A Hard Life But Easy Rescue
We just picked this skinny girl up after some kind passersby spotted her skeletal frame on a Taipei City pavement. She’s clearly undernourished and keeps frantically rubbing her head. There’s also a bad smell coming from her mouth, and she’s salivating a lot. She’s clearly had a very difficult and uncomfortable life.
Our first guess was that she had something stuck in her mouth that’s causing a painful infection and perhaps difficulty in opening and closing her muzzle. We’ve had cases like this before, because well-meaning people often give stray dogs cooked bones to eat. While raw bones are incredibly nutritious, beneficial, and safe for dogs, cooked bones have less nutrition and, because they are very hard, they can puncture the stomach, intestines, or mouth lining.
The people who spotted her kindly put her on leash and waited with her until our rescue vehicle arrived. It was a pleasantly quick and easy rescue for a change, and we were able to deliver her to one of our vets 15 minutes later without any stress or difficulty. She just seemed a bit bewildered by all the goings-on.
We decided to name her Cindy, after the lady who found her.
Bad Teeth and Gums
We received an update from the vet last night after they examined Cindy under anaesthetic. As we suspected, Cindy is suffering from a serious oral infection, but not from a foreign object as we had thought—almost all her teeth are rotten or very badly decayed. And her gums are very badly inflamed.
This is why the little stray girl has been unable to eat. Every bite must be agony for her.
A New Smile
So we gave the go-ahead for all teeth that are beyond help to be removed. Cindy will undergo surgery later today. We’re sad that she’ll be almost toothless but very happy that she will be like a new dog afterwards, free of pain and so much happier.
She’ll get the same healthy raw food that all our dogs enjoy, but hers will be finely chopped for her. She’ll be fine. And we’ll make sure she never suffers again—Cindy is a good candidate for rehoming to a loving, responsible home. Whatever happens, Cindy will be loved and cared for now. She’ll be safe, comfortable, healthy, and happy.
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Thank you for any kindness at all. We’ll post more updates on Cindy very soon.
