Nicholas:  Hospice

I am so confused. I am such a good boy. I do everything I am supposed to do. I ALWAYS go potty outside, I come when I am called, I don't bark much and am quiet as a mouse in my crate at night. But somehow I ended up at a very scary place. They call it a "kill" shelter. I really don't understand how I could be left in such a place when I am such a good boy. But fortunately, those wonderful people at CTDR found me quickly and took me into their wonderful program. I am in a loving home foster home now. I get plenty to eat and I have some great dogs, and even a cat, to can play with. I still love to run and play in the yard and I really love time in my foster mom and dad's laps. They have cleaned my teeth so I have minty fresh breath. I understand they still need to get rid of the heartworms in my little body. So, I won't be ready to go to my new home until the end of the summer. What better way to start the new school year than to welcome a super sweet, senior doxie into your home?

UPDATE

We are sad to report that things are not going quite as as we had hoped for little Nicholas. After his first dental cleaning our wonderful vets recommended that Nicholas see a dental specialist because he had some pretty fragile teeth. Poor little guy ended up having all of his teeth pulled and had to have a mandibulectomy (where they remove part of the lower jaw bone) on the right side. His teeth were so bad and the infection had gone untreated for so long that the jaw bone was broken. Every time he tried to eat, his jaw was rubbing bone on bone. I can't even imagine the pain! No wonder he was so thin when he came to us. After a total of 3 surgeries it took a toll on the little guy. He has bounced back well, but we feel he is too fragile to put through heartworm treatment. We are giving him Heartguard every month and have seen cases that this will completely get rid of heartworm over time. We have decided to take Nicholas into our Hospice program so that we can continue to provide all of the special care that this little guy deserves.

In spite of everything, Nicholas is so sweet and loving. He is a little grumpy with the other dogs from time to time, but we think he is just afraid because he knows he has no teeth to defend himself! Without teeth he can't control his tongue so it always hangs out one side. He is so cute!