Hope's Page

Hope came to me from the Delaware County Humane Society. I had received a call from the Delaware County Dog Warden asking that I come and get a sheltie that they had. I couldn't go during their hours so a friend went for me. Well, he just happened to go to the wrong place. He went to the Humane Society and there sat Hope. Only, her name was "Pudgy" then. (Yes, I got the other dog too!)

So, he brought the two dogs to me and boy was I taken aback. Hope had no hair to speak of on her belly and only tuffs of hair around her legs. She had a "rat" tail (meaning no hair except that on the very end) and open red sores all over her. She had such bad ear infections that her ears were clogged with debris. It took my friend almost a week of cleaning (twice a day) to get all the gunk out of those ears. You should have seen her when he broke through the last layer. It was as if someone had suddenly turned the volume up on life! We named her "Hope"...because that's all we had at the time...Hope that we could make a difference in this dog's life.

Well, I gave her a good scrub down and got her to the vet right away. True to my gut instinct...she was very low thyroid. That was the explanation for the poor coat, the red skin, the open sores and the lack of hair all over including the tail. It also explained her ear infections. The bad news was that she was also heartworm positive. Given her present state of health, that could not be treated until her health was better and she was strong enough to withstand the harshness of the heartworm treatment. By the way, the other sheltie that I had gotten that same day was also heartworm positive. Given these examples...please, please give that heartworm preventative every month. It's a disease that doesn't need to happen!

So, on that day (January 27, 2001) Hope began her long road to recovery. Her eyes were so sad. She seemed so depressed. I brought her home and introduced her to the rest of the gang. She just laid in the doggy bed...not wanting to even go on it seemed. Then, as if her health wasn't bad enough, she introduced kennel cough to all my other dogs. Suddenly, I had six cases of kennel cough to contend with. If I never go through that again, it won't break my heart!

From what I learned from the Humane Society, Hope's owner had died about a month prior to her being dumped at the shelter. The owner's son took her in for that month, then decided that she was too much bother. He took her to the shelter and given her state of health at that time, they were preparing to put her down when my friend walked in the door. It's strange sometimes how things happen. That's why I firmly believe that for everything, there is a reason!

Well, Hope had a long way to go to regain her health. After about six months, we noticed that she was finally getting some hair back and the malnourishment that she had suffered was just beginning to reverse. She was showing signs of vast improvement, however, we just weren't there yet. Her ears continued to be a persistent problem. We'd get one infection cleared up and another type would start. We were using oral meds as well as drops. The poor girls ears were so bad that at times they would bleed. She wanted nothing more than for you to constantly rub them.

One visit after another to the vet's office only brought more frustration. We just couldn't get a handle on it, therefore we just couldn't treat the heartworm either. However, she was continuing to receive heartgard monthly so the disease would not progress. The adults would not be able to reproduce and would eventually die of old age. She had only the beginning stages of the disease where there was no microfiliaria, only adults.

Finally, after 14 months of trying everything in the book for those ears, the vet and I decided to take a chance and do some surgery on that left one, which was the worse. He was planning to go in and look for something that would cause her ear to not heal correctly or find out exactly what the intruding bacteria was so we could better treat it. Special care and cautionary procedures had to be used due to the heartworm disease.

Upon entering the ear canal, Dr. Shields found what the problem apparently was...a tumor. He called me and asked permission to remove it. I agreed and off it went to the lab. While in there, the doc decided to eliminate the vertical ear canal by doing a special surgical procedure. What a great choice that was...she hasn't had an ear infection since!

We did receive some very bad news...the tumor was malignant cancer. It was a rare cancer of the ear. It is so rare, all the documentation on the cancer only goes back two years. It is not a type that would respond to chemo or radiation. The only known treatment was to do a radical ear removal surgery. They would then go in and remove all the pieces to the ear and the bone that it all rests on. Then, the whole area would be sewn shut.

Well, given her drastic improvement after this surgery, we opted to wait until we had to to do that surgery. Next week (April 4, 2003) it will be one year from the date of that surgery and she is still going strong. I have to take her in every other month or so just to have the doc look into that ear to see if the growth is back. So far, God has been on our side and allowed us the joy of enjoying her presence in our life.

As for the heartworm treatment...no, we opted not to do it. It's been over two years and we repeated the test last January only to find that she is still positive. However, it has not progressed. It was the same results as before.

Well, if you could meet Hopie today, you'd never guess all that she's been through. None of this has slowed her down. She's estimated to be at least 8 years old and she's still out there chasing those darn squirrels out of her yard! How dare they!!!! :o)

She is truly a pleasure and joy to have around. Due to her precarious health, she will never leave our home until she called back home with God. I've promised her that she will always have everything she needs or could ever want. I promised to spoil her...and that I've truly done! She deserves every bit of it. There is no sweeter dog around.

She is truly a lesson in perseverence. She has taught me so much about life and living it. We truly miss out on so much when we don't learn to live life to it's fullest. She showed me that's truly important to make the best of today and the gifts that God gives you....for you never know if tomorrow will ever come.