Nicki, homeless this Christmas (Owner surrender)

8 years ago, a family took in a sweet dog for their autistic son. Pets can be a very healing energy for people with special needs so we are not against this. However, pets are not just props and should be treated with love and respect and a member of the family. Unfortunately, this family treated this dog as just that, a prop to keep their son entertained. They decided to surrender the dog to us when their son started bullying the dog recently. They were not able to give us much information about the dog before we picked up the dog. They could not (or would not) tell us if the dog was sterilized or microchipped, what brand of food the dog was on, nor how old the dog was. Only that the dog was called Jimmy. 

Our first meeting with Jimmy was on a rainy day. The family made no effort to shield or protect Jimmy from the rain so we were handed a soaked and trembling dog. And then, we found out that Jimmy was a "she". 

Sensing her owner was going to give her away

This is how she was handed to us 

We have since renamed her Nicki. Nicki was taken to the vet for a thorough checkup. She has dry eyes with discharge in her left eye. Both her ears are also infected with yeast and bacteria. Her skin is also flaky with significant yeast infection and she has severe dental disease. The vet also found a mammary mass in her left mammary gland. A spinal xray was done on her and we found that she has significant arthritis in her lower spine and her kidneys look very enlarged. The vet recommended an abdominal ultrasound to assess further, as well as dental and spay and removal of the mammary mass, but we do not have the funds for this at the moment. Her blood tests show elevated white blood count which could be due to any of the many reasons mentioned above. In the meantime, we have started her on long term eye drops for her dry eyes, as well as a shorter term one to treat the infection in her left eye. She also needs medicated ear drops, shampoo and anti-yeast oral medication to address her many yeast and bacterial infections. She was also given antibiotics for her elevated white blood count and Gabapentin for spinal pain. 

At the vet

Flaky skin and a mammary lump that needs to be removed 

Checking her eyes - she's such a sweetheart <3 

Badly in need of dental 

Feeling dejected

Unkempt; one of the reasons she couldn't walk properly and kept slipping

Through all of this, Nicki is very sweet and did not fuss at all. If you would like to help this girl kick start a new and better life (with a more appropriate name), please consider contributing to her vet bills so she can get the procedures she requires. To contribute, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.