Bella

Bella came to me from Miami Dade Animal Shelter. She was posted on facebook through volunteers that that go into the shelter and take pics of the dogs and cats in hopes that someone might adopt them.

Bella was known then as Cherry. Her background was one of many in there-the hand of a worthless owner. She was chained up outside her whole life. The chain had once gotten around her paw breaking it. The break was never seen by the vet and became deformed. The deformation cause nerve damage and her front left leg was useless.

There were three dogs at the time listed with MDAS. One was a puppy and the other a pitt. Both already had the amputation and were healed. They were owner surrenders. Bella had a lot of people wishing and prayer for her but no one stepped up to take her in. I watched both the other dogs find a home and leave while she stayed where she was. Even though Bella is under a year old I guess she was not ‘beautiful’ enough to some. Also she had at least 2 litters already by the looks of it. Watching her sit there as others left happy and safe I cried. I knew her time was short there.

On 8-24-11 After much back and forth with myself on if I could handle this, what I would have to do, what would it be like for her ect. I called a rescue group and told them to put a hold on her. 180.00 was raised through facebook to have the shelter amputate her leg. I paid 50.00 to pull her out the shelter and the day after her surgery I drove a total of 6 hours round trip to get her. No one told me what to do or how to do anything from bandage change to helping her. So on my way through the Florida keys (as I live in Key west) I stopped by a vet and spoke a little with them and they gave her some pain meds as the shelter provided none until her vet appointment the next morning.

Through out the car ride she was perfect and only whined once ehich is why I stopped at the vet.

After getting her home I was at a loss so to speak. I didnt have any clue what to do now. She slept the rest of the day and that night.

On 8-25-11 She saw the vet. My vet said she was healing fine, nothing looked wrong and in fact she was the sweetest dog she had ever meet after not only having her leg taken but being fixed at the same time.

This day I had A LOT of worry. She had yet to use the restroom and seemed so sad I was worried she was in too much pain. Luckily my vet is understanding and didnt mind the 10000000000 phone calls I made that day. By the end of the night she had used the bathroom (yes, I did a dance for this!) and after the pain meds seemed a bit more relaxed.

Today just after 4 days she is showing her true colors. She is the sweetest thing I have eve meet. She greets me no matter what time of the day or night with a smile and tail wagging. She LOVES to give kisses and I allow her to give her fill. She is still a little scared of going out the door by herself but we are working on it. She is moving around so much better. She is rather hard to keep still to tell you the truth. I don’t have her in a create as the sight of it for her put her in this shell and she tugged her tail and back away. Instead we put a twin mattress on the floor and she seems rather happy with that. She has had no ‘accident’ in the house and goes right to the door when she needs to go out.  Because I live on the second floor I carry her up and down the stairs when we go out and let her walk or sit in the sun shine as much as she wants or doesn’t want. We kept her away from my lil furbabies until she felt better to handle them. Today she allowed my 6 month old Chi (who is also a rescue dog I got at 2 months old) to share her bed. Was a moment that I made 15 phone calls! I was so happy to know that she was willing.

She still has the compression bandage on as she has no drains in. They will be removed this coming Friday and then the following Friday, stitches will be out! I will admit I am scared to death for this because up to that time she can get an infection. But we make sure she stays dry and the bandage stays tight. As a matter of fact I think she might go back Tues for a change because her moving has loosened it a bit. Again I am thankful for a vet that has a heart!

So that is Bella’s story. The rescue group called her a Rag to Riches dog as she went from the worst condition to home. She has become a part of the family from the minute I made the choice to take her and I have yet to regret a moment of it!

As I stated before, I am new to this world and so is she. Its a learning process for us both. And simple things like the bathroom and sharing make me giddy! My only prayer is that each morning she wakes up a bit stronger and that soon she will be able to be a normal and happy puppy.

Christina AKA mom