Lola

8 years old, Buff and White, Cocker Spaniel, Just over three years ago, eight-year-old Lola went to what she thought was her new loving forever home. Her coat was gorgeous. She was happy and healthy and dreaming of life with her new family. Tragically, though, Lola’s dream wasn’t to be. Oh, Lola moved in with this family, all right, their promise of a wonderful life filling her heart with joy. That joy, however, soon gave way to sorrow as she realized their promises were as empty as her heart now was. ...and so began Lola’s three-year nightmare. Her beautiful coat began to thin until she was eventually almost completely bald. She developed a yeast infection which inflamed her skin and caused painful crusty patches where her fur should have been. She had perpetual untreated ear infections. Her nails were never trimmed and so become imbedded in her paw pads. She became morbidly ]obese, gaining over 25 pounds. She had untreated painful dry eye. She had developed severe arthritis in her left hip and back right knee. When the couple who had adopted her returned her a few weeks ago, we could not believe the deplorable condition into which they had allowed Lola’s health to deteriorate. All they had said when they originally called to return her was that she had some skin issues. What we saw when she exited their car was the result of three years of criminal neglect. What’s more, they said they had regularly taken her to the vet. We ask you, though, would your vet have ignored such criminal neglect unfolding before their eyes? Would your vet have not seen the nails imbedded a half inch or more in her raw swollen paw pads? No? We thought not. So, on the day Lola came home to PPR, we promised to do everything in our power to restore this beautiful girl’s health. We began with blood work, and what do you think we discovered? Well, a simple blood test done when Lola’s hair loss first began would have prevented her last three years of pain and suffering. She has hypothyroidism which we are now treating. Even in just a couple of weeks, Lola has shown improvement. The road ahead, however, is a long one. We do not know how much of her fur will regrow. She will always have arthritis, but weight loss and proper diet will significantly lessen its impact. Speaking of weight loss, Lola weighed in at 46.8 pounds recently, down from a high of 60 pounds earlier this year! What’s more, this special girl has retained her love of life and of people. In fact, we don’t think she’s ever met a stranger. Her sweet nature shines in her eyes. She loves tummy rubs, rolling around on soft blankets, walks, and cuddling. She is spayed, microchipped, and current on her vaccines. So who is ready, willing, and able to give beautiful Lola the life about which she has always dreamed?