Thursday, February 12, 2015

Introducing Cheesecake...

Hi there!

My name is Cheesecake.  I am an American Staffordshire Terrier, which is a type of pit bull.  I began my life very likely in a puppy mill.  My family may never know for sure, but all signs point to that.

Cheesecake at 6 weeks old when she (unknowingly) met her future Mom.
 
I was taken away from my dog-mom at 6 weeks of age and given to someone who didn't take me for any veterinary care, didn't do any kind of responsible training, and decided to get rid of me when I required too much money and work. 

The best thing that my first owner did for me was to introduce me to a friend of his who loves dogs.  He left me with her a few times while he was gone for long periods of time.  So I bonded with her.  And she took me in when the likelihood of me ever finding a nice home was almost zero.

She was so afraid that I would become a bait dog for a dog fighter.  Who else was likely to take a pit bull with no shots and no housebreaking?   Dog fighting is a popular sport where I'm from.  And that's what people do with "undesirable" dogs like me.

I went to live with my human mom on a Tuesday night.  Since she wasn't allowed to keep animals in her apartment, her cousin agreed to keep me while she was at work.  I had other dogs and kids to play with so I was really happy!

On Thursday evening I started vomiting.  Mom had my first vet appointment scheduled for Friday morning but the vet thought the vomiting was caused by a food allergy.


Cheesecake before her first vet visit.
Not so.

By Friday evening I was very sick.

Mom took me back to the vet on Saturday morning where her worst fear was confirmed.  I had parvo.

Parvo is deadly.  Very deadly.  I won't go into details here.  Google it.  An $11.00 vaccination from Tractor Supply would have prevented my suffering.  Most puppies only survive parvo by being put on IV fluids.  But my mom couldn't afford for me to stay at the vet's office for a week.

So Mom and her cousin took care of me, syringe feeding me with water, Pedialyte, and broth for days.  They worked hard to save my life!  And the veterinarian was so proud of my Mom.

Cheesecake after she recovered from parvo.


So what's a dog's Mom to do when she isn't allowed to have pets? (She did get permission to temporarily keep me as long as she never left me alone in the apartment)

Send her to her own Mom, that's what!

It took a little over a month to get me caught up on my shots to the point of being able to fly to my Mom's Mom and Dad, who agreed to foster and train me until Mom could find a suitable place for us to live together. 

In the meantime, I got a case of demodectic mange (a sure sign of an irresponsible puppy mill breeder!)  This type of mange is purely hereditary.  The vet said that it should clear up on its own soon but gave me some medicine to help it not itch so badly.

And now, on February 12, 2015, I am on an airplane to meet my grandparents. 

 


2 comments:

  1. Cheesecake is one lucky puppy!! She has a wonderful Mom and MomMom!!

    ReplyDelete