Delilah

On July 10, 2007, a special little girl came in to my life. I was accompanying several family members to the Bastrop County Animal Shelter, and as we approached the outdoor kennels I spotted what appeared to be a puppy in one of the outdoor dog runs. As we got closer I realized the poor little quivering puppy was actually an adult miniature dachshund that was severely underweight. She was a stray found on the streets. The ridge of her backbone and her hips were jutting out and you could see and count all the ribs in her ribcage. It also looked like she was losing her hair. My first thought was, “Who could do that to such a sweet little dog?”

Already having Samson, a blind 12-year old Yorkie at home, I had no intention of adopting another dog. My family laughed as a bent down to get a closer look, and once her almost hairless tail started to wag back & forth at me, I knew I was lost. Even in her sad condition she was not afraid to be friendly and look for love. My family started counting down the clock to see how long it would take me to adopt this little scared and starved dog. I decided I would ask about her and maybe only hold her for a minute or two. After getting to know her for a few minutes my mind was made up and the adoption papers were started.

I did have one concern – just from holding her I sensed she had a severe respiratory infection or something wrong with her heart. I was hoping it wasn’t heart worms. I thought to myself that even if there are problems, she deserves someone to love and take care of her. I just knew I couldn’t leave her behind. Two days after the adoption, my vet walked into the exam room and could not believe her eyes. She was very guarded in her prognosis. Weighing only 6 lbs. 10 oz. and being in such poor condition, she advised to have Delilah rechecked in one month to see if she could gain some weight before we conducted any in-depth medical tests or tried to determine a long term prognosis. The look on her face told me she was not expecting too much progress. Initial findings concluded that Delilah was around 4-5 years old and had a Grade VI heart murmur, probably due to severe mitral valvular mycardiosis.

I took Delilah home and showered her with attention, love and food. A month later, much to her doctor’s surprise, a much fatter and sassier Delilah came back to the veterinary office for her one month follow up visit, weighing in at over 8 ½ lbs. My vet was amazed about how much she had improved and actually held out some hope for us. More extensive tests followed, her initial diagnosis was confirmed, and Delilah was placed on two kinds of heart medicine twice a day. While unable to cure her heart problems, hopefully with lots of love and continued medications we will be able to maintain her current condition for however long she and I have to spend together. Each day is a special blessing.

Today Delilah’s hair has grown back and is a beautiful dark, shiny auburn color and she is a healthy 9+ lbs. Visitors who don’t know her history would never know she has any medical problems. She eats, sleeps, plays and runs at full speed, go for broke, ears flying wiener dog speed! She is the queen of the castle and has brought so much joy in to my life. She spends her days with her best friend Buddy, another adoptee from the Bastrop County Animal Shelter, who was adopted by my sister. Once Buddy met Delilah he decided he had to live with me, too. Everyday he would walk to my house to see Delilah, so for his own safety and because they bonded together so quickly, he now lives with me and my sister and I share “joint custody.” He is cute as a button and is the family clown. Delilah and Buddy are inseparable. So bring some joy in to your life and adopt a pet, or maybe two!

~ Donna M.