Annie Update a/o 7/3/08
Guess what?! Annie has found a new
home to call her very own! I took
her to a "foster home" myself about
two weeks ago. During this visit, I
"Annie inspected" their house and
showed them all about Annie's care,
the good and the bad! They have
taken her care very seriously and
she is just thriving! They keep me
updated almost daily on her
progress, which I just absolutely
LOVE! She's already been to see Dr.
Dunn at Fairfield Pet Hospital in
Lancaster. Imagine that, her first
doctor turns out to be her new
constant doctor! Yeah! We love
Fairfield Pet and she will be VERY
well taken care of there! Annie now
has her own extended family, as
well. She has two Boston Terriers, a
Golden Retriever and two cats (along
with her new parents!) to call her
very own! She is just having the
time of her life! I've included a
few pictures of her with her new
family and I think you'll agree, she
looks extremely happy! I have to say
that I choke up when they share
pictures with me, because I never
would have dreamed that her ending
would be as happy as this. She's
(almost!) normal, happy, healthy and
spoiled as rottenly as any dog has
ever deserved! I am confident that
she will be well loved, well cared
for and want for nothing for the
rest of her long, long life. I will
keep you updated on her progress as
I watch her grow and try to share as
many pictures as I can! It is
bittersweet, because I miss her so.
But I can't go on saving animals if
I fill up my own house too much, now
can I?! :) My final thanks to
everyone who cared enough about her
to see this happen for her. Be sure
to check out her little video on the
front of our web page, as well!
Thank you all for everything!
Michelle Sahr & Little Annie
HUMANE SOCIETY EMERGENCY! One of our
own needs your help!
We have had a very tragic thing
happen here at the Humane Society.
Our Humane Officer, Bill Huffman,
was involved in a rather serious car
accident a couple of days ago. He is
ok, however, as you can imagine he
is a bit beaten up. He has chipped a
bone in his neck and is suffering
from some painful general body
trauma.
Most of you in Fairfield County know
Bill just by his Humane Society
truck, or maybe you know him by his
Great Dane, Mac: his tireless
side-kick and body guard. Well,
Bill's truck is no more. Apparently
it rolled several times with him
inside, and it is completely
totaled. Thank the good Lord that
Mac, Bill's constant companion, was
NOT in the car this tragic day.
Instead Mac was lounging on his own
futon at Bill's house, oblivious of
the horrific days his favorite guy
has had!
We, the staff and board of the
Humane Society, are now turning to
our faithful supporters for some
much needed help. We currently do
not have in our budget the funds to
replace Bill's truck. It will be
several weeks before the doctor's
know when Bill can return to work:
faithfully patrolling the 500 square
miles of Fairfield County 24 hours
per day. When he is ready to come
back, we need to have a truck for
him to do his job! Please, please if
you can help with any sort of
donation it would be so very
appreciated! (Any donations received
beyond what may be needed for a new
truck will be put into the General
Operating Fund for operating the
shelter.)
We are doing the best we can to keep
up at the shelter, but please be
patient with us. We will get to
calls just as soon as we can, in
emergency order. Bill is the only
full-time Humane Officer in
Fairfield County. We are all praying
that he will be back on his feet
very soon and back to doing the job
he loves!
If you can't help monetarily,
perhaps you would be willing to help
volunteer at the shelter during this
time of need, as our employees will
be putting in extra hours as we try
to keep up with what Bill does day
to day! We would like for Mac, and
of course Bill's loving wife, to
take as much time as they need to
make Bill well enough to come back
to work!
Thank you all for always being so
helpful and faithful during our
times of need! We could never do
what we do without you!
Michelle Sahr, Executive Director
Annie Update a/o 6/13/08
Hi everyone! I've had a lot of
requests for an Annie update and I
apologize for the delay! I have been
swamped! She is doing SO well that I
would not have believed it several
months ago! She is up to 11 pounds
now...that's OVER DOUBLE her weight
of just three weeks ago! Her hair is
all filled in and you can barely see
her scars anymore; and she is
growing like a weed! She is still
only half of her sister's size,
which you can see in the photo, but
she is determined to catch up
quickly!
