Meet Zimmer! Zimmer’s owners turned him in to our County Shelter saying that he had cancer in his leg…
Poor Zimmer is having a hard time walking right now, but Bethany Animal Hospital will get to the bottom of it all and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear. In the meantime, Zimmer is on pain medications and is resting much more comfortably.
Medical Update: Turns out Zimmer does NOT have cancer, but he does have Valley Fever and a badly infected eye.
Zimmer’s Updates:
Zimmer has spent the last seven months with an amazing foster family, learning to love and trust again. Unfortunately, due to health issues, his foster can no longer keep him and Zimmer is in need of a new place to call “home” while he heals.
Read below for a full bio on Zimmer from his current foster mom. Please email us at medicalanimalsinneed@gmail.com if you are interested in providing a foster home for this adorable guy.
From Zimmer’s foster mom: Zimmer is a two year-old Lhasa mix that needs a new foster home. He has spent the last seven months in a foster home learning how to trust, and to be part of a family. Zimmer isn’t too much of a bother; he prefers to stay inside and uses a puppy pad successfully. When he is having good days, he likes to play with toys and can be irresistibly cute. Occasionally he will want to give kisses! It’s these truly precious moments which provide insight into Zimmer’s pain-free personality that makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Zimmer has some special needs:
• He takes several medications:
o Flucanzanole (Valley Fever)
o Ketoprofen (Pain)
o Prozac (Attitude)
o Tramadol (Pain)
• He has lost his sense of bite inhibition, although we have been working with him using medication therapy and clicker training to change this behavior. He has shown modest progress however until his pain is completely gone, we won’t know what he is really like. The good news is that Zimmer gives fair warning and bites can be avoided if you watch his body language.
• He is unable/unwilling to have his grooming done at home – it requires sedation. He’s been working on getting comfortable with grooming tools using the clicker training.
• He can go up stairs but not down, it’s one of the few times you can hold him and be affectionate (on the way down).
• When he is in severe pain he starts marking (this probably wouldn’t happen in a home without dog siblings or with only a strong alpha dog)
Zimmer’s current foster mom will provide the following items so he has some consistency during his transition.
• Dog Bed
• Food and water bowl
• Puppy pads and plastic tray holder
• Clicker
• Favorite toys
Update July 4th: Unfortunately Zimmer’s right eye became severely infected and could not be saved, requiring an enucleation.
Update from Dr. Katie June 11th: He’s nekkid now. He has GOT to be in a better mood after losing all those matts- although he should be kept away from mirrors. Just in case he’s sensitive, ya know? He’s got a yucky cold, valley fever, and it turns out he’s not very old. Maybe 18 months… I think he will do MUCH better in a home situation but we will give it our very best shot.
Beautiful dog.