Meet Pebbles

In case you missed this all unfold yesterday via Tad’s FB, let me start from the beginning.

Louis was supposed to be headed on his way to get me Chipotle. I waited, and waited, and waited ALL day for this. So hungry.

He calls me, and I’m thinking he’s in line and needs to ask a food question, right? Legitimate assumption. Instead, I get, ‘Tiffany…there’s this dog. I can’t leave her.’

‘Wait…you’re not at Chipotle!? LOUIS.’ I was devastated, honestly…I’m literally wasting away at this point. But, then I switch into ‘crazy animal rescue fanatic nutcase’. The usual, how skinny, where are you, is it dying, how many are there, etc. questions flood him.

He describes a skinny dog with what appears to be a broken jaw…or something ‘wonky’…as we both put it. He texts me pictures, and she seemed well fed from the pictures…but, for sure…something weird going on with the mandible (lower jaw).

Louis keeps food in his car for doggies he finds. <3!

We then texted back and forth and tried to determine the possible outcomes. He said to me, 'You always say the one's you’re meant for find you...she found me.'

With that, off I went to meet him with leashes and other potentially needed things to catch the skinny thing (who is MUCH thinner than her pictures let on). The dog ate some and then became scared and started running off. Boyfriend waited by the car...and when she got to a certain distance...she looked both ways and decided to give people another chance. She came back to him and they waited for me to get there. Being a newer person, she was scared and started walking away as soon as I arrived...tail tucked and heart on her sleeve. She kept cowering...rolling over...and walking away some more. She finally let me catch up with her and she rolled over submissively. She got belly rubs while I put a leash on her.

Belly rubs...sneaky leash attack.

Oddly, as I was walking back to my truck...another lady (which is ALSO the same lady who stopped me while I was trying to get Chihtwo, though she doesn't recognize me - thankfully?) had been sitting there (talking to Louis) and had been trying to get Louis to let her take the dog. She had weird points why, but one was that stood out was 'these dogs cost a lot of money' and that her daughter had a rescue of some sort somewhere and would be able to pay for the care the dog needed or something. She seemed...off. Perhaps she was correct and meant well, but...no way is this dog going with you. She trusts me and Louis so far, you haven't even gotten out of your car. -_- I won't betray the dog that way...not for all the money in the world, to be honest.

Notice how her lower lip just...hangs.

So, she came home...she got a warm safe place and some food.

You can sort of see her ribs and shoulder blades protruding.

Fast forward to today, her vet visit or...'bring your dog to work day'...whichever brings her more peace and makes it easier to come to terms with pokes, prods, and the typical humiliating violations that I get paid to do.

The morning started with a quick bonfire of her blankets from the previous night...y'all...this dog's diarrhea could be considered a biological weapon of mass destruction used to wipe out a medium sized country.. Holy moly. No way were we washing those.

The first thing we checked was a fecal…and she has a nice population of hookworms and an overpopulation of whipworms.  The crappy part about whipworms is their life cycle. She will need to be dewormed today, in 3 weeks, and in 3 months (or once a month for three months)...and of course, during this time...potentially leaving her whipworm friends in my yard and wherever she potties to infect more doggy friends. These next few weeks should be fun, right?

Recognize this room? ;)

We then checked her heartworm status, and unfortunately, she is positive. Very very faint positive, but positive. We're going to go ahead and give her Heartworm Prevention vs. the actual arsenic based treatment. The risks and troubles of treatment outweigh the benefits at this point, so we will do the 'off label/controversial' method that many call 'the slow kill method'. The common misunderstanding about the ‘slow kill method’ is that it is NOT a treatment. It does NOT kill heartworms. In fact, the ONLY thing it does is prevent reinfection while the existing heartworms die off on their own. Thus, the misunderstanding has turned this whole ‘method’ into a huge controversy.

We found a spare collar around, so she feels like a 'real' dog.

Now, at the end of the day, we finally managed to get her examined and looked at thoroughly. I mean, it wasn't too difficult...Pebbles like the attention. OR...she was absolutely petrified with fear, it's whichever.

