Sophie

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Dennis and Joanne

 You warm my heart, Miss Sophie! From Michelle

 Happy Holidays from anonymous

    -Anonymous

May 2, 2011

Poor Miss Sophie! She came to my house on Saturday and is in really tough shape. She is 14 years old. She is a mix of Golden and something else like Husky or Samoyed. She has a really dense undercoat that is very much like wool. The first thing that you notice about Sophie is her beautiful white face. Sadly, after that you will notice her terrible smell and the HORRIBLE fur matts. She came to RAGOM as a stray and has been seriously neglected for some time. I have never seen such dense and dirty fur matts. I tried to comb her, but it was impossible. The matts behind her ears were as big as eggs and when cut  looked just like felt. The worst matting is under her tail. I am including a picture of it, but even this does not show how bad it is. These matts are urine soaked and full of fecal matter. She has trouble walking due to arthritis in her hips, but I am certain that the matts are also making it more painful to walk. I have not seen her wag her tail either. I am sure that must hurt too.

She was not up to date on her shots, so I could not take her to a groomer until she got a rabies shot. I took her to the vet yesterday and then to a groomer. The groomer worked valiantly for 45 minutes shaving a part of her shoulder and back. They stopped as she was tired and weak. They also feared cutting her skin (which is in bad shape). We all felt so bad that we could not liberate her from this fur torture suit. The groomers said that she needed to go to a vet where they could sedate her and completely shave her. This is NOT the weather that you want to go from three inches of fur to naked, but there is no choice. I dropped her at the vet this AM and they are going to see what they can do about the fur.

Her back legs are very weak and she has trouble doing two steps up to my back door. It is very hard for her to lie down and get up, so she spends much time pacing. Once she is down, she really does not move unless coaxed. She does not have full control of her poop and pee. Sometimes when she gets up, some poop or pee gets pushed out. Her appetite is good and she is interested in what is going on around her. She is very submissive and not really interested in my dogs. She has an independent spirit and likes to check things out for herself. She did sleep in my bedroom Saturday and Sunday nights. It was a bit stinky, but I was glad that she chose to join us. I hope to get her on some pain medication today. She will probably also need antibiotics as her skin is most likely infected.

She is gentle and sweet and deserves MUCH, MUCH better than life has given her. I am going to do everything I can to help her enjoy life again. The next pictures I send will be of a mostly naked and I hope more comfortable girl.