Just when we thought our plates are full and couldn’t take on anymore, we met Malcolm.
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| Does he look like a poodle? |
Malcolm is our latest case of owner surrendered dog. At 10 years of age, one would have expected him to be reasonably healthy, able to see and hear well. Yet the poodle that we met looked nothing like that. Balding in so many parts of his body, his eyes were listless and the face that we laid our eyes on told us this is a dog that has been through so much.
A visit to our regular vet for the preliminary check and assessment found so many issues that we didn’t know how to list them all, so we shall focus on the main ones:
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| Did years of infection / allergies cause Malcolm to lose his hearing? |
- Chronic allergies leading to hyperpigmentation, thickened skin, intense itch and balding.
- Cornea scarring and loss of visibility in both eyes due to extreme dryness over a prolonged period. He is estimated to have only around 20% visibility.
- Deaf in both ears.
- High globulin and enlarged lymph nodes underneath the tongue which could possibly be due to his skin condition.
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| Long nails, fur loss :-( |
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| How long has he been suffering? |
Thankfully his overall blood test results were still not too bad, giving us some hope that with proper treatment and care, he will be able to bloom and lead a better quality of life. He was given an injection to help ease the itch. On his next review he will undergo ultrasound scans and possibly further tests to check for cushings and thyroid issues. He will also need a dental scaling, although this can wait for now.
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| Mini Zeus? |
Malcolm is currently staying with a temporary foster and we will look into rehomimg him when he is in a better state of health. The road to recovery may take a while but we will not give up on him. Likewise if you feel for Malcolm and would like to contribute towards his medical bills, please drop us a message at hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.
