Today, I am thankful for people like Pam Heine, who don’t believe there are “unadoptable” animals. Pam is the centralizing force behind Finding Fido Rescue and in May 2010 she received a call about a ten-year-old Shih Tzu who needed to be rescued from Maricopa County Animal Care and Control. Everybody knows Pam has a thing for Shih Tzu’s and will take them in almost any condition. She was told that Beatrice, the Shih Tzu, needed a dental and had a head tilt. It seemed like an easy enough case but as soon as Pam saw what she’d committed to, she realized the situation was a lot worse. Much, much worse.
Beatrice not only had a head tilt but she had trouble walking in a straight line. She would fall over. She had facial paralysis on her right side. Her tongue hung out. She had trouble eating and in the beginning, Pam had to feed Beatrice with a syringe because Beatrice would get frustrated with her inability to eat and simply give up. Beatrice also couldn’t turn left – only left. Beatrice found out that if she simply turned right far enough in a circle, she could eventually go left. She was a disaster! But through it all, Beatrice’s tail kept wagging and she really was the sweetest little girl.
A bout with tick fever delayed her spay surgery and dental. Then Beatrice’s preliminary blood work showed that her blood was as thick as fudge…which would explain why she’d had a stroke. The veterinarian tried to thin her blood at the animal hospital and when that didn’t work, he sent her home with blood thinners. Weeks passed as Beatrice continued to take the blood thinners but it made no difference. The veterinarian was baffled. Finally, Pam and the vet agreed that they were just going to have to move forward with the surgery. It was a big risk. It was likely that Beatrice would have a life threatening seizure on the table while in surgery so both Pam and the vet took a deep breath. The vet promised to do the surgery as quickly as he could. On that day, Beatrice was spayed. She had eighteen rotten teeth removed as well as some mammary tumors. While in surgery, the vet also discovered that Beatrice had a ruptured eardrum, an injury that had gone untreated. It was a difficult surgery to do quickly but somehow, Beatrice managed to come out alive.
You would think that a dog with that many maladies would be considered “unadoptable”. Most people would just put Beatrice into sanctuary, letting her wait until the end of her days. But Pam Heine is not one of those people. Pam received an email from a former adopter. The couple had once adopted a seventeen-year-old Shih Tzu from her. That dog had passed over the rainbow bridge and they were looking for another special needs dog to adopt. They asked about Beatrice. Pam was honest with them. She told them Beatrice had an entire laundry list of maladies and with her blood so thick, there was nothing preventing her from having another stroke. The couple decided they wanted Beatrice anyway. That was all the way back in January 2011.
In July, Beatrice started going downhill. She was constantly getting infections. Her blood work was all over the charts. The vet gave Beatrice maybe two weeks to live and everyone braced for the worst but they were comforted in knowing she was going to pass away in the arms of someone who loved her – not alone in shelter. Well it is now November and little Beatrice is still around and kicking. Who knew? It’s amazing how well a dog reacts when they are loved. And thank goodness for people like Pam Heine and Beatrice’s mom and dad. They just prove that no dog is truly unadoptable.
