SHIRLEY

(This is how Shirley looked when she arrived from the shelter on 3/7/06)
This is how Shirley looked on 6/8/06 after two months of rehab at CODA

Shirley was a very abused and severly neglected Minature Poodle mix that was left in the night deposit pen
at the Pike County OH Dog Pound
Pike County Dog Pound helped arrange transport to get Shirley safely to rescue so she could
receive the intensive medical treatment she requires
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Shirley's transport from the Dog Pound arrived at our Vet's office on March 7th at 5:00 P.M.

Shirley arrived missing most of the hair on her body as evidenced in the photo's above
Shirley was also very malnourished and weighed in at just 10 lbs.
Shirley also had a terrible infestation of mites in her ears
Shirley's teeth were in pretty bad condition and she was in dire need of a good dental as soon as she was healthy
enough to undergo anethesia.
The injury that sickened us the worst about the suffering poor Shirley has had to endure was the injury to her
ear flap Dr. Brian discovered when examining her
Shirley's one ear had a very large missing section shaped in a circle and Dr. Brian said the injury was the result
of flies laying maggot eggs on Shirley's ear and the maggots eating through Shirley's ear flap
Dr. Brian was able to repair Shirley's ear with surgery so she wouldn't get it caught and rip open
the very end of her ear where the missing circle joined flesh again

Shirley was absolutely starving upon arrival and was very happy we had pockets filled with treats anticipating her arrival

Shirley arrived with Jordon the blind Beagle who CODA also rescued from Pike County Dog Pound
Since we had arranged for Jordon's rescue we decided to also rescue Shirley the same day as she was slated
to be gassed at the shelter due to her many medical issues
Jordon could not stop shaking his head ( photo above) because of the terrible mite infections in his ears
( JORDON'S MEMORIAL PAGE)

Shirley was terrified of humans upon her arrival and kept her tail tucked under and Shirley is VERY hand shy

Shirley received many medications for her many ailments from Dr. Brian and then went to our Main Facility in
Cleveland Ohio for a really good bath and ear cleaning and we also brushed her teeth
We got Shirley settled in for the night after she ate a big dinner and she slept soundly through her first night here at CODA
(The above photos were all taken upon arrival at CODA on March 7th 2006)
UPDATES COMING SOON
Shirley's current documented medical problems

Major Dental Decay
Skin Disorder which may be mange or severe flea dermatitis undetermined right now
Severe Cataract in one of her eyes
Major social rehabilitation needed
Missing ear tissue from maggot infestation

Evaluation for additional medical care needed to determine more about her health status
We will add updated info as we learn more about Shirley's health status
We are awaiting the results of Shirley's heartworm test from the lab
First heartworm test came back positive
(We are re-testing to make sure it's not a false positive)
SHIRLEY IS INDEED HEARTWORM POSITIVE
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Shirley's First Vet Bill =$75

DONATIONS NEEDED TO HELP SHIRLEY
Thank you to the following donors who have sent donations for Shirley
Special Thanks to *Julia and Tom Burke- Chicago IL
Ms Janet Korch- McKeesport Pa
Jane Merovitz
Renee Urbanski-Redford MI
Linda Davis- Troy MI
Debra Burger- Youngstown OH
Leanne Bertino
Nelson Soria
Elizabeth Payne

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Shirley is sure appreciating being cared for properly and is tolerating all the ear cleanings
and medications and was a very good girl for that very long first bath

(Photo taken 3.8.06)
Shirley wagged her tail for the first time the morning of March 8th:)
Shirley is eating very well and drinking plenty of water
Shirley has made friends with two of the cats here at our main facility since she is still in
quarantine and can't meet the other dogs yet.

UPDATE 3/10/06
Shirley is definately heartworm positive. Dr. Brian found many live microphilia in her blood when examining it today
under his microscope.
Our gameplan for Shirley is to work on restoring her to better health for the next two weeks before beginning any
heartworm treatments. Shirley needs to gain weight and overcome her skin infections before we can subject her to
heartworm treatments safely.
Shirley is a totally different dog already after a few short days of proper nutrition, medication and lots of
gentle grooming, cleaning and loving care
Shirley gained 1.8 lbs since Wednesday when she arrived at CODA
Shirley is now wagging that pretty tail of hers when her caretakers are near and she's also smiling a lot:)
She's still pretty handshy but is learning to trust quickly
(Updated photo's coming soon)
Shirley's second Vet Visit =$21.00
UPDATE March 19th 2006

( Photo's taken 3/19.06)
Shirley's skin has improved wonderfully over the past 12 days
Shirley received her second bath today and was very relaxed and seemed to enjoy it very much
Shirley has made friends with Spooky the cat who is pictured eating some of Shirley's food
out of her dish in her crate while Shirley is busy posing for these update photos!
Shirley lost her right eye tooth the other evening. It was very loose upon arrival at CODA
and fell out while brushing her teeth. She seems to feel much better now that the loose tooth
isn't interfering with her ability to eat.
Shirley's ear infections are cleared up
Shirley has gained over 2.5 lbs since her arrival
Shirley is much more trusting of her caretakers and wags her beautiful tail all the time now
Shirley is still very hand shy and skittish but doing wonderfully at learning to trust
human beings again since she's been here at CODA.

