Daisy, about 4-5 month old, shortly after she came to us, Summer 2003

Daisy, resting on the comforter that nearly killed her.

Daisy, March 2004 still feeling great and ready for a walk.

Daisy departed in April and we miss her lively, loving nature very much.

Daisy's Story

Daisy, a beautiful Staffordshire mix puppy girl, came during the hot summer 2003 by herself. She wondered forlorn between front and back gate where our dogs run, looking for companionship.  A piece of chewed off leash was still attached to a harness that was too small for her.  Her ears were black and crusty with fly bites.  Her eyes and nose goopy with yellow discharge and she was very skinny.  An hour later we had her at the veterinarian clinic.  Blood tests and lung x-rays were taken and our vets just shook their heads.  There was little hope, if any.   Her lungs were so filled with fluid that she could barely breathe.  She was put on antibiotics, dewormed  vaccinated, and thoroughly cleaned.  Daisy was always  very tired and slept a lot.  Two days later, when she was taken outside to do her business and play a little, she fainted from lack of oxygen.  For the next week, she had to breath in about 5 minutes worth of carefully measured oxygen,  every couple of hours and after she was outside, she couldn't handle the heat even for a few minutes.  In addition her immune system was so run down that she broke out with Demadex mites.  Ivermectin took care of that.

Several months of antibiotics and a nebulizer in conjunction with homeopathic remedies and herbal teas finally got Daisy well enough that she could be spayed.  The anesthesia was not as hard on her lungs as we feared, and she was soon well enough to be enrolled into basic obedience classes.  Daisy was very exited about school and all the other dogs who were there to learn to be good citizens.  She only got to go two times.

Daisy was not meant to have it easy.  For months she had slept on a comforter.  She had chewed on everything else but never the comforter.  Then one day she must have been especially bored, she tore it to shreds and swallowed part of it.  The consequences were terrible.  When our veterinarian opened her bowels where the x-ray showed bulk, he found thread going up into the stomach; so he had to open up the stomach.  When he tried to remove the thread from the stomach Daisy's head started nodding.  A thin invisible nylon thread had looped around the underside of her tongue and kept the other materials from being processed and had pulled the bowels up like an accordion.  But she survived the surgery.  After a month of homemade stomach diet she was finally ready to start obedience school again and doing great.  She was full of life and energy. 

Three weeks later, on a nice spring afternoon, she was let outside to  play and enjoy the sun.  After a little while she stopped playing, sat down and started gasping for breath.  This time nothing helped.  X-rays showed scar tissue but no liquid.  Lung dialators and extra oxygen to help her breathe had no effect.  We tried every remedy possible.  After a few days, she was unable to sleep anymore, we would sit up all night holding her head so she could strain for air.  It became clear we had lost the fight.  We will never forget our little Daisy girl.

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