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July 9, 2004 Sally is a 3 year old black and white female. She's unspayed, and just had a litter of pups. We have no idea where the pups are, but they're in a LOT of trouble, as Mom has distemper! Deadly if untreated, and even if treated in time to save the dog's life, it can be devastating later! For those of you that are only vaguely familiar with the canine distemper virus, a "must read" is at: http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/distemper . Sally was probably never vaccinated prior to her illness, which would have made all this completely unnecessary. Her pregnancy probably lowered her immune system's ability to fight. She also has double pneumonia. She had lost nine pounds in the one week prior to hospitalization. She's still in the animal hospital, and has been there for seven days so far. She came from San Bernardino area, but she's been moved to Orange County where her case manager can be closer to her.

This photo should give you an idea of how much weight she's lost. It's frightening!

To save Sally from this insidious disease will cost ESRA a LOT of money. Hospital stays are expensive, and we will really need a lot of people to dig deep for her recovery! Please consider helping out a very nice dog in a lot of trouble!

Update: July 17, 2004 - According to Dr. Chang, Sally's veterinarian, she should be ready to be released from the hospital on Monday or Tuesday. She is now eating over 2 cans of food per day. Nasal discharge is more white than green and lessening. Pneumonia is clearing up. She trots out of her cage, happy to see Dr. Chang (she must know he saved her life), relieves herself in her "designated spot" outside, so it appears she's easily trainable, and she's calm, quiet and nicely crate trained. Oh, and she doesn't "mess" in her crate, either, even as sick as she is.

Dr. Chang did the titers again, expecting them to go up from the exposure, but they have remained exactly the same. It's another excellent sign that she'll recover.

Update: July 21, 2004 -I picked up the "package" from Dr. Chang this evening. We walked her out back for a bit, what a sweetee! She rode quietly in her crate all the way to Nana's house. When we arrived, Nana was sitting on the front porch, impatiently awaiting her ward. When I lifted Sally out of her crate, Nana almost broke out in tears. "She's so thin! What happened to her?" I explained that this is the recovering Sally, a week ago, we didn't know if she was going to make it.

We walked around the front and back yard and then the house. She learned right away where the water dish is. She chowed down one can of food and one cup of dry, amazing appetite!

As for the "she's calm and stays quietly in her crate" comment, well, I beg to differ. She was one excited pup. She wanted to run in the backyard, tried to get me to play tag and jumped up and down and rolled around. She was just as eager to go back indoors and still wanted to play. I cautioned Nana to try to keep her calm for the next few days as she is still recovering but it's easy to see the Springer energy is waiting in the wings. Before I left, I rearranged Nana's room to make way for the crate and introduced Sally to it. After 3 tries, she walked right in.

I think recuperating at the Kramer Ranch will do wonders for Sally AND I think Sally will give Nana some purpose which she's needed since she sent her Corky to the Bridge on New Year's Eve.

We have a follow up with Dr Chang on Friday, the 30th at 9am. I'll keep everyone posted on the patient's progress.

Update: July 27, 2004 -Well, it's been one week since Sally arrived to rest and recover at the Kramer Ranch. We've learned quite a bit about this gal.

For starters, cats. What's the big deal about cats, anyway? A little strange looking, small, furry and squeaky. They share the yard and there's plenty of room for all, so why get all worked up about them?

Sally is quite the lady. Does not jump up on furniture unless invited, is housetrained, completely crate trained, does not bark and is NOT a door dasher! She loves to play and is learning Sit and Down. She does want lots of attention and will jump on us to make sure we don't forget her. She's learning quickly.

Now the down side. At some point in her young life, this girl was beaten. When Nana picks up her cane, Sally will cringe and cower. Nana has been especially cautious not to suddenly move the cane or raise her hand for any reason. One day when I visited, I had picked up a yard stick and Sally cringed again. I put both the cane and yard stick on the ground, sat next to them and called Sally over. I spent quite a bit of time patting the sticks and soothing Sally to show her there was nothing to fear. She finally seemed ok but we are still cautious. It will take time for her to realize she will never, ever have to worry about being hit again.

We don't know how she is around young children, she's only been around my thirteen year old son. Once she's been given a clean bill of health, we'll take her for walks and see how she responds to dogs, traffic and kids.

Each day she seems to be getting stronger and happier. Rescue helped a beautiful girl to find a new life, free from pain and filled with love and happiness.

Update: August 8, 2004 -Sally has paid another visit to the amazing Dr. Chang and his extraordinary staff. She now weighs in at 41 lbs! Excellent news! She has been dewormed so we are now sure Sally is getting the proper nutrients instead of those nasty parasites, ugh!

Sally is not out of the woods yet, but is progressing nicely. She's still on antibiotics, steriods and a prescription diet. She must stay away from other canines for another 10 days and in another month, she will be re-evaluated to see if she can withstand her much needed spay surgery.

On another note, she barked! Twice! We were starting to wonder about her voice as all we've heard is a growly, rumble or sometimes a whimper if she realizes she's going to be left alone. She is very sensitive to tones in a persons voice. A shouted greeting to a neighbor will cause her to go and hide. Other loud noises don't seem to bother her.

We're still anxious to see how she interacts with other dogs and small children as these are unknown. Due to her sensitivity to loud voices, we're not certain if being around youngsters would be a good choice.
We'll continue to monitor her progress, so stay tuned!

Contact: Lori Griego lori_griego@verizon.net

Click Here To Sponsor Sally

SALLY'S GENEROUS SPONSORS TO DATE:
Nita Watson
Ed Kudrna
Pamela Evenson
Dorine Lunceford	In memory of Mackie and Ben, our first Springers.
Judy Hultquist	In memory of Clancy, who had his Forever Home with my mother, Sally.
Carolyn Molloy	A gift from Cassie and Luke. We're pulling for you Sally!
Beth Sanfillipo	To our friend Sally: Hope you get better soon! Love, Dakota and Candy
Kathleen Engberg	In memory of Toby, Buddy, and Thatcher
Monica Miller	Woo-woo wishes for a speedy recovery from Buddy!
Kathlene Lima Powell	Speedy recovery for Sally, from all her Florida Springer pals.
Cathryne Slaughter	Get well soon!!!.
Dianne Shanley	In memory of Lilian Selden's Avery and my 2 angel boys.
John & Gail Breslin	In memory of our wonderful Molly.
Dianne Edwards	In memory of Frex, Breeze, and Xan, my three angels.
Terry Italia
Pat Taylor	In memory of Billy.
Yvonne Molnar	Spots-A-Lot wishes you Get Well Soon!
CJ Hochevar	In memory of Brownie, you'll always be in my heart.
Colienne and Mike Brennan	In memory of our Sally, who is so greatly missed.