I took a much needed ANNIE FREE
vacation a week ago (thus the reason
for being so busy THIS week!) and
Annie was fortunate enough to be
cared for by Dr. Lynn Grinstead of
Winchester Veterinary Clinic while I
was gone. What a privilege for Annie
and me, let me tell you! While I was
gone, Dr. Grinstead took Annie to
her own home to ensure her safety,
since she is still such a risk.
While she was in her care, Dr.
Grinstead managed to wean Annie down
to 4 feedings per day AND she no
longer has to be held upright after
her feedings! She has been switched
to a regular Iams puppy food, which
is probably the best reason for her
fantastic weight gain! We still have
to water down her food a bit, but as
active as she is just being a normal
little hungry puppy, she bounces the
food down all by herself now! Thank
goodness...that saves most of my day
for doing what I NEED to do! :) I
will try to keep up with her
growing, increasing the amount that
she eats at each feeding as she gets
bigger, to ensure that we keep up
this fantastic new journey of
actually eating AND growing!
At this point, she is still pretty
high maintenance and cannot be left
unsupervised unless she is in a
safe, enclosed place with only what
belongs to her. She still has a
tendency to eat things that her
esophagus cannot accommodate.
However, as fast as she is growing,
the hope is that her esophagus will
grow with her and soon she will be
able to be a normal little puppy.
All she wants to do is nibble a few
pebbles and sticks like her sister!
Hopefully, she will be able to be
set free to explore the world
soon...just as soon as she grows a
little bit more.
I think that she is just about ready
to move on from us now, it seems she
is outgrowing her need for me, as
well. As sad as this makes me, it is
also such a joy to see this bouncy
puppy alive and well and ready for
what was intended for her: a family
of her own. It seems she may have
several to choose from, too, so good
for her! What a miracle she is, and
I am forever grateful that you all
could share in witnessing what I
have: watching her beat tremendous
odds and survive. I wasn't sure that
it was possible for a while there,
but she sure showed us, didn't she?
I will try for better pictures soon,
but she's just so darn busy all the
time that it is hard to get her to
sit still for them!
Annie's got one more TV appearance
to make, which will be taped next
week and aired on Channel 4 for the
Red, White and Boom special on July
3rd. After that, she's free to go
and live her well deserved life.
Thank you all for checking in!
Love, Annie and Shell.
Annie Update a/o 5/22/08
Hi everyone. Annie is back home from
OSU once again. She was admitted on
Monday for a routine spay and
inguinal hernia repair. She seems to
have done fine, has a few more scars
to add to her collection and even
more hair missing from her poor
little body; but she’s the same old
wiggly, goofy girl! During this
process, they have shaved half of
her body, every single leg, her neck
and she’s losing hair on her ears as
a side effect to the medications
she’s been taking! She looks a mess,
for sure! She was not acting like
herself yesterday. She was very
quiet and acted like she just didn’t
feel good at all. She is certainly
over that tonight, though! She is
making it very difficult to type
this, as I wear her in the little
front pack she must sit in after she
eats. She’s so very helpful! I have
added a little bulk to her meals
today, so cross your fingers that
she tolerates it ok. The a/d (a
prescription food) she has been
eating is really not a preferred
method for her complete nutrition,
so I have tried to add a little bit
of a smooth canned puppy food to see
if we can put some weight on this
poor girl. She eats like crazy, but
still remains so skinny! She’s got a
lot of catching up to do, though,
and is well on her way now.
I want to thank all of you again who
have been so very concerned for this
little darling. She is so worth
everything we’ve been though,
although she certainly didn’t
deserve any of it! She would not be
driving me crazy with her adorable
little antics right now without your
support. She and I and everyone at
the Humane Society is very, very
grateful for your help. I will try
to add some new pictures very soon,
if I can get her to sit still long
enough to take some!
Shell & Annie
Happy Mother's Day to all of those
who share the honor! Wanted to give
you an update on my surrogate child,
Annie. She is doing so very well.
She eats well and keeps it down.
Feeding her is quite a challenge,
though, because she does not want to
sit still for the occasion! She gets
so worked up that it an almost
impossible task, which of course we
have to do 4 or 5 times a day! She
is always hungry, I guess she is
trying to make up for lost time. She
has gained weight this week, too!