UPDATE 3/26/06
Shirley weighed in at 15 lbs today at the Vets office a 5 lb gain since her arrival at CODA
Shirley stayed today to be put under anethesia to have her much needed dental work done
While Shirley was under anethesia Dr. Brian also repaired her ear flap where the maggots
had eaten through her ear.
Dr. Brian also did several puncture skin biopsies while Shirley was anesthesized
so we can determine what is causing her skin issues
Shirley's skin scraping tested negative for demodex mange so we won't know more
as to what is causing her skin problems until her biopsy results come back from the lab on thursday
Dr. Brian thinks we need to let Shirley heal and get healthy and strong before starting her
adulticide heartworm treatments but Shirley will start taking Heartgard tabs in the meantime
in order to lower the count of microfilia in her blood and prevent more adult heartworms from forming
until Shirley is healthy enough to survive the adulticide heartworm treatments.
Shirley is currently on antibiotics for the next ten days following her dental work
Total Vet Cost for Today =$335.00
(We will post updated photo's of Shirley's ear repair once she's feeling a little better)
Special Thanks to *Janice Burke- Chicago IL
(*For her very generous donation to cover all of Shirley's costs to date)

UPDATE 4/3/06
Shirley's skin biopsies revealed that she doesn't have any contagious skin diseases
Shirley does suffer from several allergies and the strangest thing that was found in her skin biopsy was
embedded plant material specifically plant material of a thorn type variety
This is indicative of Shirley being forced to live outdoors laying on old brush or plant matter which
eventually started embedding itself into her skin follicles
Shirley will continue on antibiotics along with very frequent baths with a medicated shampoo
to help improve her skin condition and help her fur grow back in.
UPDATE 4/15/06
Shirley had the stitches removed from her ear repair surgery yesterday morning and her
ear is healing very nicely.

Dr. Brian was very impressed with Shirley's recovery and thought
she was strong enough for her first heartworm treatment . So Shirley received her first of 3
heartworm treatments yesterday morning at 8:30 a.m. and is doing very well today.
Because of the severe neglect and abuse Shirley has suffered Dr. Brian is being very careful
about doing the heartworm treatments in smaller doses spaced a month apart so we can ensure
that Shirley survives the heartworm treatments
The cost of Shirley's first heartworm treatment was $100
Thank you to Mary Minor of Chesterland OH for her donation which paid for Shirley's
first heartworm treatment today!

UPDATE 4/18/06
Shirley continues to do great after her first adulticide heartworm treatment
Shirley is eating well and enjoying resting on her comfortable dog bed
Shirley especially enjoyed a little taste of Easter Ham over the holidays
UPDATE 5/20/06
Shirley is feeling really great now and she has regrown fur over most of her body
Shirley's hair on her head was starting to cover her eyes so Shirley had her first grooming appointment yesterday
and Shirley was a very good girl for her first professional grooming
Shirley was feeling so good that she attended an adoption event with the other CODA dogs
at the K MART store on Brookpark Rd

Shirley received a lot of petting, loving and attention from our CODA Volunteer Jon
at the event!
UPDATE 5/22/06
Shirley received her second heartworm treatment today and has to have the last treatment tommorrow
Shirley was in a lot of pain after her heartworm medication injection.
Heartworm treatments are VERY PAINFUL as a large needle has to be inserted into the dogs spine
in order to direct the medication to the heart area to kill the heartworms
The pain was so intense that Shirley was shaking and we could just see the pain in her eyes for the first few hours
after her treatment.
By 7 this evening Shirley was feeling substancially better and ate her dinner and even enjoyed a few teaspoons
of nice cold vanilla ice cream
UPDATE 5/23/06
Shirley received her last heartworm treatment injection this morning.
Shirley did eat her breakfast before leaving for the Vet's office and spent a few minutes outside to potty before leaving
Shirley was very scared and trembling when we arrived at Dr. Brian's office
We explained to Shirley that this was the LAST shot she had to get that would hurt so bad
Shirley was very stoic and a real trooper for her injection today and Dr. Kayla also gave Shirley
an injection of rimadyl to ease the pain of the injection
Shirley is resting well and not in as much pain as yesterday but still in obvious pain
Shirley is on strict bedrest orders for the next six weeks
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We've rescued a lot of dogs but Shirley has touched our hearts in a way that is unexplainable
Shirley had suffered so much abuse and neglect prior to coming to CODA
NO COMPANION ANIMAL SHOULD SUFFER LIKE THIS AT THE HANDS OF HUMANS
And now Shirley must suffer through the pain of her treatments and recovery
Please keep Shirley in your prayers as we keep her resting and in recovery from her Heartworm treatments
UPDATE 6/8/06
Shirley is doing fabulous


