11/20/2016
https://www.facebook.com/BostonBuddiesInc/posts/1278062955583530
Lily – Special Needs Girl Looking for a Special Family – Foster or Furever
Are you one of those special souls that is willing to open your heart and home to a less than perfect dog? Are you one of the minority that is willing to adopt a dog with special medical needs? Lily is a young, sweet, adorable Boston girl that needs you!
If you are not willing to take in a special needs dog you can stop reading now. If you think you might be up to offering a home to a girl in need then let us tell you Lily’s story.
Lily is a beautiful 3 year old, 18 lbs. Boston girl who has had a rough start in life. Lily was returned to the Carson shelter last March due to medical conditions that the adopter was not prepared to deal with. Much to our surprise, Lily does not have an a**s! We got Lily right to our specialty surgeons for a consult and exam where Lily was tentatively diagnosed with a congenital anomaly called atresia ani. Basically, Lily has no a**l opening – you can see where it should be but there is no opening. Instead, Lily’s re**um is connected to her v***a and she eliminates f***s that way. Boston Terriers are one of the breeds that are predisposed to this condition. It happens in utero and is congenital. The unusual thing about Lily is that whoever bred her did not correct this condition as a puppy and allowed her to live this way.
Lily has adapted to this anomaly and learned how to defecate from her v***a. It takes her a bit longer to do her business but she has become fairly adept at it. Because Lily has adapted and lived this way for three years, after consultation with doctors around the world the specialists did not believe that doing corrective surgery was in Lily’s best interest. If they were to re-route the colon and create an a**s it would have no sphincter muscle and there would be no control. Right now, Lily has some control over defecation – not perfect but she definitely knows when she needs to defecate. But, without a sphincter muscle Lily does leak some p**p throughout the day. It is not all the time, but it does happen. Surgery to re-route the colon would not correct the fact that Lily leaks p**p at times – indeed it could actually make that issue worse. The only reason to do surgery would be if Lily was suffering from chronic urinary tract infections from urinating and defecating out of the same place – and Lily has not had any such infections. If that were to start to occur, the option for surgery remains open.
In addition to her medical condition, Lily also came to us with some behavioral issues. Lily has spent a few months with Nick Martinez at State of Mind Dog Psychology to learn to overcome her fear of other dogs and how to be a social dog. It is clear she was never socialized as a young dog. She is now out with the pack and even starting to instigate play with some of the other dogs in the pack. Lily has completed her training at the behaviorist and has even started helping him bring new dogs into the pack – a long way from when she first came to him. Lily is now ready for her forever home. Lily can live with another dog or on her own and her adopter will work with Nick to help integrate Lily into the home.
Here is what Nick says about Lily: Lily came to us for dog aggression issues with just about any other dog. In reality she was very insecure and had no idea how to connect with new dogs without anticipating a fight and becoming very tense since that had been her experience with other dogs other than the one dog she formerly lived with. A lot of the footage in this video https://youtu.be/zzTtXog485Q were her first times opening up to playing with other dogs and her going through the process of learning to trust the pack and in herself. Today, she is doing amazing and she even helps other dogs with behavioral/social issues every week. She finished her socialization/rehabilitation a few months ago and is now in boarding with us waiting for her forever home or foster. She would do best in a home with another dog or dogs but would do just as well in a home without another dog. Nick says Lily is one of the most sensitive dogs he has worked with. Nick and his girlfriend love Lily and they have learned to deal with her p**p issue while she is with them at their home. Lily is used to relaxing in her specific spot in the house and she loves playtime with the other dogs outside where a bit of leaky p**p is not an issue.
No matter what, Lily is a sweet girl who loves life. We do not believe that euthanasia is an option just because a dog is incontinent – Lily was bred this way through no fault of her own but through the actions of an unscrupulous breeder. Our hope is that a rescue angel will step forward for Lily and commit to giving her a home where she will be loved and cherished. Lily is on a special low residue diet to help reduce the amount of solid waste she needs to eliminate. We believe Lily would likely do well on a raw diet and we intend to switch her to that diet soon in the hope that her leaking would be reduced. We understand that there are many people who may have a dog that ends up incontinent in their senior years or from an accident. Most (though not all) owners will deal with the incontinence in those circumstances. But it takes a really special person to agree to adopt a dog knowing that the dog is incontinent. Anyone who has had an incontinent dog knows there are ways to deal with this situation – providing Lily with access to certain areas of the home that are easy to clean and diapering during the nighttime hours (although Lily often does not even soil the diaper overnight) and providing a nice crate in the bedroom for Lily to sleep in so she does not feel left out of the family but does not soil the family bed.
Lily has the softest coat we have ever come across on a Boston. It is a gorgeous, thick brindle coat and she loves for you to pet her and let her snuggle up to you (a blanket or towel on the sofa is all that is needed for these snuggle sessions). Lily is up to date on shots, spayed, heartworm and f***l tested (both negative). Lily needs a special rescue angel – we know someone is out there who can look beyond her medical challenges and open their hearts and home to a girl whose start in life was rough.
While we would love to find Lily a forever home, right now it is urgent that we find Lily a foster home. She can only stay with Nick for a few weeks – after that if we don’t have a place for her to go we will be forced to board Lily at the vet’s office – not a good spot for a special needs girl that has spent months overcoming her fear of dogs. Boston Buddies can provide all necessary supplies, equipment and food for a foster home for Lily. And as he will with her adopters, Nick will work with the foster home to integrate Lily into the household.
If you want to truly make a difference in a dog’s life and want to help Lily please contact us via email at [email protected].
