Darla from Carson Update: Last night after an ultrasound revealed all our worst fears, Darla crossed Rainbow Bridge in the arms of her angel, Lauren. Darla was ready to go, we were not. However, we did as she wished and held her, kissed her, told her we loved her as she snorfeled and rested her head on Lauren’s neck. Lauren spent two days with Angel in the hospital in-between caring for her own two-legged and four-legged children. Volunteers visited Darla in the hospital and checked on her progress. She was lethargic yesterday morning and wouldn’t eat. Her labs came back and showed a massive infection and kidney failure. She was immediately placed on IV fluids, meds and pain meds. Boy did she love the pain meds. Finally, she felt better and ate some homemade chicken. We let her rest. A visit in the late afternoon showed she was feeling depressed and had severe intestinal problems. We knew she had pneumonia from that awful new canine influenza likely but that couldn’t be the only cause of her lethargy. Darla was immediately rushed to the specialist for an ultrasound. That was when we learned that Darla was neglected and malnourished and lived on the brink of starvation her entire life. Her kidneys were abnormal, she had large masses behind her kidneys, she had fluid in her abdomen, she had more gas than would be normal for her case, her organs were failing. The specialist said if it were just one of these things in her condition we could probably give her maybe two years of love but this was beyond anything she had seen and said Darla would be hospitalized for a very long if she even survived and would live a life of discomfort and sickness from the cancer and malformed organs. Darla was feeling so good on her pain meds, she snored away during her ultrasound only waking for moments to enjoy the kisses on her face, head and nose. She looked at us with love, she knew she was loved. She was clean. The day before she had a spa visit and fell asleep in the tub. She had a full belly, a vet tech had bought her some chicken from Baja Fresh. As we asked Darla what she wanted us to do, she started to slip away from us. Dr. Wallace rushed in to help assist her in crossing pain-free even though she was already leaving on her own. Luckily we had time to tell her how much she meant to us and that we would do it all again. RIP Darla. You will live forever in the hearts of many, but none more than Lauren’s. Lauren is awaiting the return of your ashes from a private service. You have a special place in the garden they hoped to bring you when you were ready to join their family as a foster daughter. You will live your life now in beauty as you always deserved.

DDBR picked Darla up on 4/27 at the Carson shelter. She came into the shelter on 4/23 and was being held on a stray hold. You may have saw the horrible video that we saw, of a petrified Darla clinging to her shelter bed, trembling, and shaking as though she were freezing to death (it was over 100 that day, but comfy in the shelter).  DDBR sprang into action, placing a stray hold immediately and getting her out as soon as the shelter would allow her to be released to Rescue. What we know from the shelter, she is emaciated, now around 60 pounds (gained 8 pounds during the stray hold), she was loaded, and we do mean loaded with ticks. She is now in the loving arms of a DDBR foster family and we will post about her and start a fund raiser to help cover her expenses. First update is below:

Pending labs, so far sweet Queen Darla looks better than expected. Thank you TLC Pet Medical Center and Dr Howie Baker and of course Lauren Krieger (her foster mom) and our volunteers. She will need spay and dental work when Darla is healthy enough for surgery. Xray shows no blockage and clear lungs, whew. We think she’s 4-5 years just was severely neglected but she’s already learning love and spending time resting at TLC and being spoiled like she deserves. Lauren  made her a big batch of yummy chicken and when we get lab results we will post them.

Herman

Herman is doing his “Happy Dance” for treats in heaven tonight. The dapper older gentleman who we believed to be 8 or 9 years old passed away 11/13/2018. He had not been eating well and when he did eat he couldn’t keep the food down. The vet said there was nothing more they could do and suggested we put him to sleep. Based on his liver levels he most likely had liver cancer.
Herman’s foster mom was with him when he passed. Herman’s foster mom had cared for him since he came into rescue in April of 2017 from a shelter in Franklin, Ohio.
Thank you to Herman’s foster mom for opening her home and her heart to one of the old guys. Thank you to those that donated to his vet care.