ancy -arrived at Tailends 21.07.09
I heard about this dear little lurcher girl from our friend Amanda in the north west of England last weekend. The photos of her in the pound moved me to tears and I immediately emailed to say that I would take her as soon as we could get her down here. Her seven days in the pound were up on Monday 20th July 2009 so Mel got her out and Amanda took her home for the night while four noble souls agreed to give up their day on Tuesday 21st July to help transport her down to North Devon. I would like to thank Ronnie Callegari who immediately came to our aid to drive her from Bristol to Croyde even though he had builders in and it was really not terrible convenient for him. Could I also thank Nina Kwasniewska who took the day off work to help Nancy just two months after driving Evie from Manchester to Birmingham on her way here. Lastly a big thank you to Frank and Hazel Brown who live in Cambridgeshire but drove across the country to collect Nancy from Birmingham and took her all the way to Bristol to meet up with Ronnie. I really don't know what we would do without these selfless people who give up their time at no small cost to themselves and help dogs get to Tailends where they can be cared for and given veterinary treatment and everything they need to make them comfortable. We are forever in your debt.
Nancy was full of fleas and worms when she was rescued. She also has nuclear sclerosis in her eyes. She is painfully emaciated and eats as if the food will disappear any minute. She has arthritis in multiple joints and a large mammary tumour which we think may be malignant and which will be removed as soon as possible. She has a chesty cough so we will get her x-rayed to ensure any cancer has not spread to her lungs. We can only hope and pray that Nancy will be able to have many months of happiness and care at Tailends and that all her health problems can all be resolved. She is a delightful affectionate girl who is so very grateful for everything we do for her.
Nancy loves her new life here and has been trying
out all the beds (including mine), the sofa and armchairs. She
does not want to go on very long walks but enjoys a stroll across
the fields and back twice a day. I cannot understand how she came
to be in such a neglected state as she is such a gorgeous loving
girl who gets on with everyone and is no trouble at all. She asks
for so little and yet somebody caused her such suffering. I can
only hope that one day that person will be old themselves and find
they have no one to care for them. Then they might just remember
this unassuming little girl who they neglected so badly.
We took
Nancy for chest x-rays and then removal of the mammary tumour on
28th July. She also had a blood test which was clear but the X-rays
showed that both lungs are affected by the cancer. My vet found
that the mammary tumour was very nasty as I had thought and was
also in a bad position very close to the lymph nodes. She did not
go ahead with removal of the tumour (on the mammary gland) but
hopes she might have a few months to enjoy her life here. Her eyelids
are turned slightly inwards and could do with possible surgery
but in view of her condition she did not advice proceeding with
the eye specialist. My vet does not think she is in pain and she
is not struggling to breathe or showing any symptoms of the lung
tumours yet. She just has an intermittent cough which does not
bother her too much. Nobody knows what the future holds for this
dear girl but I will do my best to give her all the love and care
she deserves and make her remaining time happy. At least she does
not know any of this so will remain positive. It is so terribly
unfair as this poor girl has suffered so much. I was optimistic
at first as she has gained weight and now weighs 23.3kg which is
amazing considering how emaciated she was. Now we can only hope
that the cancer goes into remission to allow her some time with
us so that we can spoil her and make her remaining days very special.