She hasn't gained any weight at
all since the beginning of
April...until now. She has
officially gained one pound and
two ounces in a single week!
Yeah! She is still a very busy, very
cuddly, very sweet girl. She is
approaching the time when she will
be ready for her own home, and my
poor little dogs will be forever
grateful. She still takes a lot of
care and a lot of time right now,
and my little lap dogs are feeling
pretty ignored and sad. She has one
more surgery ahead of her, it is
scheduled for next week. This time,
God willing, she will be
pneumonia-free and can be spayed and
have her hernia repaired. Then I
think she'll be ready for someone
else to take over. She's such a
sweetie. She is still wearing a
muzzle whenever she is out of the
crate, but Houdini Dog figures out a
way to get her nose out! I am still
working that out, because I still
don't trust her not to eat things
off of the floor. She loves to play
with her little sister, who,
incidentally, is twice her size now.
As long as she keeps growing with
this speed, it shouldn't take long
for her to grow out of her esophagus
problems and be a real, live, normal
dog! Thanks for checking in!!
Annie Update a/o 4/30/08
Hi Everyone! Annie went for her
check-up at OSU today and let me
just say, "Woo-Hoo!" Her
radio graphs show no signs of
pneumonia at this time!
She's got two more weeks of
antibiotics, just to be on the safe
side, but she is definitely on the
road to recovery now. I, for one, am
so relieved!
She still has not gained any weight since her visit
last week, so we are going to play
with her food a little bit to see if
she can tolerate more at once, and
less times per day. (Thank
Goodness!) She will still have
special food and will have to be
held upright for 30 minutes
following each feeding, but the Dr.
Surman (the internal medicine guy)
says that the hope is, after she
grows up a little bit, she will be
able to eat on her own and not have
to be held upright. She will likely
never be able to eat "regular" dog
food, it will always have to be a
soft consistency, but hey, eat by
herself? That's a good goal! I will
have to continue to muzzle her, for
now, because she still has quite a
stricture on her esophagus because
of the persistent aortic arch.
Hopefully, though, she will outgrow
that as she starts to grow. While
she is a puppy and into
everything, she must not be able
to get things into her mouth that
cannot pass through that stricture.
So her next hurdle is another surgery in three weeks.
This one is to fix a hernia that we
knew about a long time ago, but put
off until she was healthy enough.
They are going to spay her early so
they can fix this hernia at the same
time, before it causes her any
trouble with her bowls or bladder.
So, hopefully, she will have all
surgeries behind her soon and go on
to live a peaceful life of making
someone a very lucky dog owner!
This poor girl, she's got body malfunctions going on
everywhere! Slowly but surely,
though, we are getting her fixed up
and she couldn't be happier. She's
giving me a run for my money, but
she's definitely worth it.
Definitely. Thanks for checking in!
Annie Update a/o 4/28/08
Hello Annie fans! Sorry for the
delay in updates, Annie has kept me
a very busy person! She came home
from OSU (AGAIN!) last Thursday with
two new antibiotics. The fine
doctors over there cultured some of
the junk in her lungs and have,
hopefully, pinpointed the bacteria
that is causing her so much trouble.
I pray that she is finally going to
kick that nasty pneumonia! She
actually woke up this morning
(Monday) and sounded FAR better than
she has for weeks and weeks.
