Lilly is a one-year-old, unspayed, Westie who was born in a puppy mill situation (we believe) in a town called Sudbury, which is in northern Ontario.
She was originally going to be used for breeding however she got ill so the “breeder” advertised her in a local paper as “take her or we will put her down” A young girl, approximately 25 years old, and her father answered the ad and took Lilly when she was approximately four to five months old. The young girl was, we suspect, mentally challenged so was very unprepared and unequipped for the financial and emotional responsibility of taking care of an ill Westie, and felt the best solution was to keep her crated all day, for about six months and did not get her any Veterinary care.
Lilly’s skin and condition got worse and worse until the young girl could no longer cope and placed an ad on a website with her pitiful picture, offering her to anyone who wanted her. Very luckily, one of our Westie lovers saw the ad, contacted us and Westies in Need called the owner right away and offered assistance.
A Westies in Need family who have adopted two of our Westies (one puppy mill girl named Molly and a blind Westie named Tara) offered to make the four and half hour drive (one way) to get her for us and then turned around and drove right back to our waiting arms. We took her to our Vet that same day and her treatments began.
She is a tiny, sweet, fragile, sick little girl who has had a hard start to life, but we will make sure she gets the very best care possible from this moment on.
Westies in Need would like to thank WestieMed for all they do and for their very generous donation for Lilly’s care.
With love and thanks,
Corrie Yeoman Kim McLean Directors,
Westies in Need
Update January 6, 2010
To all of the wonderful folks at WestieMed, Just a quick e-mail to say thanks and thanks again for the generous donation you made to our rescue for our girl Lilly! It is so very much appreciated…we will keep you updated on her progress. Thanks!!
Corrie Director,
Westies in Need
Update February 4, 2010
Well, it has been about six weeks now since our Lilly came into our Westies in Need rescue program and I wanted to send you all a follow-up picture and update.
When Lilly arrived she was so very sick and she was about seven pounds At the next Vet visit she went up to about seven and a half and at her last visit she was now almost eight pounds…slow but steady and we would love to see her gain a bit more.
Her fur is coming along…again slow…but a bit more every day! She was bathed three times a day for the first two weeks, then twice a day, then once a day and is now down to a bath every other day. The first few weeks she just stood there and did not move when you bathed her…now she hears the water run and she is gone!!! Too funny!!!
The biggest change we have seen (and I mean HUGE!!!!) is in her attitude. When I first got Lilly she slept about eighteen hours a day, would not run or play at all and had no life her eyes at all….well…she is now a little spitball!
This young lady has Westie-tude to spare! She barks at me if I am not quick enough with her supper, runs up and down our hall chasing my Charlotte like she is in the Indy 500, eats like there is no tomorrow, plays for hours on end with toys and is an absolute joy!
She is the sweetest, most loving and cuddly Westie I have ever known…if you let her she would live her life snuggled on your lap playing with your fingers or trying to chase your eyelashes!!! What a joy she is!
I will keep you all updated on her progress. I want to thank you all once again for your love, your support and your donations for this little girl. She had a rough start to life, but she is certainly making up for it now.
With love and thanks,
Corrie
Westies in Need
Update June 25, 2010
Lilly, as you know, came into the rescue on December 10th and at that time she was a mess, but she became stronger and stronger as the months went on and was even starting to grow some hair and not smelling as bad.!
THEN…April came and she had a small sore on her head one day (the size of my little fingernail) …in two and half days it covered almost half of her head (picture is attached) and was oozing and pussy. I thought for a moment she had flesh-eating disease….needless to say, we were off to the Vet in a minute and she was diagnosed with a severe bacterial infection that her current antibiotic was doing nothing for and Demodex Mange.
So from April till now it has been a long haul and we have kinda had to start at the beginning…she lost all her hair (damn!!!) and had, I would say, sixty small, open sores on her body from the mange.
She is now seeing her regular Vet as well as Steven Waisglass, a Canine Dermatologist. She went immediately on a different antibiotic and is now also on Ivermectin for the mange. She was also found to have a problem with her Thyroid (I sent all her blood work off to Jean Dodds) so she is currently on Thyroid medication as well.
I have attached some pictures for you to see…I need to take some more of her now as she is starting to improve. She is back to wearing little clothes all the time and she has to wear her back boots again as well so she does not rip her skin when she scratches.
We are back to a bath every other day with the Dermabens shampoo and then another shampoo with the Nizoral and then an oatmeal rinse and I have a Derma cool spray that I can spray on her in bad, itch spots.
Through all this, she is still eating and pooping well and is still the sweetest little thing. In April when she was VERY sick she was back to sleeping most of the day and very lethargic, but she has improved since then…does not sleep too much during the day and is back to playing with toys and trying very hard to play with my Charlotte, who still wants absolutely NOTHING to do with her. So funny!!! She was only 3.4 kg when she arrived in our rescue and is currently 5.6 KG now, so a good and steady improvement with her weight.
We appreciate WestieMed more than you know.
Corrie and her little Westies, Charlotte and Miss Lilly
Update April 12, 2011
My Lilly is doing better…still not 100% which is disappointing but she is looking better. Her skin is still an issue and will probably be for all her life.
She is now seeing a holistic Vet in Toronto…she saw the canine dermatologist for months but I was unhappy as he just wanted to continue her treatment with additional drugs, so I am now on the holistic approach.
She has been on a RAW diet for a month now as well, but I have seen no improvement at all as far as her skin. Here is a picture I took of her in December!
Corrie
Update January 9, 2012
I want to send you a follow-up regarding our Lilly. She was a little Westie who WestieMed helped over two years ago now. You helped me so much as well as Bette, answering all my questions – you are so knowledgeable and I could not begin to thank you enough!
Lilly continues to do well, not 100% but I doubt that she will ever be…but she is happy and a whole lot better than she was when she arrived in our rescue.
Last month we had 19 Westies come into our rescue – a very busy month but all are doing great!
Corrie Westies in Need