Alena Passes a Milepost

Alena, our blind hospice girl, enjoyed a 2 year anniversary in her foster home last week.  You may remember that Alena came in to rescue with 3 other dogs who were in very, very sad shape.  The WI 4, as they were known, have all passed away in the meanwhile.  However, Alena--whose skin has been virtually hairless since her owner claimed she had a bad reaction to a vaccine when she was two--keeps trundling along.

Here's what her foster mom had to say about her: 

"So last night we celebrated Alena's 2 year Anniversary with special beefs dinner, followed by her new Cloud Soft Star Treats - both Apple Bacon and Pumpkin Pie (these are an amazing grain free treat especially good for pups with few chompers). Then we lay on the couch and snuggled. Pretty much business as usual for Miz Alena.

Alena has had a lot of setbacks the last two years, but I do feel that for every step back, she takes two steps forward. Progress is slow, but it’s still progress. She has come so far from her perch on death's door 2.5 years ago. She is the last remaining of the WI4 dog, as sadly Cameron, Delton and Tomah have all passed.

We recently switched to a new vet. I really needed to get a new perspective on our gal. The new vet has really taken the time to look at her full history and gives a lot of thought and research to each approach. She put Alena on a low dose of Atopica paired with Ketoconizole and a new shampoo. I noticed an immediate improvement. She had a strange growth on her shoulder biopsied last week – fingers crossed the results are benign. It looks to me to be a papilloma, but better safe than sorry. [Good news!  Diagnosis was benign histiocytoma!]

Her energy level is fantastic and she loves to play with stuffies, follow me around the house and hang out with her buddy Tucker (FBRN grad Lucien). She is very content in her life and really a pleasure to have around. You can hear her coming a mile away as she huffs and puffs about. She is a solid tank of a girl at 28 lbs – the vet swears she’s not fat, just big boned ;)" 

Alena is just one of a number of hospice dogs FBRN has chosen to care for until they pass away.  These dogs are considered unadoptable to the public-- usually for health reasons, but sometimes because of advanced age--and they live with a foster family as a member of the family.  If you'd like to sponsor Alena, or any other of our hospice dogs, you'll find her page at the bottom of our foster page.

We should all be so lucky at the end of life to have a someone so dedicated to our care and comfort, sighs

The Frog Princess