My next goal is to try to put some
weight on her itsy-bitsy frame. She
hasn't gained any weight for weeks,
not so typical for a 11 week old
puppy. And my common sense tells me
that she will never have a chance to
outgrow a condition if she doesn't
GROW! I have been feeding her what
the doctor's say, and she's been
keeping it down pretty well. So I
have recently started beefing up her
meals and I am feeding her every 2-3
hours. Now, if you calculate that I
have to hold her in an upright
position for 30 minutes after every
feeding, and I feed her every 2-3
hours throughout the day, I am
pretty sure that it is all I get
done all day! She doesn't mind one
bit, though. The poor thing is so
very hungry all the time. It's sad
to think that she's never felt the
sensation of a FULL stomach. (Except
maybe as a very small baby with her
Momma). She can only eat small,
frequent meals and she's never done
when the bowl is. It certainly
hasn't hurt her energy level,
though! She is a VERY busy girl. I
have recently purchased her a
muzzle, but must locate a better one
with a basket on the end. Like a
typical puppy, she has taken to
eating everything she passes. She's
even picked up a few tricks from her
mom because she is so famished, and
has decided that she likes rocks,
cigarette butts, mulch, fuzz...you
name it, and I've confiscated it
from her hungry little mouth. Her
little esophagus can't pass anything
that doesn't fully dissolve, though,
so she can't BE a typical puppy. So
at this time, I can never put her
down unless it is a completely
baby-proofed room that has been
swept well and mopped. I have a play
pen that I put her in to keep her
safe, which she climbs right out of
the minute she feels like it! I will
be glad when I finally get the
glitches worked out and I can put
her back down in the yard. She had
such fun playing in the grass and
following my dogs, kids (and me)
around, but I don't trust her a bit
right now! So it sounds like I am
complaining, but I love her to
death. She is just the sweetest
thing, and has no idea at all what a
pain in the butt she is! :) I hope
that she doesn't stay so high
maintenance, though, because I want
someone to be able to fall in love
with her and give her a forever
home. I will do my best to try to
make sure that happens for her.
So she's got a follow-up appointment
at OSU on Wednesday, so I'll try to
give you all another update as soon
as I have some news from the doctors
about how they think that she is
progressing. Thanks for checking in!
ANNIE UPDATE a/o 4/21/08
Our little Annie was doing very well
post surgery. No one has told her at
this point that she has been (or is
still) sick! We picked her up from
OSU on Wednesday, where Channel 10
was generous enough to meet us and
air a little update. It was a shock
to my eyes, because she was even
smaller when I picked her up than
when I dropped her off. In one week
she had already lost so much weight!
The doctor's at OSU seemed to have
taken her under their wings, though,
because she was still as spoiled as
ever! She has been doing very well
at home, eating around the clock.
She looks pitiful with her tiny
little shaved body and big line of
stitches. I try to get as many small
meals into her as often as I can,
but as of right now she is still on
a liquid diet and is always, always
hungry. It makes me feel horrible
for her because it seems she can
never get full, so I feed her as
often as possible. Unfortunately,
Annie has found herself back at OSU
today. She was doing well yesterday,
until her final feeding last night.
She immediately regurgitated her
food last night and didn't seem to
be able to keep it down. We then had
a very long night of coughing and
raspy breathing. She has been raspy
all along, due to an upper
respiratory infection she contracted
from her mom at two weeks of age.
This morning was more of the same,
so I rushed her to the vet this
morning for a second opinion. (I am
so oversensitive to her now that I
was hoping that I was just imagining
it!) They suggested that we take her
back to OSU today. (Not my
imagination, unfortunately). She was
examined by the doctors at OSU, and
they are going to keep her overnight
and do some more testing. Aspiration
pneumonia is her biggest enemy right
now, and she has been battling it
since before she even had surgery.
She is such a sweet little puppy,
and follows me like a shadow. She is
very playful (although not allowed
to go overboard!), very loving and
extremely loyal. She cries at night
when she is alone, so I've taken to
letting her sleep in the bed and get
up 4 times a night to take her
outside! (Thus the very long
nights!) That liquid diet makes it
hard to hold it for long, especially
for a 9 week old puppy! We love
watching her discover the world,
without even a thought as to the
unfair hand she was dealt at birth.
She is a curious little hound dog,
bumbling around with her nose to the
ground. We are still keeping her
quiet at this point, but can't wait
until she is free to be a normal
little puppy! She's a survivor, like
her mom. She's giving it all she's
got and we are so very glad to have
the privilege of offering her the
chance. Thank you, again, to all who
cared enough to help us give her
this opportunity to live. Keep your
fingers crossed for her and the
prayers coming, she still needs them
desperately. I will try to post
regular updates.
ANNIE UPDATE
4/15/08
Hello kind hearted puppy lovers!
