Do You Remember Miracle? (Entry Two)

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle? (To read previous entries click here.)

The following is an update written by one of Miracle’s veterinarians in May 2006:

WARNING: The post and pictures are graphic.

When he came to us on Monday you could hardly tell he was alive. His head, neck, and front legs were covered in bite wounds, filth and maggots. He was cleaned up and shaved. The first time I saw the wounds on Wednesday the smell could knock you out and the tissue underneath looked like spoiled hamburger. Daily changes of wet to dry bandages slowly removed the infection and cleared the necrotic debris. With each bandage change the smell improved and the tissue turned pink. By Friday you could not smell him coming. As he is healing physically he is healing emotionally as well. Wednesday he growled when you went to get him. Now he meets you with a smiling face and a wagging tail. Partly because he feels better and partly because he now knows he is safe. (He loves to snuggle) Today was a big day for him and we closed his wounds, cleaned his teeth and neutered him. It was a bit of a challenge closing the wound under his arm and it may not heal perfectly, but he is awake, smiling and well on the road to recovery. Thank you all for saving him and giving him life again!

Do You Remember Miracle?

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle?

The following is Col. Potter's VP of Intakes original post introducing Miracle on May 26, 2006:

Warning - parts of this post are graphic.

We were contacted by a local rescue group in Wichita, KS that there was a Cairn in the Wichita Animal Shelter that had been attacked by two Pit Bulls and surrendered by the owner. We only had sketchy details and weren't able to get back in touch with the local rescue group. After some investigation and several phone calls, we found the Cairn in question.

This poor boy had been at the shelter since Friday with no medical care as the shelter can't afford such amenities. The shelter vet had been in on Monday morning and said that if a rescue group didn't pull him immediately and get him medical attention that he would need to be put down due to his injuries.

We immediately made arrangements to get him pulled and taken directly to a vet who was standing by to examine him and give us a report. Initial exam had to be done while he was put under in order to be able to fully evaluate his injuries without causing him any further pain. First report received was that he has a 3" diameter hole on the front of his left front leg and 1" hole on the back of his left front leg that at some point, probably intersect and that his wounds were all covered by maggots from being left untreated and dirty. The vet asked did we want them to continue on or just stop now and PTS. They hadn't even had a chance to examine too much else of him or do any internal examination because of the dirt, filth and maggots on him.

Col. Potter will give this boy every chance to make a full recovery, get to a foster home and eventually to a forever home that will love and care for him like he should have been. We'll be checking back in with the vet treating him today and will report back with an update. In the meantime, please say a prayer for this boy that he has the strength and will to survive, in other words, let's hope he hasn't lost his Cairn spirit ... He needs a miracle and Col. Potter is in the business of miracles, and so we name him Miracle. Prayers for Miracle!

Meet Freeloader!

Furkids find their way to the loving arms of Col. Potter in many different ways. This little boy's journey definitely had many rescue and guardian angels watching over him to get him this far. The Rescue Team monitors Petfinder classified ads. We found one that had listed three dogs that had been found starving in an abandoned home, supposedly one was a Cairn. There was one small terrier and two Pit Bulls found. At first the rescue angel just took food and water to the dogs in the abandoned home, but after a period of time, it was apparent no one was coming back for them and she took them home with her and tried to find their owners or rescue or adoptive homes for them. You can draw your own conclusions of what a young terrier was doing with young, and apparently not vicious, Pit Bulls.

Enter Col. Potter. After having received pictures, it was obvious that the young, male terrier was indeed a Cairn. The rescue angel gave of herself once more and personally delivered him to our vet in Missouri where he will be boarded and vetted before moving to a foster home.

The famous comedienne Red Skelton had a character named Freddie the Freeloader who was a hobo but always had flowers to offer as a gift. This little boy doesn't have flowers, but does have lots and lots of love to give as his gift.

Please help me welcome Freeloader to CP!!! We believe him to be 6-8 months old and currently weighs about 10 pounds. He even seems to have a little bit of "red" in his coat.

Freeloader will be ready to move to his foster home next weekend and is in need of someone to share his love with while waiting for his forever home. If you would like to foster a rescued dog check out our foster facts.