Rosie - 8 years old

Before  (August 2003)	After  (October 2003)

December 2003 and what a beauty!!! 
(Rosie in the back with her new brother, Badger in the front)

A special plea is sent out on behalf of Rosie, an approximately 8 year old little girl who’s been so neglected that, as you can see from the pictures, she barely has a stitch of fur on her (even though she’s supposed to be a red smooth). Rosie apparently made her way up from Texas to Iowa where she was then turned into an Iowa shelter. This shelter realized that she would not be adopted and CCDR was contacted to rescue this incredible dog. Although not detailed in the pictures, Rosie’s obviously had a tough life and her tattered, split ears, as well as her neck, bore the scars to prove it.

Looking at Rosie, you can see she has issues, but her Number One problem is that she is heartworm positive and is currently undergoing treatment. This has been tough on Rosie but so far she’s pulling through like a champ and proving that she’s tougher! Even though the shots are painful, Rosie has managed to never let that dampen her spirits. Her eyes are still smiling and her tail wagging! It’s actually more difficult to get her to stay still & rest as needed to ensure the dead heartworms passing through don’t cause an embolism, which could take her from us.

Rosie has already endured five skin scrapings and an ear cytology and cleaning—all which have revealed that she may have had mange, but the bigger issue is that she has yeast infection inside and out so badly that, not only does she need special baths every few days, she needs to have an expensive liquid medicine daily for 30 days to kill the yeast from the inside. She will also start a treatment of Ivomec to help with this same problem because she itches like crazy and has started to draw blood in several spots—she’s so uncomfortable!! She also has ear drops to clean up her ears and finishing up medicine for internal parasites like tapeworms. She’s desperately in need of a dental and the vet already has said she’ll lose quite a few teeth in back—she has absolutely no teeth on her bottom front between the two canines! Unfortunately she cannot have her dental or all the necessary shots, such as rabies or distemper/parvo, until she’s been declared heartworm-free. 

As you can imagine, her vet bills are already piling up. We are at nearly $600 and counting! This bill only includes her first shots of heartworm treatment, skin scrapings and testing and medicines for both these issues. Our best estimate is that she will have bills totaling nearly $1,000 by the time she is completely healthy – she needs two Ivomec treatments, her dental (with extractions), her immunizations and follow-up treatment for heartworm as well as a heartworm test that will hopefully show her to be free and clear when the time comes! Rosie and her foster parents will be very excited that day!! She’s such a darling with an undying love for everyone and hasn’t a mean bone in her body. Yes, from afar she looks like an ugly duckling but with your help, she's bound to be that beautiful swan. Won’t you please consider making a tax-deducible donation to help out with Rosie’s expenses so that she may finally get to live the life she deserves?  Thank you 

Update: 10/5/03

Pictures are certainly worth a thousand words. (see the pictures above)  All you need to do is compare the pictures from 8/9/03 when Rosie came to us to those that were taken this past week to know she's healthier and full of life! 

Although we were very concerned about Rosie and her chances of surviving the first doses of the painful HW treatment, Rosie has proven herself to be quite the little fighter and never once cried.  Not only is she on her way to becoming heartworm free, the yeast infection is completely gone from her body and that is evidenced by the beautiful and sassy red hair she's sporting!  Even her nails, which looked gray/white and ready to fall out at any time, have turned to a darker brown and are on their way to being the typical black color.  Her tattered ears are always perky and lend character to a very outgoing and sweet little girl.

Even though Rosie is still a light HW positive, she had a large tooth in the back of her mouth causing problems.  We were again concerned about putting her under for a dental due to the HW+ status, but the vet indicated that the HW+ was secondary to the infection that tooth could be causing so into the vet she she went on 10/2/03 for her dental.  In typical Rosie fashion, she came out the winner and minus one very nasty tooth that stunk up the whole house :)  Rosie is the master of cheap-shots when it comes to kisses and now her foster parents can enjoy those without the smell!  She just finished her pain medications and will wrap up the Clavamox in a couple of days with no infections whatsoever.

Rosie's vet has indicated that each time he sees her, she looks younger and younger and believes that she may be more around the 4-7 year age range....she was in such terrible shape and neglected when we all first saw her that the thoughts were she was 8+ years!!!  She is certainly very active!  She loves to go on walks and tears around the backyard like nobody's business.  She's a social butterfly and enjoys attending functions outside the home every chance she gets!!

Rosie will remain with her foster home another month or so until she has been declared HW free.  She will still need to have a final HW test and now that she's healthy, she can now have her rabies and distemper/parvo shots which she will be receiving in the near future.  Our special thanks to everyone who has read Rosie's story, contributed money toward her incredible vet expenses, and followed along on her recovery.  Your contributions allow CCDR to make sure that all her medical needs have been and will continue to be met.  Hugs and sweet kisses from Rosie....