Well, Apollo now has a baby sister... Artemis.

I have never in my life had more than one dog and I've found it's totally true with cockers.. Life is so much more entertaining with two!
 
You can't just have one Cocker ;) gotta have two or more. They make life soooo much more interesting :)
 
The entertainment value of these two are priceless. Missy has gotten into this phase where anything Apollo does she mimics, including trying to pee by lifting her leg once or twice. :blink: I was like "Oh, honey, no, no, it doesn't work that way."
 
ApolloShadow said:
The entertainment value of these two are priceless. Missy has gotten into this phase where anything Apollo does she mimics, including trying to pee by lifting her leg once or twice. :blink: I was like "Oh, honey, no, no, it doesn't work that way."
Click to expand...

Dominate females will lift their leg. Just ask Miss Eloise.
 
She's cut that out quickly because she understands the chain of command now.

We're off to the vet this morning so fingers crossed.
 
So far not good. As I suspected her infections were raging and her ears were bleeding, multiple open sores in her ears from her uncut nails.

Multiple worms in her system.

Bladder infection.

Yeast infection

Luckily heartworm negative.

She's underweight and they think she's so tiny from being underfed and it's stunted her growth.

Nails are way overgrown and will need to be trimmed back gradually.

Waiting on a few more results from some other tests but outlook on those isn't good.


I'm just in tears because I don't understand who could do this to her. The lady did it out of pure ignorance.
 
Bit by bit with love, care, and good food she will improve. Meds will clear up the infections and get rid of the worms. Good food and love will help the rest.

When we got Riley from Pam, she didn't even have him 10 minutes directly from the "breeder." He had worms, his eye had an infection, he had multiple bad teeth, he was dirty and matted, and his ears were so bad the vet found a dead cockroach in one.

He was happy and loved us from the beginning but I think it was because his life was so much better. Someone cared about him and that was all he dreamed of in life. We watched him become healthy and oh so handsome. He bloomed into a wonderful loving dog with us. Missy's life up to now might have been bad but you will be able to watch her bloom under your care. You've said she's happy now. Just imagine how much happier she will be as she begins to feel better.

Poor nutrition may have lead to Missy's small stature but I believe you said she was the runt? If so, she might have been naturally smaller.

As for her previous owner, I'm sorry but I do not accept ignorance as an excuse. There are many ways to learn how to care for a dog, but first one must believe a dog is worth caring for. She could have asked the vet. As a matter of fact most vets give out a puppy pack with a booklet on how to care for your dog. She could look on the Internet. Goodness knows there are lots of excellent sites on dog care. You said she was a friend of the breeder. Why didn't she ask them. What she was was neglectful and, from the state you and the vet describe, her sever neglect made her abusive. If Missy was a child, the previous owner would be arrested for child abuse.
 
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The vet said that she may have been the runt, but even by runt standards she's small. She's barely 8in at her withers right now. They suggested I give her puppy food for more nutrients. The vet said that she is the smallest cocker spaniel she had ever seen in her career, runt or not.

Right now the good news is her heart is strong, her eyes are good, and doesn't appear to have any sort of bone problems currently. We were able to give her some of her vaccines and get her on the new heartworm preventative that's the once a month pill that protects against fleas. Apollo is currently on the year long shot, but I was really interested in trying the all-in-one pill with Missy. I can't stand the smell of the flea/tick prevention I put on Apollo monthly. Yuck.

I was so upset at first but the vet assured me that everything is totally fixable. So for the next few weeks she's going to have relax and take all of her daily medicine and have her ears cleaned.

I know I said about she did it out of ignorance and I think it's because in my head I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt at first, when I thought it was just ear infections. I know cocker spaniels can develop them if not properly cared for. I'm glad when I got Apollo I read several books about cockers [even though he's mix] and had my vet show me how to properly clean his ears and with what.

Now that I've had time to process all of this I'm livid. I suspect she has another dog or two because I creeped on her facebook page. I'm going to email her and show her a copy of the vet bill and tell her to get her other dogs to the vet. If she doesn't I talked to my vet about filing a complaint against her with animal cruelty, and the vet agreed to back it up. The problems Missy has don't happen over night.

Thank you so much for all your support and kind words. Right now both of them are in my recliner with me sleeping comfortably, being spoiled rotten. Despite the fact that her vet bills are probably going to build a new wing at my vet's office, I'm so glad I have her, and I myself am blessed to have two perfect cockers [cocker-types in Apollo's case :pray:] that .... augh I don't even know what to say, I'm rambling. Sick or healthy with all their imperfections and bad habits they are both mine.
 
Whatever Missy's life was before, that's over. She's with YOU now, and there's no better place for her.

The good news with the big vet bills is that the staff at the clinic will know who you are, and they'll go out of their way to help you out ;)
 
I know, the money honestly means nothing to me to make her healthy. I seriously earn quite a bit of money that I do nothing will besides donate to local humane societies and take care of these two. The price is just one of those things where if she had taken Missy in once, ONCE, it would have saved her a tremendous amount of pain. All the things I had done aren't expensive, its just all of them combined.
 
She is a beautiful little girl, and fortunately everything that is wrong with her is very fixable. She is so lucky to have found you.
 
I talked to Missy's former owner. The woman was very irate with me and said I must have done something to Missy because she was perfectly healthy. She claimed she was vaccinated (no paperwork), dewormed (no paperwork), on flea preventative (no paperwork).

Mind you, a week ago she claimed that Missy hadn't had any of those things done.

I also have been trying to figure out why Missy has dandruff. The woman bathed Miss three times a week with people shampoo.

She also confessed she knew Missy had a sore in her ear (which she didn't bother to mention) and that she had been putting neosporin on it so it couldn't be infected.

I am speechless. The woman refuses to give me my money back or pay for medical bills but rather asked for Missy back. That elicited a resounding NO from me.

I had to give you the update. I called my ver and asked about the dandruff issue in now conjunction with the fact she was being bathed thrice a week. She suggested doing an oatmeal bath or a deep scrub with a high quality dog shampoo.

I did that earlier and she was a perfect lady in the tub and enjoyed it I think. Since we've been lithe scratching has decreased so fingers crossed.
 
I bet you had to swallow a smart aleck reply when she said she wanted Missy back. I'd have choked!

I'm so glad that Missy is with you. Life will be all good from here on out :)
 
How did you manage not to reach through the phone lines and dope slap her. So she actually wants you to pay for Missy and Missy's vet bills then give her back? What a nice way to vet your dog vetted for free and a little extra spending money to boot.

So glad Missy has a wonderful new home.
 
Wow that woman is a few cents short of a dollar isn't she! What a dope! She's another who should have pet rocks.
 
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