Delilah's Operation Fund - GOAL REACHED!

Amazing!!! We reached Delilah's goal and then some!!! Thank you so so SO much to everyone who contributed. Words can not express the feeling. We are over joyed to know that she is finally going to be pain free and able to do the things she desperately wants to do. Like run and play with other dogs and jump up on the human bed! She is going to get her second chance at life and that is a beautiful thing. Thank you all for making it possible!!

Surgery is scheduled for Thursday, June 6th. I will post updates through surgery and recovery here on her blog! Stay tuned. 

Any remaining funds received will go towards the work of the incredible rescues I foster for, Bff4Pets and Pretty Good Cat. 

Contribute to Delilah's Operation Fund?

If you can afford to contribute to Delilah's operation fund we know she would greatly appreciate it! Though she puts on a brave face the Vet assured us she is definitely in constant pain from this injury. This is her last hurdle to overcome before she reaches her happy ending! Thank you so much for any contribution. Anything helps!!

http://www.gofundme.com/30itm8

The Big Vet Visit!

In the car on the way to the Vet.

Delilah's broken hip.

On Tuesday the 21st of May, Delilah was finally well enough to return to Desert Dunes Animal Hospital to see Dr. Conner, the same Veterinarian who examined her the day after she was first rescued on April 23rd. Dr. Conner was very pleased with all of her progress. Her neck wound is completely healed and she is worm free and so much more alive and healthy. 

She was taken to the back to have her right hip x-rayed once again and we waited for the news. We were slightly concerned that the recommendation could be for amputation. So although there was not any significant improvement from when she was last x-rayed, we were relieved to find out that Dr. Conner thought her broken hip could be improved with surgery. 

Click the link below to see a video of Dr. Conner explaining her injury and the operation she will need...

Click Here to watch a video of the Vet explaining Delilah's X-Rays and Surgery Plan

Snake bite is all healed!

Delilah's neck wound from the rattlesnake bite is healed!

Delilah is an Excellent Foster Mama!

Lately on our days off we have been helping out Bff4Pets Rescue by looking after some of their puppies for a night or two at a time. Delilah has really been enjoying this because she was a mama and was so not ready for her puppies to leave her when they did. 

Here she is a mama who lost her babies and here are these orphan puppies looking for some mama love. Perfect! She played with them, watched over them, picked them up and moved them around. It was really a beautiful thing to watch. 

Here are some pictures of Delilah being a great foster mama...

Toy Piles and a Collar

Delilah has some silly tendencies. Now that she has learned that toys are for playing with and picking up in your mouth she has decided to pick them all up, all the time. The funniest thing she does is carry them all out into the backyard through the dog door and pile them up on the grass in the same spot, everyday. We aren't sure why she does this. Maybe she is reverting back to when she carried her pups around and hid them in drainage pipes? Who knows. But it is kind of cute. 

Big news this morning! Delilah is now wearing a collar! And not just any collar...She is wearing the collar of my very first dog, Sky. She doesn't know it, but in my book this is a pretty big honor. It looks good on her. We are going to get her a tag tomorrow with our phone number on it. We want to be sure she can be returned if heaven forbid she were to get lost somehow. When she goes back to the vet in a few weeks she will be microchipped but we want to be on the safe side until then. 

How do I look? :)

The Healing Wound and the Plan for Her Leg

Delilah's healing is going so well. Her rattlesnake bite wound is almost healed. We have stopped spraying the medicine on it. We are allowing it to dry out and scab. 

This picture was taken on May 4th.

The only real issue remaining is her right rear hip which is badly broken as a result of accidentally being ran over on the fruit orchard. Amazingly there are moments when you wouldn't even guess that anything was wrong with her leg. But then there are moments after she plays to hard or jumps on or off of something and she wont even put weight on it. We do the best we can to keep her from further injuring herself. But we are still unsure  as to what will be done about her leg. 

The Vet who took her x-rays and examined her called Cathy on Saturday the 4th, to check on her progress. His opinion is that we should have her rest for two more weeks and then bring her in to have the leg re evaluated. In the meantime we will be giving her Glucosamine Chondroitin daily. This is given for cartilage development and joint health. Hopefully it will aid in the healing process of her hip fracture.

