Meet Poppy.
There’s not too much we can say that the pictures don’t say for us…Poppy is in horrific shape.
She has fur missing in large patches, her nails are curled and digging into her nail beds. She has a draining abscess under her right eye and most noticeably, she is covered head to toe with a home remedy substance called “Blu Kote.”
But Poppy doesn’t need a home remedy at this point- she desperately needs a vet.
Poppy is lethargic and clearly does not feel well. We will be getting her to our partner vet for a full evaluation and will keep everyone up to date on her diagnosis.
As you know, vet care is costly and we can only continue to help animals in need like Poppy with your support. Please donate to Poppy’s medical care chip in fund via PayPal at the link below. Thank You.
Poppy’s Updates:
Poppy has been officially adopted by her foster mom! Congrats!
Update Oct. 2014: Poppy is doing amazing in foster! She now has a Facebook page you can follow her daily antics (with tons of pictures)! Check it out!
Medical Update, July 15th: Our partner vet thinks Poppy has a tick borne disease from ticks that aren’t normally found in Az. Not knowing her history, we have no idea if she’s been outside of Az or around dogs who have. The disease is not transmitted by a bite, but rather from ingestion of the tick. Our vet has sent out blood out to Auburn University to try and confirm. The specialists on the vet boards believe that is what she has. The cocktail of three medications she’s on are for this disease. The antibiotic she was on for her mouth is part of the cocktail and when we started to see small improvement.
From Poppy’s foster mom, July 9th: Poppy is doing really well – she is a happy dog and likes to howl with the other dogs. She’s just so dang cute!
From Poppy’s foster mom, June 21st: Poppy is doing really well. She is hobbling a few feet each day, and resting/lounging a lot. Her appetite is big and she drinks a TON of water. I had almost all her scabs off, and her skin was nice and clear, then for some reason she got a whole bunch of new sores and scabs – but we again have them all almost gone.
Medical Update, June 19th: Poppy definitely has an abscessed tooth that has caused the hole in her face. She cannot physically open her mouth more than about a half inch so at this time cannot safely be anesthetized as she cannot be intubated. Here is what we DO know:
(1) The x-rays of hind end/pelvis indicate a possible prior pelvic fracture that has healed.
(2) Her skin is significantly improved
(3) She has no muscle in her head
(4) She has no muscle in her rear legs but has range of motion and full pain response
(5) The x-rays show bones that look like multiple bones that are crooked
The plan for now is to put her on a longer course of antibiotics specifically for the mouth infection/abscess, while our partner vet consults with some specialists about Poppy’s xrays.
From Poppy’s foster, June 18th: Look at silly Poppy! She’s feeling a little better every day, and her soft peach fuzzy fur is growing in on her bald sides already! So cute!
Medical Update on Poppy, June 12th: Poppy has a high WBC count, consistent with infection. She also has low glucose (probably due to the difficulty of intaking food). One of her thyroid levels is low, possibly due to the tooth infection. We will know more when the rest of the labs and the other thyroid levels come back. She is Tick Fever and Heartworm negative, Valley Fever is pending. After a few days on the antibiotics and if the other bloodwork is normal, they will sedate her to X-ray the jaw, do a dental and pull the tooth (teeth) that’s likely abscessed. She’s currently on eye drops for an abrasion and the vet’s office flushed her ears (full of the Blu-Kote substance) and trimmed her horribly long nails.