Pebbles' Exam

Dr. Holliday took a LOT of detailed notes on her mouth issue. Every incisor is worn down, almost to pulp exposure, she has a broken canine on the upper jaw and the lower jaw has a canine that has root exposure all the way to the end almost. Her lip has been torn (and healed) from its proper position and is sort of ‘dangling’ there. Did she skid face first across the road? Did she fight and get her lip torn? Not sure. My vote is on face first across the road. Her incisors are worn…she has broken teeth…and her lip and gums are ‘degloved’ in a sense. But, we don’t really know…we can only assume. However, how do we fix it? Not entirely sure, to be honest. Sure, you can go chopping away and resew and repin…but, do we NEED to? Dr. Holliday is researching this. Usually, if the ‘degloving’ is within 24 hours, you do go in surgically and repair. However, this thing is long gone and healed. So, what now? I’ll keep you updated.

You can see how the lip is detached from the rest of her gums. Go look at your dog's mouth, and then look at this picture, to better understand the detachment. You can also see how ALL her incisors are ground down.

Her upper right canine is broken, but no pulp exposure yet.

You can see how far the lip is detached here...as well as how much of her lower canine root is exposed. The gums on the incisors should be there on the canine, too.

So moving down the body, Dr. Holliday gets to Pebbles’ belly and makes a weird face while palpating (mashing and moving guts around). All day, we had been joking that she looked pregnant and Louis was going to get an earful for ‘picking’ this one. Hahaha. But, jokes aside…this was serious. There was something inside.

Dr. Holliday couldn’t determine if this was a mass or a puppy…we questimated that Pebbles’ is about 3-4 years old (though, hard to tell with her current dental status)…so a tumor cold definitely be a possibility. We opted to take some radiographs. IF she’s pregnant, we’d already given her two drugs that have a possibility of affecting her puppies.

She was so sweet for them. She will do anything for belly rubs.

She is...so so so sweet.

I immediately thought, ‘O’lawd!’ upon seeing her rads…and Dr. Holliday’s first thought, ‘Oh, it’s a fart!’ So, after a good laugh…we take another xray to ‘make sure’ Pebble’s just needs to let a terrible toot out. Y’all…I know y’all don’t look at rads like we do…but this thing…is MASSIVE. I pity who’s cuddling her when she lets this one go.

This is Pebbles on her back. That big gigantic gas bubble...the long sausage looking area that's at the base of her ribs down to her pelvis is the...'toot'.

This is Pebbles on her side...again...massive slug looking toot waiting to escape.

So, no tumor. No puppy…just a tsunami sized toot. GREAT news…in a sense. Hahaha.

I have left her at the clinic for the night…with GREAT hopes that her diarrhea will miraculously be gone in the AM. We’ve read mixed feelings on how long she will shed the whipworms and be a threat to my own personal Crew de Chaos. Some say 3 days after deworming, some say a week, some say 3 months. *sigh* So, for now…she won’t get to make any new friends…and it’s probably best. She’s had a stressful couple of days.

So, what’s to come?

She started medications for diarrhea this morning, as well as started her dewormer. She will be starting her vaccines tomorrow, and in time…will need to be spayed. We have not yet determined how to repair her face, IF it needs repair. We’re still researching what to do. She has a broken canine and a very exposed canine that need to come out. We may be able to do this when she is spayed.

If you can help cover the costs of turning this girl’s life around, please donate via Tad’s trusted PayPal: tiffanydieringer@gmail.com or an older address, which also still works for some, tiffanydieringer@yahoo.com.

If you would like, you may also donate directly to the clinic via a card over the phone. The clinic is, as usual, Wags 2 Whiskers Veterinary Hospital, and the number is 936-582-2225. We’re a small practice, so if you say you’d like to donate to Pebbles, they’ll know EXACTLY who you’re talking about.

Here is a DIRECT LINK to the correct PayPal: