Thursday, November 16

Lillie Then and Now


Lillie came to us in the midst of labor. Her owner contacted us, our volunteer met him, Lillie was signed into FBRN's custody, then was whisked to a rescue-friendly vet and underwent a C-section within 3 hours. Maybe more remarkably, a foster home willing to take in a neglected, near deaf Frenchie and her 3 lab-mix puppies was found in less time than it takes to tell the story. Lillie has raised her pups, they were placed through a local shelter's listing service while they remained in our volunteer's home, and have all been adopted.
Lillie has undergone ear surgery to remove the detritus of many infections and polyps and to relieve the pain and pressure in her ear. She needs another surgery before she will be placed. Generous FBRN sponsors and donors made Lillie's maternity care and her first surgery possible.

Meanwhile, the cigarette burn on her head and the chemical burns of unknown origin have healed, Lillie has bloomed under the tender care of her foster sibling Murphee and foster mom, and she has learned what it means to be an indoor pet, after living as an outdoor dog and having to fight for every scrap and morsel of food with the other yard dogs.
Though not yet ready for adoption, Lillie grows more confident and beautiful every day. Thank you for all you have done to make her progress possible.
Sincerely,
The Frog Princess

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just look at those eyes - the stories they could tell. I'm so happy to see Lillie thriving. It makes me proud to be part of this organization. (Please give a big pat on the back to Murphee and his mom!)

Anonymous said...

I maintain Lillie to be the prettiest young lady ever!! way to go, beauty! & big, big kudos to your foster mom as well as Murpheee!

Anonymous said...

Such a touching story. Poor little girl, but lucky little girl. Cigarette burn. Wretched humans.

Lillie's story struck a personal note with us. We were "just looking" at petfinder.com and stumbled upon a brindle mastiff boy in New Jersey who had been found wandering loose around an airport. A kind rescue group sponsered him and he got much-needed medical care. His time was up at the shelter, however, and we decided to drive up last week and "just see." Ha ha.

We are the ones with four mastiffs already. Now we have five. Turns out Moby's a very young dog (he was so emaciated and had so many other issues that everyone figured he was a senior). He has a sweet nature and is very smart.

His biggest handicap to overcome is his hearing loss. It looks like he really can't hear a thing; one of his ears had been so infected that the vet who treated him just took all the insides out and sewed the opening shut! The other ear is still super-filthy and we are swabbing it out twice a day as per our own vet's advice. (Moby also had those eyelids that turn inside out, a benign growth on his throat and was heartworm positive! The rescue folks took care of all of this, bless them!)

We were wondering if anyone knows of resources about working with a dog with this sort of handicap. We are starting to use hand signals and Moby keeps a close eye on the other doggies and that helps clue him in. He is so happy and so precious.

All the best from the mastiff FIVE. (Yes, we still hope (maybe in the spring) to grace our pack with a Frenchie who likes great, big friends.)