Claudia

Claudia spent 8 years chained at the end of a rope until SPCA intervened. Now at the shelter, Claudia was being overlooked for adoption – as all the dogs around her found homes – Claudia remained behind. She stopped eating and became depressed. The shelter outreach department contacted our rescue to take Claudia so she could be in a loving foster home and not in a sheltering environment. Who could say no to this darling dog? Before we could get her spayed and her teeth cleaned (many were abscessed and rotting) we needed to get some weight back on her. Not long after she was in a home, she came out of her depressed state, began eating and enjoying her new life. We had her to our veterinarian and had all her medical needs taken care of. About 6 weeks later, her foster mom called and reported that Claudia had blood in her urine, but it was not trace amounts – it appeared that she was hemorrhaging! We immediately whisked her into our veterinarian who, within short order diagnosed her with hemolytic anemia, an often life threatening condition. She was immediately hospitalized and put on IV fluids, as well as a number of other condition-related medications. For the next 3 days, her life hung in the balance. Her future would be decided by a higher power as there was nothing more we could do medically speaking. On the 4th day, the blood results showed improvement and her eyes seemed a bit brighter – and the very tip of her tail wagged, could this mean she was out of the woods? Our vet said not right out of the woods, but appeared to be on the path out! She stayed in the hospital for almost 2 weeks and when she emerged, she was almost back to her old self. However, it is not that simple with hemolytic anemia and she will have a long road ahead weaning of some of the meds she was on. She can never be vaccinated again and there are some other restrictions in place as well, but she is finally ready to be adopted but only to someone as special as she is. To donate to CLAUDIA visit http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=4246