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Louie's Page
Louie arrived here as a 'favor for
a friend'... You know those calls... "Ah, could you just foster
this dog for a few days? He won't be NO trouble, I promise
you!"... Those famous last words - 'no trouble at all'... LOL...
He'd apparently got entangled in a
flexi-leash... We now suspect he'd been tied out with it and it
literally ripped the meat, flesh and coat from his right
shoulder... The shelter vets did the very best they could with
it, using a 'pony-tail' suture to pull it all together... The
end result was a piece of dying flesh and skin protruding about
2-3" out from his shoulder...
Louie wasn't neutered (a BIG no-no
in our house), so we also had that to deal with... But at the
shelter, he'd also contacted kennel cough on top of things, so
first things first as they say... Despite how sick he was, Louie
arrived with a pleasant personality and cheerful disposition!
Normally, the dogs 'attach' to me first and love the rest, but
for some reason, Louie really loves Paul - and has - from the
very first!
The shoulder's been a mess to deal
with... It'll take some time for the muscle tone underneath of
it to regenerate (if it does totally at all) and I'm sure he'll
have a nasty scar... Thankfully his coat is nice and full (not
like Peanut's), so it might just grow over eventually... Keeping
our fingers crossed...
Update:
Well, the staples are now out, his coat is growing back in and
he is feeling SO much better! Here's two photos that were
taken as he sat in the 'Chihuahua Penthouse' this morning:
(Left to right: Louie and Riley)
Next step in this process was getting him neutered... We
discovered that Louie does not handle anesthesia well and spent
the first night sitting up with him round the clock as he
underwent the after affects of the sterilization surgery...
While under anesthesia, we had his teeth cleaned and numerous
extractions done... The vet is hoping that "pink-ish" sore on
his snout is from one extra (stray) lower incisor rubbing up
against there, but he's preparing us for other possibilities as
well... All the lower teeth between the two normal canines had
to be removed...
His mouth has
swelled up beyond belief, his poor private parts are swollen and
inflamed, and he's still not back to being the 'happy, happy
Louie' we've grown to know and love. We're not sure
exactly went wrong with the anesthesia, but we know now he's got
issues with it. Stay tuned for updates!
Update:
Well, Louie's mouth has retreated back to a normal size, but
that 'pink-ish' sore has not gone away either... Our vet
has gone through three different antibiotics already, trying to
completely eradicate the 'kennel cough' or 'canine flu' -
whatever it is... Louie makes a few steps forward in
progress, then he drops weight and we're back at square one...
Our vet
suspected he could also have ringworm on that snout, but Louie
didn't show positive under the Woods lamp in his office
either... I feel as bad for our vet as I do for Paul... He's
started taking turns with me, sitting up at night with Louie -
for each new day (and night) can be a new challenge for this
little guy... I've never seen such a "big, tough guy" get so
intensely emotionally involved with such a little peanut butt...
Update:
SUCCESS~!!... Finally, after the what, 9th change in meds?, the
red sore is gone from his snout (it MUST have been ringworm all
along), Louie's been able to kick whatever illness he brought
with him and he's slowly gaining back a bit of his weight.
It's almost 13 weeks since he first arrived here, and I can't
tell you how many sleepless nights between us all... They're not
sure if he has some auto-immune issue or not, for he should have
responded LONG ago to treatments...
The shoulder
is slowly, slowly coming back into use... We keep working with
it in the pool and he's a pretty good swimmer (although he'd
rather 'chill out' on the floatie chair with one of us any
time!... LOL)... Louie still has an underbite, but it's very
cute and endearing combined with his personality...
Update: I
often wonder how Louie managed to stay as sweet as he has with
all that he's had to undergo at the hands of humans... Many dogs
would have gotten mean, nasty and aggressive, but Louie
continues to love everyone he comes into contact with...
Once we knew for sure that outside environments would trigger
any of the past illnesses, we discovered Louie absolutely loves
walks, people and butterflies!
He's been a
bit difficult to get on lead, for he'd rather chew at his
harness or lead, than walk, but we're making progress in that
too... Can't say that I blame him with his background and that
flexi-leash... The 'sit' command has come with work as well, for
with his shoulder issues, there's only so much you can do... But
we finally got it a few weeks ago, then moved onto other
things...
 Louie
has DEFINITELY crawled into Paul's heart, so after all this
time, we've decided to outright adopt him... Not what I planned,
but I don't know who's attached more to whom by this point... He
gets along grand with Riley (another major problem child) and
they engage in 'Chihuahua Takedown' every day, several times a
day... While I was concerned with this, our vet said it was good
'therapy' with Louie for he'll use muscles (and at the pace he
knows he can), as he regains full use of that shoulder... It's
probable he'll have arthritis later on, but we'll deal with that
when it comes...
Louie might
be 5 years old but he certainly still acts like a puppy, jumping
around like a beetlebug when he sees you and is just too happy
you’re giving him attention… The Synovi G3 has been very helpful
in getting him back on track, so I highly recommend it!
Although it’s likely he will have a scar after it’s all healed,
his coat is slowly covering over the hideous scar.
  And
I love the expression his front teeth give his face… Louie has a
black “U” marking that springs from each side of his lower jaw
and wraps around into his neck, filled in with white… He also
has a plush white ‘collar’ that breaks through the reddish-almond
coat which is so attractive… And he has a just 'too precious' underbite...
 As for his
ears, he can ‘alert’ in the typical Chihuahua pose when he wants
to, but the majority of the time his ears are down... However,
Louie will also stand one ear up – almost in a ‘one-eyebrow-up’
human expression - when he’s processing information… And
can do this both ears individually... It’s really very cute to
see…
He's a
'keeper' without a doubt!
 Update
(Christmas 2007): I apologize for not writing sooner
about Louie - things have been SO busy around here this year...
We lost Rogaine to cancer and I can't begin to describe what
that was like again, but he has his own R.I.P. page (complete
with its grammatical errors and misspellings I don't have the
heart to fix)... So many other things have gone on as well, but
I wanted to post this photo of Louie's injury now...
What a big change, huh?... It took
quite some time and he now has full use of all four legs... He
readily keeps up with everyone else and it's Paul's job to keep
tabs with him at the dog park!... For Louie must say 'Hi' to
every human and dog he meets...
He walked in a parade to bring
attention to the need to rescue adopted dogs... And spent the
2.5 miles, 'working the crowd' all the way down... Handing out
kisses, taking pats and 'smiling' with that cute underbite he
has... He was a show stopper and did NOT want to ride in the
doggie stroller I'd brought along!...
Louie's currently in training to
be certified for therapy... He loves everyone and wheelchairs,
walkers and what have you have no effect on him at all.. The
biggest problem with Louie is that he snores - and LOUDLY!... He
could compete with any Bulldog around!... (LOL)... He starts out
underneath the covers (here he is in the 'Chihuahua Penthouse
#2) because he's one of our 'undercover Chihuahuas'... But once
he warms up in the mornings, out comes his head and the snoring
fest begins!
 His
newest 'trick' is to sneeze on command... And Louie 'bounces' on
his front two legs (he HAS come a LONG way, huh?) as he does
it!...
His favorite spot however, is on
Paul's lap... Doesn't matter if he's 'watchin TV with Dad' or
'on the computer with Dad' at Paul's office... He goes up into
the 'Chihuahua Penthouse' each day around 3PM and looks through
the front window, waiting for Paul and Des to come home... Then
he rushes down the ramp and 'tiggers' (bounces) at the door
until they come in the house... LOL... Louie is just SO full of
life and such a gift to our home... We are indeed blessed!
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