Delilah's Puppies

If you read Delilah's rescue story, you know that she is a mama. She had recently given birth to a litter of puppies and encountered the rattlesnake a few weeks after her pups were born. Somehow a rescue group in Thermal found out about a sickly mama dog that had been bitten by a rattlesnake and her litter of puppies living on a grapefruit orchard. This rescue group contacted another rescue group for help because at the time they did not have the funds necessary to rescue a dog in need of that kind of medical care, let alone a litter of puppies. 

A rescue group from Palm Desert made the journey to Thermal and traveled several dirt roads to the location of Delilah's puppies. She had been stashing them in a pile of drainage pipes to shield and protect them from the heat. 

Sadly, this rescue group retrieved Delilah's puppies and despite the fact that they were well informed about Delilah's existence and more than likely saw her and her condition that day, they left her behind wounded and sick to fend for herself. They collected her four adorable puppies and left her grieving their loss, limping, and suffering in pain. Our opinion is that this just shouldn't have happened. 

Thankfully, the rescue group in Thermal found out that Delilah had been left behind and contacted Cathy of Bff4Pets. Cathy rushed to Thermal as quickly as she could and rescued sweet Delilah and the rest of the story has already been told here in previous posts. 

But this weekend the rescue group that took Delilah's puppies held an adoption event nearby and we attended. We immediately searched the room for puppies and after a few short minutes we spotted them. 

By the time we had arrived only three of her puppies remained and two of them were in the process of being adopted. We did not reveal ourselves to be the fosters of Delilah. We instead expressed interest in the last unclaimed puppy and were even able to hold him. 

One of Delilah's pups who clearly takes after his daddy.

We couldn't help but question the representative from the rescue. We were hoping they would tell their side of the story and we would come to find out that they weren't able to rescue Delilah that day because of circumstances beyond their control. We hoped to hear an explanation. Maybe they would explain that they had made plans to return and rescue the mother but they found out she was already rescued. We were so disappointed and disheartened when the representative lied right to our faces. 

"What do the parents of these puppies look like?" we asked. 
-Oh the mother we know for sure looks just like this puppy and she is around 30 pounds. But we aren't sure about what the father looks like. 

This is the puppy that was described as
"looking just like the mother".

"Is the mother here for adoption as well?" we asked.
-No. As far as I know the foster is going to keep the mother. 

"Oh how nice. Did the same foster have the mother and all of her pups?" we asked.
-Yes. They have all been fostered together. The puppies have had a pretty normal up 
bringing.

We left without confrontation. At this point the puppies were being adopted and Delilah was safe at our home. But I hate to think of what would have happened to her if it were not for that rescue in Thermal and Cathy of Bff4Pets. 

After seeing her litter of puppies we went home and reviewed the video that Cathy had sent us from the rescue. There were several other healthy dogs roaming the property that day. We paused the video and looked at them in search of the father of the puppies. We were able to find who we believe is a prime suspect. :) 

This is a still from the video of Delilah's rescue.
He is more than likely the father of her pups. 

Delilah and two pictures I snapped of her look-a-like
pup at the adoption event.

Another one of her pups at the adoption event.

Feeling Good and Learning to be a Pet

Delilah has really transformed from the first night we received her. She turned into a totally different dog in the matter of days. The only way I can really describe it is that it was like watching something be reborn. 

We are almost positive that she has never really been someone's "pet" before. When she was rescued she was living outside on a fruit orchard, just roaming the land. According to the farm workers she just "showed up one day". 

She had so many things to learn about the life of a "pet dog". She has learned what a toy is and what it is for. She has learned what treats are and is responding to the word "treat". She has learned how to use a dog door and sleep on a dog bed. She has learned what bathing and brushing are. 

She has such a happy and bright personality. When we come home she is so excited that her tail literally spins in circles like a helicopter. She wiggles and squiggles with glee. 

Here are some pictures of Delilah on the mend and becoming a happy girl...

Delilah and Her Foster Siblings

We wondered if Delilah would get along with Drake and Claire (our dogs) when she started to feel better and got her personality back. We were pleasantly surprised to find that she really enjoys their company and companionship. 

The only tricky part has been making sure she doesn't romp and play with them too hard or too much. Sometimes she forgets that her leg is fractured in two places.

Give us the treat!

