Tale of a Sweet Greyhound...
Hello it's Trevor, pawnouncing our "BARK OF THE MONTH" for April. This is a special story about a bond, between Renee B. and her sweet Greyhound, named Blanca. Her eyes are beautiful and we will be sharing a photo of her at the end.
Congrats, to our "BARK OF THE MONTH" recipient, Blanca, an Italian Greyhound. The following, is that pawmazing story by Renee. BOL
So, Blanca came to me from a lady in Nebraska. I had driven up to get Rocky, my other Greyhound, at the end of January. When Blanca was the appropriate age to be weaned, she came to Orlando. Blanca was flourishing and when she turned 4 months old, she somehow ingested a tiny wire (like the kind on a bread bag tie). Well, this wire somehow got lodged in her duodenum. Blanca wasn't eating much and was still so tiny. She had to have the wire surgically removed, at the same time, they had to do a partial duodenectomy. I was impressed by how STRONG Blanca is. VERY. Well, we made it to the 9 month mark, as it was time for her "routine" spay. After the spay, Blanca wasn't bouncing back like she should have been. In fact, a couple of weeks out, she developed an extremely high fever. We took her to the veterinary ER, they felt like Blanca contracted meningitis after the spay. I wasn't comfortable proceeding with treatment, as they are only available at night. I contacted the University of Florida at Gainesville, as they are the only veterinary school in Florida. I made an appointment and drove her up there. It was about a 90 minute drive and Blanca was sitting on my lap the entire way. I really feared she wasn't going to make it. Well, she needed a spinal tap to confirm the diagnosis. They finished the spinal tap and discovered that Blanca did indeed have what is called steroid responsive meningitis. They got her on a regimen of steroids. They also wanted to give Blanca, a dose of chemotherapy. I was not comfortable giving her that, I just wasn't. I am SO glad that I trusted my instincts, and Blanca made a FULL recovery.
The steroids were not easy. Blanca gained a LOT of weight and was getting plump. After several months on the steroids, I was given the okay to slowly start tapering down. We proceeded to that end.
So, needless to say, Blanca had a very eventful first year of her life. She was more like herself.. Blanca enjoyed playing and fighting with her big brother, Rocky, while he was alive.
We were bopping along in life and Rocky was killed by a car. It was a terrible accident. He had somehow escaped through a spot in the fence I didn't know about, as it was only my third day in a new place.
This deeply affected Blanca. She was in a deep depression for about 3 months. I remember, Blanca would lick these spots on her side for comfort. It was indeed a rough time for Blanca.
Then, just a few months later, she required a dental cleaning. WOW, I was shocked when they told me that she would need to have 23 teeth extracted. I was in a bit of shock and wanted the best for Blanca. We had the surgery done, all those teeth gone in one afternoon.
Blanca ended up with a reaction to the antibiotic, I was back to the veterinary ER with her. It was rather terrifying, but she is so strong and such a trooper. That was in the beginning of 2016. We have enjoyed fairly good health since then. Blanca had to have a small malignancy removed on her eye in 2017, but thankfully that went well and has stay resolved.
The level of emotional support that Blanca provides to me, is beyond compare. I feel calmer and have significantly less anxiety with her in my presence. I didn't have a dog of my own, until about 20 years ago. Blanca is easily the happiest dog I've ever had. She is so loving. She is a bit shy, as Italian Greyhounds tend to be one person dogs. That is one of the reasons, I was drawn to them, all those years ago.
I will add, that she and I traveled across the country in September 2016, Blanca explored the small caves in Wyoming. I was facing my own fears by crawling into these small caves and when I turned around, Blanca was climbing in too, not one to miss the fun.
Blanca has been, such a source of love and comfort.
Blanca is truly deserving of this honor, to be our "BARK OF THE MONTH" recipient for April.
Renee's companion Blanca
So, Blanca came to me from a lady in Nebraska. I had driven up to get Rocky, my other Greyhound, at the end of January. When Blanca was the appropriate age to be weaned, she came to Orlando. Blanca was flourishing and when she turned 4 months old, she somehow ingested a tiny wire (like the kind on a bread bag tie). Well, this wire somehow got lodged in her duodenum. Blanca wasn't eating much and was still so tiny. She had to have the wire surgically removed, at the same time, they had to do a partial duodenectomy. I was impressed by how STRONG Blanca is. VERY. Well, we made it to the 9 month mark, as it was time for her "routine" spay. After the spay, Blanca wasn't bouncing back like she should have been. In fact, a couple of weeks out, she developed an extremely high fever. We took her to the veterinary ER, they felt like Blanca contracted meningitis after the spay. I wasn't comfortable proceeding with treatment, as they are only available at night. I contacted the University of Florida at Gainesville, as they are the only veterinary school in Florida. I made an appointment and drove her up there. It was about a 90 minute drive and Blanca was sitting on my lap the entire way. I really feared she wasn't going to make it. Well, she needed a spinal tap to confirm the diagnosis. They finished the spinal tap and discovered that Blanca did indeed have what is called steroid responsive meningitis. They got her on a regimen of steroids. They also wanted to give Blanca, a dose of chemotherapy. I was not comfortable giving her that, I just wasn't. I am SO glad that I trusted my instincts, and Blanca made a FULL recovery.
The steroids were not easy. Blanca gained a LOT of weight and was getting plump. After several months on the steroids, I was given the okay to slowly start tapering down. We proceeded to that end.
So, needless to say, Blanca had a very eventful first year of her life. She was more like herself.. Blanca enjoyed playing and fighting with her big brother, Rocky, while he was alive.
We were bopping along in life and Rocky was killed by a car. It was a terrible accident. He had somehow escaped through a spot in the fence I didn't know about, as it was only my third day in a new place.
This deeply affected Blanca. She was in a deep depression for about 3 months. I remember, Blanca would lick these spots on her side for comfort. It was indeed a rough time for Blanca.
Then, just a few months later, she required a dental cleaning. WOW, I was shocked when they told me that she would need to have 23 teeth extracted. I was in a bit of shock and wanted the best for Blanca. We had the surgery done, all those teeth gone in one afternoon.
Blanca ended up with a reaction to the antibiotic, I was back to the veterinary ER with her. It was rather terrifying, but she is so strong and such a trooper. That was in the beginning of 2016. We have enjoyed fairly good health since then. Blanca had to have a small malignancy removed on her eye in 2017, but thankfully that went well and has stay resolved.
The level of emotional support that Blanca provides to me, is beyond compare. I feel calmer and have significantly less anxiety with her in my presence. I didn't have a dog of my own, until about 20 years ago. Blanca is easily the happiest dog I've ever had. She is so loving. She is a bit shy, as Italian Greyhounds tend to be one person dogs. That is one of the reasons, I was drawn to them, all those years ago.
I will add, that she and I traveled across the country in September 2016, Blanca explored the small caves in Wyoming. I was facing my own fears by crawling into these small caves and when I turned around, Blanca was climbing in too, not one to miss the fun.
Blanca has been, such a source of love and comfort.
Blanca is truly deserving of this honor, to be our "BARK OF THE MONTH" recipient for April.
She's still my everything. I'm thrilled she's still with me, at almost 14 years old.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we were able to do these stories. We only ended up doing 3, but enjoyed them.
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