September 2022
When Cooper and Harmony came into rescue, we were told he was seven or eight months old, and she was between ten and a half and twelve. We questioned both those ages at first because Cooper seemed older and Harmony seemed younger. Now, a month later, we think those ages may be pretty close.
Cooper is full of energy, but as loving as a dog who is older. He follows Melissa around the house, then runs out in the yard with her other dogs. Just like a puppy, when he crashes he really crashes. For now we have elected not to neuter him until he is older. His coat, which was shaved to the skin by the shelter because he was so dirty, is beginning to grow back nicely.
The clues to Harmony’s age are her eyes, which are slightly cloudy, and her rear legs, which seem quite stiff. Her face and size both remind us very much of our girl Sasha, the crippled dog we had so long. Pictures of their faces are remarkably similar. Since Harmony was a seizure from a hoarder we won’t ever know where she came from. She loves to follow us around. We took her along to a home visit and she was great in the car. The good news about her surgery is when the pathology report came back, it showed clear margins and a very low risk of recurrence. The bad news is that Harmony was able to lick the stitches out and had to return to Erin and Tom for a few days so she could get re-stitched by their vet. She is terribly itchy and wants to scratch and dig at herself. We switched her to a salmon-based kibble, but so far without change. She is on Benadryl several times daily and it helps. The itching and scratching mean she will continue to wear a cone until we figure things out. Without a local vet that’s difficult.
Bella is beginning to fade a little and her tumor is definitely growing. Our vet is leaving the clinic, and we have one more brief visit scheduled in a week. She is such a great old girl we are sorry to watch her decline. We tried to make the last year as good as possible for her.
There is little change in behavior for Sophie and Tessa. They have spells they won’t come indoors, and at other times they hop right in the door. Fortunately they always seem to come in at bedtime. In January we will have fostered them for five years.