Shirley is still on bed rest but is feeling much better and is smiling a lot these days!
Thank you to everyone for your prayers, donations and support which enabled us to help Shirley
have a new improved life
Soon Shirley will be ready to start taking applications for a new family to love and care for her
UPDATE 6/15/06
Shirley presented with worms today. Shirley tested positive for whipworms and hookworms
and received a 3 day panacur treatment
Cost=$30

UPDATE 7/1/06

Shirley is doing fantastic. All her fur is completely grown back in and she has a gorgeous
curly thick undercoat that looks Bijon-ish
Shirley has learned to walk up the 4 steps by herself to come back inside after going out in the play
area to exercise and potty
Shirley still hasn't learned to walk "DOWN" the steps yet but we're still working on that with her.
Shirley is coming along fairly well in her potty training as long as she's kept on a set feeding schedule

Shirley had her first shopping adventure at a local Petsmart store the other day
and she seemed to quite enjoy exploring the store and meeting people
Shirley was also very excited the other day when she received a package from her poodle friend Isabelle in Chicago IL
Shirley's suprise package was filled with lots of tasty soft dog treats which she's really enjoying!
Shirley will go back to see Dr. Brian July 7th for a blood test to check the levels of
heartworm microfilia remaining in her blood
It takes several months after Heartworm Treatments before a dog will test completely clear
of the heartworms and their microphilia

UPDATE 7/12/06
Shirley had a follow up visit with Dr. Brian two days ago and we're awaiting the results of her heartworm
serology test. ( There was a mix up due to multiple blood testing methods )Shirley also had a blood sample sent to the
Labratory for a full CBC blood panel. We were concerned because Shirley is experiencing frequent urination
and Dr. Brian was concerned that she may have had a urinary tract infection or an infection in her uterus. It was discovered during Shirley's exam that she is not spayed as Dr. Brian first thought because she is actually going into heat.
So Shirley will need to be spayed prior to being available for adoption
Shirley's blood panel showed no abnormalities which was a relief because Dr. Brian was concerned
she may have been presenting with pyrometra. Shirley's white blood counts were normal
So the bloodwork confirmed that we can safely wait until Shirley's heat cycle is over before spaying her
which is much safer for Shirley and much less costly.

We should have the heartworm serology results back shortly
Shirley was prescribed antibiotics which she'll be taking for the next two weeks and Shirley also received
an antibiotic injection at her vet visit.
Total cost of Vet Visit and Tests=$126.00

UPDATE 8/8/06
Shirley's bloodwork all had good indicators and Shirley is now on monthly heartworm preventative.
Shirley is scheduled to be spayed on 8/14/06
Shirley had been enjoying some swimming and is quite the avid little swimmer
UPDATE 8/14/06
Shirley was spayed today and is back at the rescue and resting.
UPDATE 8/24/06
Shirley's spay stitches were removed today and Shirley continues to do well. Shirley has FINALLY learned to walk down the 4 steps to go outside by herself and actually did a " play bow" and butt wiggle while outside today and then did a short spurt of running and leaping around with a BIG smile on her face.
Shirley is finally learning to become playful and is really coming out of her shell after suffering such horrible abuse in her past
UPDATE 9/23/06
Shirley is feeling great now and she's finally ready for adoption
Shirley has a slight skin flare up which she is on treatment for via antibiotics and prednisone medications
Her skin has exhibited a redish area on her rear end only, probably due to an allergy, per our Veterinarian Dr. Brian
Shirley received a shot today at her vet visit and her medications
Total Vet Bill Today $35

Dr. Brian has a yearly event each September for his non profit organization
called PROJECT NOAH which helps to save animals abandoned at local veterinary offices
or found by good samaritans in need of urgent veterinary care
The yearly event includes a costume contest for the animals and a 1 mile Walk called Cruise for the Critters
Shirley attended and decided to dress as the WIZARD OF WELLNESS!


Zeus attended this year also but Zeus was off kissing all the people in attendance and getting lots of petting
So we were unable to get Zeus to agree to posing for some photo's this year

Shirley's total medical costs for rehabilitation from all her many health issues has cost
over $1100 and Shirley would like to send SPECIAL THANKS to
Julia and Tom Burke of Chicago IL and their adorable( rescued) poodle girl Isabelle
Because without their generosity and ongoing support for Shirley this amazing, miraculous
recovery would have been a real hardship for C.O.D.A. financially

If you can help us to defray the costs of saving Shirley or any of our other dogs in rescue
please click on the button below:

We are seeking a home for Shirley in a special needs dog experienced home

FENCED IN YARD IS MANDATORY
Experience with shy, withdrawn dogs preferred
ADOPTION APPLICATION
Shirley's adoption fee is $250.00
ADOPTED

Shirley has been adopted by a wonderful new Mom and will be living in Parma Ohio
with her new Mom and her guinea pig furbrother Douglas!

 

 

 

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Or send check or money order to:

CODA
P.O. Box 44092
Brooklyn, Ohio 44144