Love of My Life

We have an ongoing joke at work when a new animal comes in that it's the new "love of my (your, her) life." There is usually about one per week and it's almost always some pathetic animal that needs a lot of work before they are cute and/or adoptable.

Which leads me to Ellie--the love of my life for January/February!



Ellie came in as a stray with severe demodex, similar to Babar. She is an Old English Bulldogge (kind of a mix between your typical English Bulldog and the larger American Bulldog). In addition to the demodex, she also has severe pyoderma and entropion. Pyoderma is a bacterial infection in the skin causing that lovely yeasty smell, swollen skin and bloody/oozy discharge. Entropion is a typical problem in wrinkly faced dogs, where the eyelids curve in and cause the eyelashes to lay and rub against the eyeball. Yes, that is as painful as it sounds!!

Ellie needs a lot of work. She's on a slew of medications, baths, sprays--pretty much anything you can think of, she's on it. Our veterinarians will also need to perform surgery on her eyes. However, we can't even tackle the entropion until her skin improves.

You would think after all she's been through and her multitude of problems, Ellie might have a little attitude. I mean, who would blame her? Well, you couldn't be more wrong. She is the sweetest thing! She wants nothing more than to cuddle with you, which she doesn't quite understand is something that you may not want given her condition! :)

We sent Ellie to foster last week for the duration of her treatment. Her foster mom reports that she is amazing and looks to be improving every day. She even said that her own cat likes to cuddle with Ellie and sleep curled up next to her! Precious!!



I will be sure to post new photos of Ellie as she transforms from an ugly duckling into a (still wrinkly, no longer stinky) swan! I can't wait to see her.