Spirit 07-681

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Sponsored by: Carolyn Bailey 

 

 

This is an update and photos of Spirit, who was transported from a Brainerd shelter on December 16. Spirit has been diagnosed with lymphoma, and weighed in at 39.11 little pounds. As the one photo shows, she is barely a bone.

Although it seems not much is known about Spirit's past life, I think she was at one time loved and cared for. She seems to like men - a lot! - and must have belonged to somebody with a pickup truck, as when I put the tailgate on mine down, she ran right over and put her paws up on it.

Spirit gets along fine with my resident cats and dogs, and is a quiet little girl who wants nothing more than a soft toy to carry around and to be next to you. She can do the 3 stairs into my kitchen, but until last night didn't try the stairs to go upstairs, or down into the basement. Last night, though, she made her way up the stairs so she could sleep in my room. Of course, going down this morning was another matter, so (luckily only the 39#!), I carried her back down.

She is now eating like a little piggie, I am mixing canned food with dry, also giving her Nutri-Cal, and high protein dog treats, to put some weight on her (and hopefully she will learn to go DOWN the stairs before she puts TOO much weight on!)

The vet put her on prednisone, to keep her comfortable with the lymphoma. She right now seems to feel fine, other than an occasional cough.

We had our first (leashed, of course) visit to the dog park, and Spirit wore one of my (much larger) dog's winter coats, which looked very cute on her, as she looked like such a little waif in there. I was worried that since she has no fat on her, that she would chill easily. She enjoyed walking around while my dogs played. We've played ball in the backyard a bit, and she will run after it for a bit, then seems to feel she's had enough, so will just stay by my side. Of course, if she GETS the ball, the game is off for awhile until she gets distracted and drops it, much to the frustration of my lab.

Spirit is a wonderful little girl, who I am happy to provide a home and love for, for as long as God allows her to stay here with us.

 

At a Glance #07-681

Golden Retriever Born: June 2003
Female Weight not specified

Status: Deceased

Profile

Sponsored by: Carolyn Bailey 

 

 

This is an update and photos of Spirit, who was transported from a Brainerd shelter on December 16. Spirit has been diagnosed with lymphoma, and weighed in at 39.11 little pounds. As the one photo shows, she is barely a bone.

Although it seems not much is known about Spirit's past life, I think she was at one time loved and cared for. She seems to like men - a lot! - and must have belonged to somebody with a pickup truck, as when I put the tailgate on mine down, she ran right over and put her paws up on it.

Spirit gets along fine with my resident cats and dogs, and is a quiet little girl who wants nothing more than a soft toy to carry around and to be next to you. She can do the 3 stairs into my kitchen, but until last night didn't try the stairs to go upstairs, or down into the basement. Last night, though, she made her way up the stairs so she could sleep in my room. Of course, going down this morning was another matter, so (luckily only the 39#!), I carried her back down.

She is now eating like a little piggie, I am mixing canned food with dry, also giving her Nutri-Cal, and high protein dog treats, to put some weight on her (and hopefully she will learn to go DOWN the stairs before she puts TOO much weight on!)

The vet put her on prednisone, to keep her comfortable with the lymphoma. She right now seems to feel fine, other than an occasional cough.

We had our first (leashed, of course) visit to the dog park, and Spirit wore one of my (much larger) dog's winter coats, which looked very cute on her, as she looked like such a little waif in there. I was worried that since she has no fat on her, that she would chill easily. She enjoyed walking around while my dogs played. We've played ball in the backyard a bit, and she will run after it for a bit, then seems to feel she's had enough, so will just stay by my side. Of course, if she GETS the ball, the game is off for awhile until she gets distracted and drops it, much to the frustration of my lab.

Spirit is a wonderful little girl, who I am happy to provide a home and love for, for as long as God allows her to stay here with us.

 

Updates

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Spirit wanted to show off her winter coat (size "Large Collie"), and to also thank her sponsor Carolyn Bailey for caring about her. This little girl definitely does have "spirit", and now that she is eating regularly and settled into her new routine, she appears no different than any other sweet golden. I'm thrilled to say that, although Spirit hasn't been re-weighed since coming to my house (hope to run by the vet this weekend to do so), her ribs don't look as prominent as they originally did, and although of course still very thin, I think I see and feel some real flesh on a few of those bones.

Last night, Spirit was having great fun trying to get the mouse out of one of those "mouse in a circle" cat toys, and this morning, actually walked UNDER my collie who was standing in her way to get to the water dish. I'm happy to say that the prednisone she is taking isn't causing too much of a problem for her in the way of side effects - just a little minor panting and some increased drinking, but nothing that I feel would make her unduly uncomfortable.

Spirit loves nothing more than being close - so much so, that it is almost impossible to take a step without her being there. Her new brothers lab and collie, and resident cats, have accepted Spirit as part of their family, and Spirit seems to be very happy in her new home. It's very apparent, while on walks, that she still longs for whatever home she had prior to being in the shelter. There are times, when she sees a man, a truck, or stairs leading up to a house on a hill, in any combination, that she very pointedly wants to go there - so much so, that she will sit and momentarily refuse to go in any other direction than where she thinks her old home apparently is. After a few seconds of gentle encouragement, she will continue on our walk, but it is heartbreaking to see that she was at one time so attached to somebody, and still looks for them. But she is doing great, and I haven't even heard her coughing at all. Hopefully Spirit stays feeling this well for quite some time, as it is a joy to see her just be the golden girl she was meant to be.