No dog bed is as good as the people bed!

Hard to get them to hold still.

Playing outside with her foster brother.

Finally everyone holding still and looking at the camera!

Delilah Starts to Feel Better!

After a few days of resting and recovering Delilah finally started to feel better. She regained strength and began to follow me anywhere I go. Which meant no carrying her or forcing her outside or inside. In fact she started to really enjoy going outside. These are some of her very first smiles with us...

Delilah's Movie Trailer!!!

Just for fun, we used iMovie to make a mock movie trailer for the story of Delilah's rescue...

Click Here to watch Delilah's Movie Trailer!!!

We plan to make a longer video in the future that tells her story from rescue to adoption. 

Delilah Received Donations!

Delilah's story has been posted on several different Facebook pages having to do with rescuing animals. As a result of this she received some donations from a very generous woman named Arlene. Cathy brought the donations over to our house. 

She received a really soft and beautiful Serta Memory Foam bed and a super soft and luxurious blanket. This was amazing for her because the only extra bed we had that wasn't already occupied by our two dogs was a bit too small for her and did not provide nearly enough cushion for her broken hip. 

Delilah took to her new bed immediately. :)

She was also donated an entire case of this special food to help her build back up her nutrition and gain weight. It smells awful but luckily she loves it. :)

No More Worms, Time to Gain Weight!

It is incredible that Delilah was able to survive against so many odds. All at the same time, Delilah's body was fighting the effects of rattlesnake venom, producing milk for nursing puppies, and competing with worms that were consuming most of the nutrition from her food. It takes a strong will to live to be able to keep from wasting away under those conditions. Not to mention the pain of a fractured hip and knee.

Delilah was officially worm free by day three! She was eating well and food was passing through normally. Her weak body could finally absorb the nutrition from the food she eats. This was great news because it meant we could begin the task of putting weight on her tiny emaciated frame.

Once all of the bloating from the worms had gone down we were able to see just how under weight she really was.

Bloated Delilah

Delilah after the bloating went away.

We suspect that a healthy weight for her would probably be between 30-35 pounds. We weighed Delilah for the first time on her third day with us. 

She weighed in at just 24 pounds. :(

Day Two With Delilah

On the morning of our second day with Delilah she was already showing great signs of improvement. The tail wagging continued! It was done in brief spurts but it was definitely a good sign.

She also started to lick us on day two. This is a pup's way of showing affection. Doggie kisses! We welcomed the gesture. Most importantly, this signified that she understood our intentions and we were earning her trust. 

The rattlesnake bite wound had been treated at the vet. They shaved her fur around the wound, cleaned it out well, and cut off the dead tissue surrounding it. But it still looked pretty awful. Again, if you are squeamish don't look closely...

We were given a supply of antibiotics to give her twice a day. We also had a medicated spray to treat the wound with. But it was oozing and crusting and needed to be cleaned once more. I filled a bowl with warm water and I was able to use a warm wet washcloth to clean it up. She was so sweet and patient. She did not whine or snap or shy away. She behaved as if she knew I was helping her to heal. 

Delilah slept for long periods of time through out that second day. I worked on encouraging her to walk outside instead of being carried. Slowly she started to walk in after me when I would go into the house. Several times during the day I would take her out to my front yard and just sit with her on the grass in the sunshine. Outside in the sunlight I could see how much of her wound had oozed on to her fur around her neck. As the day wore on I noticed that she was uncomfortably itchy. 

I made the decision that she was strong enough to endure a quick bath.

Having her first bath.

Drying in the sunshine after her bath.

After her bath I realized she had probably never been bathed before. Then it dawned on me that she had probably never been brushed either. She held still and let me brush her for about 15 minutes. I think she liked it. 

I pulled clump after clump after clump of red fur out of that brush. 

We have also pulled 5 ticks off of her to date. 

All of that bathing and grooming was exhausting!

As day two was winding down Delilah received her first present. This was the first thing purchased especially for her. Something to call her own. She had no idea what to do with this purple stuffed monkey squeaky toy. She had more than likely never had a toy before. She did not pick it up in her mouth. She did not squeak it. She really didn't care about it at all. But we wanted her to know it was hers. So as she slept we placed it in her arms and because she cared so little, she left it there. :)