Just wanted to add a little "Post
Surgery Annie Update." Annie's
doctors said that she did very well
through the night and is playful and
happy this morning! Yeah! She ate
this morning with no regurgitation,
which is awesome! While they were
trying to examine her this morning,
she was chewing on the blood
pressure cuff, chewing on her
catheters and just making a regular
pest of herself!! That's our Annie!
Apparently she's become quite a
favorite there at OSU as well,
always begging for someone to tuck
her in their arm and spoil her
rotten. We are glad that they are so
accommodating to her, but we can't
wait for her to come back. We miss
her so. I will update again as soon
as I have news! Thanks for caring
enough to check on little Annie!
ANNIE UPDATE
a/o 4/13/08
To the animal lovers across the county, state and
country who have responded:
THANK YOU, THANK YOU from
Annie and all of us for your
generous response to Annie's plea! I
want to extend a heartfelt thank you
to OSU, as well. They have given us
a much needed break on the cost of
the surgery, so coupled with Annie's
donations, she has raised enough
money to have the surgery she so
desperately needs. Annie is
currently at OSU Veterinary Hospital
awaiting surgery. I took her last
Thursday, expecting surgery to take
place on Friday. Annie's biggest
battle at this point is avoiding
aspiration pneumonia, which is very
common for dogs with megaesophagus,
since they cannot properly swallow
their food. Unfortunately,
Annie did aspirate some of her food
Thursday night and the doctors at
OSU put her surgery on hold to make
sure that she did not develop
pneumonia. Annie spent the last
several days in Intensive Care at
OSU, being monitored closely to
ensure that her lungs stayed
healthy. The good news is that she
was taken out of the ICU ward
yesterday and is back to being a
bouncy, happy, and healthy (as
healthy as can be expected with a
heart defect) puppy! She is
scheduled to be the first on the
table Monday morning.
We have been extremely worried about the unforeseen
complications that could arise,
above and beyond her original
surgery price quote. I have very
high hopes now that with the
staggering emotional outpouring and
financial support we have received
from "Annie's public," she will not
have to want for whatever care she
needs. I am more than thrilled and
relieved to know that I will not
have to worry about placing any
"financial cap" on Annie's care.
Keep her in your prayers, she will
need it. There is a very high
mortality rate post-surgery due to
the aspiration pneumonia that I have
already talked about. She will have
a three week "window of terror," and
if she makes it through that, she
will hopefully be out of the woods
and on her way to a long, happy and
healthy life! To deliver her into
this world, watch her grow and
mature and then all of the sudden
cease to thrive was more than
heartbreaking for me and everyone
else here at the shelter. We could
not have given her this chance
without people like you with the
kindest hearts and the love that I
share for these helpless little
animals. I will do my absolute best
for her post surgery and I will keep
you updated as best I can. She
deserves this, more than most of you
know. She just might be the sweetest
puppy in the world. She's definitely
one of the luckiest, as am I to have
the opportunity to know and care for
her. Thank you again, from the
bottom of my heart, and little
Annie's.
Fairfield Area Humane Society
Executive Director, Michelle Sahr
A desperate plea to save little
Annie:
Meet Annie. Annie is only eight
weeks old, born at our shelter the
day before Valentine’s Day. She has
already faced enough challenges to
last a lifetime in her short time
here on Earth. Annie was born to a
mom who actually ate cigarette butts
and rocks because she had nothing
else to eat. She was eating anything
she could to survive for the babies
in her belly.
Annie’s mom, Winnie, was rescued from the Dog shelter
by our Director just three days
before she delivered her pups. She
was so emaciated and dehydrated, our
director feared for her life if she
tried to go through labor and
childbirth in the state she was in.
She was brought to the Humane
Society, where our staff
administered fluids and tried to
give her as many good meals as we
could to prepare her for what lay
ahead. Winnie managed to give birth
to what was thought to be seven
healthy puppies.
At five weeks, however, Annie started to deteriorate. At
first, she presented with severe
anemia, with no apparent cause. This
appeared to be a likely effect of
her mom’s state of starvation prior
to her birth. Unfortunately, Annie’s
problems didn’t stop there. Soon we
noticed that Annie was having severe
problems breathing and she couldn’t
keep any food down and stopped
gaining weight. Dr. Dunn at
Fairfield Pet Hospital here in
Lancaster, alerted us that Annie
could possibly have a condition
called Megaesophagus. The underlying
cause of megaesophagus could be a
heart defect known as Vascular Ring
Anomaly. He suggested further
testing, one of them being a barium
scan to watch how Annie’s body
handled food once it was swallowed.
