Fancee

Born 4/24/1991 Passed 12/10/2004

aka Fanceebaby, aka Wobble Bobble Baby

Please visit Fancee at the Rainbow Bridge Fancee at the Rainbow Bridge

Fancee is my newest addition (4/11/2004). So far I have no real info on her except her past year or so. The information I have on her, came from the gentleman who runs the rescue in another city. Below is the ad I first saw when looking through Petfinders

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Fancee is a very sweet senior (13 years old) oldie but goodie sheltie. She was turned into our program by her owner who was being evicted from her house and was in a crisis situation. Because of finances, Fancee was having a lot of trouble getting regular dog food. In fact, she was actually being fed cheez-Its , cheap canned dog food, and sweet snack crackers.. This resulted in a severe "diaper rash", diarrhea, and quite possibly obesity. She currently weighs almost 35 pounds and this is about twice what she should weigh. She basically waddles when she walks. When she gets down to her desired weight she will be on the small side for a sheltie but that is going to take several months at least. She is on the shy, laid-back side but she is responsive to her name. She has a beautiful coat. She is very housetrained but currently gets a little "messy" back there because of her weight. Still, Fancee is such a sweetie. She would do best in a quieter type home. She has gotten along fine with our other dogs and we suspect she would be fine with a cat. The vet thinks she is in good shape but she does periodically have a cough. Fancee has been spayed and she is current on her vaccinations.

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Fancee apparently has some issues with walking. The rescuer said that Fancee was so obese and her toenails had not been cut in so long, they were curling under and off to the side. Combined with her weight when first rescued, the poor creature could barely walk. She also has some swelling near her back hips, which I am attributing to weight. Fancee is a sweetie however. She had not been bathed or groomed from what I was told and when they picked her up, she stunk and was filthy. Right now she has a beautifully soft coat and is gorgeous. My dogs seem to enjoy her company, and she has already expressed an opinion on Yoda...she does NOT like him. I took Fancee to my vet for a complete medical exam and discovered poor Fancee has giardia and is now on medications for that. Her poor little back legs are in horrible shape because of the excessive weight she was carrying around for so long. The only way to describe what has happened simply, is that she is walking on her elbows. She was put on a non-steroid medication along with glucosamine to help strengthen her back legs. I am walking her twice daily for short distances as well. The vet says once she loses about 8-9 more pounds and we continue to walk her, she should recover well. She does have cataracts, but still has about 85-90% of her vision intact. The vet was appalled at her previous diet (1/8 cup of food a day), and has agreed with what I am currently feeding her (1/2 cup twice daily, of a diet dog food and fresh vegetables). As soon as Fancee gets a little stronger, and the giardia is cleared up, she is going to get her teeth cleaned. I was trying to determine which end of her smelled worse at this point...and it is a tie.

Recently Fancee has picked up a few of my other kids bad habits. Fancee only ever barked once after I got her...now she has joined the others in the barkathon. When I come home and she hears the car, she starts barking up a storm, drowning out the other loudmouths, She also has decided that the morning 1/2 hour allotted "snuggle" time for each kid, must be changed for her. She wants an hour to herself. Lord forbid I cut her off after 1/2 an hour..she barks and starts waving one paw then the other in the air, and will continue to do so until you stop everything to give her that extra 1/2 hour. And NO...my kids do NOT have me wrapped around their cute little paws...I prefer to think of them having a "well trained" mom. I have started doing some stretching exercises on Fancee's back legs and front paws. She has a lot of calcium buildup around her joints and it was causing some stiffness. At first she wasn't real happy with all this stretching and moving of her legs, now she comes looking for it. She is moving along so much better now, she can almost keep up with the other dogs when they are walking. I have a feeling that Fancee may have been crated at the rescuers home, and now she has all this space and area to walk in, she is moving around a lot more. When I first brought her home she would sleep and lay in any small confined area, which lead me to think that she had been crated. Fancee has now picked up on barking at certain noises like Rachie and Yoda do, and she loves to bark at me when she is feeling neglected, or I stop petting and paying attention to her. I think I have created a monster here Fancee is now jumping up on the daybed all by herself. This to me is a miracle, considering all the trouble this poor baby has had walking. I have been massaging her legs and stretching them several times a day, and although she is walking so much better, I never expected her to be jumping up on things. She was rewarded with a milk bone (since she is dieting, this is a real treat for her) Fancee is also now down to 26.5 lbs from the 29lbs she was at less then a month ago when I got her :) I am so happy!!!!

