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Happy Endings - "Popcicle"
 I
had never worked so hard at anything until the day “Popcicle” (PC) came into my
life. It was one of those normal days in late May, nothing pressing,
nothing exciting until I received a call from the local shelter about a
young female Shepard that had been “found” in a vacant lot. The shelter
“thought” that she had a broken leg, but they didn’t have the funds or the
resources to take care of her and would have had no other option but to
euthanize her. They called me to see if I could help. They
know I have the most kind hearted, compassionate vet who helps me immensely. If anyone could and would help her, it
would be Dr. Faulkner.
I had an appointment that day that I could not miss, so I sent my husband John
to get her. His first concern was how the kennel worker “pulled”/dragged her out
of the cage. John loves animals as much as I do and he wasn’t having any of
that, so he bent down, gently picked her up, and carried her out to the car.
When he brought her home, he expressed concern for how she was acting. Something
just was not right with her so off to the vet she went. Doc took X-rays of her
legs, hips, and spine and found nothing abnormal.
The following day she appeared worse, weaker. So back to the vet we went. He
gave me antibiotics and said to keep an eye on her. The next day, we were back
for the third time! By now she had developed a suspicious tick in her ears and
she couldn’t stand up, she could not roll over, she could not scratch herself ,
she could not control her bowel or bladder. Her ears twitched and she had a lame
back leg. She was so sick! All this little girl could do was lay there on the soft warm bed that
I had made for her. She wouldn’t drink water at all, she couldn’t eat because
she couldn’t open her mouth more than a half an inch to chew her food, but she
had LIFE in her eyes! This “spark” that told me she just wasn’t ready to give up
and not to give up on her. That look in her eyes saved her life that day.
The vet suspected that she had had distemper, which is a neurological problem
that can affect motor skills and the nervous system and was the probable reason
for the ear “twitch”. Doc stated that she was a very sick little girl and he
wasn't sure she was going to make it. He gave
me a list of vitamins to give her, CoQ10, Selenium, Ester C, and about 6 others
plus her other medicine. He told me to take her home and “work my magic” if I
could. And pray….
Since I knew that she had to drink to stay hydrated, but wanted nothing to do
with water, I tried pedialite, bottled water and ice cubes but she wouldn’t have
anything to do with any of them. As a last resort I tried the kids “popcicles”,
I figured “sugar for energy and 99.8% water, why not?” She loved them,
glory halleluiah! Water intake problem solved! (And her name was chosen!)
Next was finding food that she “could” chew. I had to watch for “choking” no
matter what I tried to feed her, but dry food was out of the question because
she couldn’t open her mouth wide enough to get it in. I decided to make her a
special rice mixture that I had made before for other sick rescues. I formed the
mixture into little “rice balls”, soft enough so she wouldn’t choke, easy enough
to digest and high in protein. It didn’t take but about 20 seconds before it was
evident that a) she definitely liked these little rice balls and b) how hard it
was for her to eat period. But the look in the eyes said it all. She was
DETERMINED!
 Now that the basic food and water problem was solved, next came the “diapers”,
the “sponge baths”, the “physical therapy”, the “rolling over” so she didn’t get
sore spots”, the “rigging” to eventually get her up and moving again if the
powers that be let her…. Now try to imagine what this was like, she had to be
hand fed every 3-4 hours, had to be hand fed popsicles every hour, had to have
diaper changes when needed, usually 3 times a day, needed to be rolled over 3-4
times a day, needed to be bathed every other day plus I had to run my cookie
business AND take care of the other 7 rescues I had at the time.
One night around 2 am, I was totally exhausted and was beginning to lose hope
for her recovery when I finally looked up to the ceiling and said, “God, I just
can’t do this anymore! Please help this poor puppy. Help her to get well and
give me the strength to keep caring for her.” My cry for help was answered
sooner that I thought it would be…..
Just as I was turning back around to pick her up to put her to bed, I hear this
strange “chewing noise” coming from over in the corner. PC and I were the only
ones in the shop. I looked over and here was P.C. over in the corner trying to
eat the dog food that was left over from one of the other rescues that I had had
over earlier in the day. She had “crawled” over to the bowl and decided to give
it a try. And OH MY GOD! She was eating dry kibble and she wasn’t choking! It
wasn’t like a normal healthy dog would eat and chew, but she was trying!!!! And
she steadily improved from that day forward.
She started to go up and down on her guide wire with her
rigging, (think of what they use to hold a horse up), she would get excited when
someone would come in, she even started to “bark” at times. I was soooo grateful
for her recovery. Then, 6 months from the time I rescued her, the day came that she was put up for adoption. I knew the
chances of her ever finding a home were very slim. She still had the “ear
twitch” thing going on, she still had a lame hind leg and she was still pitiful
looking.
But I have a motto that I truly believe in: “There is someone for everyone” if
you’re patient. It had been about 2 months since she had been put up for adoption (8
months since I had rescued her) when another “miracle” happened: The day Diane
walked in. She took one look at “PC”, started to cry, and decided at that
moment that she wanted her. It didn’t matter one bit to her that PC was
“handicapped”. She would take her home and love her and keep her safe. PC is
alive and well and is extremely lucky to have found someone that loves her and
cares for her as much as Diane does. So to Fred, Diane, and Rommel, thank you
very much. As a rescuer, that is my greatest wish - for ALL of my rescues to
find homes as good as Diane’s.
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