After many, many trips to vets and
countless sleepless nights for our
director, Annie’s diagnosis was
determined to be terminal. The
barium scan revealed that Annie did
indeed have the condition. This
means that the valve that pumped
blood from one side of her heart to
the other in-utero did not close
after she was born. This
artery/ligament is now squeezing on
Annie’s trachea and esophagus,
causing her food to back up in her
throat until she throws it up and
restricting her breathing
tremendously. The end result is that
Annie will die if she does not have
open heart surgery quickly. Annie is
living on borrowed time and her
clock is ticking. The bigger she
gets, the worse her condition gets.
Annie is so playful and happy now; it doesn’t even appear
that she is sick, until you hear her
breathe. Then if you compare her
size to that of her brothers and
sisters, her condition becomes
painfully obvious. Although she
doesn’t know it yet, Annie is dying.
We, the staff, volunteers and board
are begging now for your help; so
much so that I cry as I type this.
Annie needs at least $3000.00 for
her surgery and aftercare. Annie has
beaten the odds so many times before
in her little tiny life, but she
absolutely cannot do it alone this
time. If you can help, please do.
Annie doesn’t have much time to
spare. Donations can be made over
the internet via our website with
paypal, or checks/cash can be mailed
to the Fairfield Area Humane
Society, P.O. Box 1109, Lancaster,
OH 43130. Please mark your donation
“Save Annie.” Thank you, Thank you
from the bottom of our hearts….and
Annie’s.
 Fairfield
Pet Hospital, located in Lancaster,
deserves our very special thanks!
For years and years, this full
service veterinarian hospital has
responded to our humane officer
calls to care for dogs and cats hit
by cars, suffering from abuse and
other injuries and illnesses–
sometimes in the middle of the
night. All of the staff there is
always extremely open with their
hearts, time and expertise. “They
have an emergency vet ‘on call’ for
their existing clients, which has
been so wonderful for quickly
getting expert care for our very
hurt or sick animals,” stated Humane
Officer Bill Huffman. “We’ve always
been happy with their expert care –
in particular their excellent
surgeons,” said Bill. “In addition,
they have a vet, Dr. Dunn, who has
helped us with animal behavior
issues when we have an animal that
is not adapting well.” Our director,
Michelle Sahr, says that “We have
been known to burden their clinic
with multiple emergency calls, and
they are always super generous with
their accommodations. I cannot say
enough about them, I would highly
recommend their clinic to anyone in
need of an excellent vet.”
Pictured is Chester, who is
currently up for adoption. He was
successfully treated by Fairfield
Pet Hospital for a broken leg after
he was hit by a car. Now he doesn’t
even have his cast on!
See
a list of some of our most recent
and most generous donors!
Without them the work we do would
not be possible;
*THANK YOU!*”
Sugar Update
Hey, remember me? I’m not the
skinny, starving abused dog you
probably remember. I’ve almost
doubled my weight, and am now a
svelte 83 pounds and loving every
day. I live with the Humane Officer
Bill Huffman and his family and love
playing with the other dogs and just
hanging out. You might remember that
my jaw was so deformed I could not
eat and my tongue was permanently
hanging out when I first came to the
Fairfield Area Humane Society. Well,
thanks to great care and amazing
surgery, I’m now loving my dry dog
food AND rawhide chew toys.
Sometimes Bill and I go out and
visit schools and teach children how
to take care of their pets. When
animals like me come into the
Fairfield Area Humane Society who
have been hurt or neglected, it’s
nice to know that there are those
kind staff and volunteers who are
there to protect and defend us, and
make sure we get better so we can
have forever homes.
Bill says I should live to be an
old, old dog. I have all of my
friends around the world who donated
money and sent cards to thank for my
life. Believe me, every day is a
treat for me just spending it with
Bill. Thank you from the bottom of
my heart.
Sugar
|