Update 12/2/2004-Fancee went to the vet today because she is having problems breathing and is coughing worse then ever. The vet took some X-Rays and did some blood work. It appears that Fancees little heart is twice the size it should be. The right side of her heart is very enlarged and her little esophagus is shaped more like a banana, then straight and parallel to her spine. The blood work indicates her little tiny kidneys are also not working as well as they should. Fancee is now on heart meds, a bronchodialator, and Lasix. She is coughing less, but is also sleeping all the time. The vet contacted the vet who Fancee saw when she was in the Rescue groups care and found out that he was aware of the heart condition, but did not have Fancee on the meds he had prescribed (very costly), thus causing further damage to her heart. It is now a wait and see game, but the vet is not very optimistic

Final Update 12/10/2004 I went to see Fancee at the hospital and it was horrible. She could barely hold her little head up. She was in apparent congestive heart failure, Fluid was building up in her lungs and she could hardly breath. Her little kidneys had completely shut down. As soon as I saw her I knew she should not be put through any more. I told Fancee it was time for her to let go, I told her how much I loved her and all the joy and love she had brought in my life. Before she went she lifted her little head and touched her nose to mine. Fancee laid her head on my arm, and was put to sleep. No more suffering for my dear little angel

Please read the poems at my page

This is a letter I gave to my vet when he asked me why Fancee had left such a mark on my heart

Dr Laudonio,

I first off want to thank you for your kindness, understanding and patience with me while taking care of Fancee in her last days.

You asked me how Fancee could have made such a mark on me, since I had only had her for 8 months. I would like to explain why she did. When I first read Fancee’s story and the things she had been going through for months before being taken in by the rescue group she was living in, I knew I could help this little creature. The rescue group had her for 6-8 months and no one wanted to adopt this sweet girl. She was old, got messy in her backside area and needed a lot of special work, no one wanted to bother with her. Although at that time I was not aware of the fact she was a “mini-sheltie” destined for medical problems a regular sheltie would not have, I wanted to help her. I applied for adoption and was approved after a month, and drove up to Phoenix on Easter Sunday to get her. As soon as I laid eyes on her I knew I was going to love this little baby. Her face was so sweet and adorable it was hard to see her little deformed legs and the time and energy she would need. Upon returning home with her, she settled in so quickly, she made herself right at home and my other “kids” accepted her right away.

I brought her in to be checked at the hospital there the week I got her, so I would know what things I could to help with her diet, and walking. I was advised to exercise Fancee and put her on a better diet, . So I started walking Fancee, massaging her little legs and treating her to exercises in the hot tub. Fancee took all this in stride and never once complained. She started to walk better and was almost able to keep up with the other dogs. Fancee was always the center of attention here. When it was time to eat Fancee would wobble her way into the kitchen to supervise the disbursement of the food. If you were going to slow she would bark her little bark and move in closer. If you sat on the floor Fancee was the first one to come up and sit right next to you, and give your arm a lick to let you know she was there. Whenever Fancee came looking for a little extra attention she would sit in front of you and wave her little paw at you or roll over on her back and wave both little paws, until you obliged. When she wanted a drink she would go to the water bowl and wait until whoever was there to leave, giving them their space. She never tried to steal the other dogs food like my others did, and if she got a milk bone treat she would put it in her mouth and hold it there for a minute, looking like she was smoking a cigar. In the summer she would lay right on top of the AC vent waiting for it to come on and cool her off. One of my other dogs did this also, but when Fancee wanted to lay on the vent he gladly let her. Every time I had to wash Fancee’s little backside because she could not “squat” well when relieving herself, she tolerated the washing and shavings we had to do back there…without as much as a peep. Whenever company came over Fancee was the first one to the door to greet them, wagging her little deformed tail. Anyone who met our little Fancee always wanted to take her home. Her sweet face with those little blonde lashes and wonderful demeanor stole many hearts. When it was bed time Fancee would wobble into my room and laid directly next to my side of the bed on the floor, but not before a quick little Fancee kiss on my nose.

This is why Fancee was so special to me, and why it was so hard to make the decision to end her suffering. She moved right into my heart the very first day I saw her and left such a mark there, that it broke my heart to lose all she offered. I hope this explains why her passing was so very very hard, and why I loved her so much.

I cannot thank you enough for all you did and tried to do for my little Fancee. God Bless you

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