On March 26th, TAF was contacted about a stray dog that needed emergency medical attention.
Lily came into the ER with a tight collar around her neck that had part of a cut off leash hanging from it. The bottom half of Lily’s body was stained with car oil and urine and it was obvious that she already had many litters of puppies. One can only guess if she was tied up somewhere and once she had her puppies was let go… or even if the scrapes and wounds on her body were caused from being hit by a car.
From eating garbage off of the street and having intestinal parasites, Lily had blowout bloody diarrhea. Her bloated stomach made it hard to get a clear picture of what was going on in her tender abdominal area. Ironically, her emaciated state made it hard to decipher what was going on in her ultrasound and x-rays.
Lily also had a thick bloody mucous coming from her vaginal area. She had a severe infection in her uterus and she needed to have it removed as soon as she was stable enough to survive the surgery.
In addition to all of this, Lily’s was having issues with blood clotting. One possible explanation was that Lily got into something dangerous while scavenging for food on the streets, potentially even rat poison. In case rat poison was the issue, Lily received vitamin K injections to help save her life.
While dealing with all of these medical issues, worrying about re-feeding syndrome was always an issue. It would be weeks before she was out of the woods and we knew that she would make it.
When all was said and done, it would take six weeks for Lily to make a full recovery.
Now for the good part…
Once in a while, the emotional journey that an abused dog takes to recover will touch the life of another. One photo can tell more about emotions and heartache than any words could ever on paper. Lily’s photos had a story to tell and her future mom just happened to be watching. It would be Lily’s beautiful brown eyes that ultimately spoke to her mom… through all of Lily’s pain, there was still a glimmer of hope. The hope to one day be happy again.
We at TAF are happy to announce that Lily has found her forever home! Lily has left what can be the cruel streets of Chicago and is now living on a quiet farm with horses, acres of land, dog friends and a devoted mom that loves her. Lily goes for runs with her mom and then plays with the neighboring dogs. Lily also goes on trail hikes with her mom and can even take visits to the beach.
It is as though Lily had to go through hell to finally find her heaven on earth… she is one of the lucky ones.
We honestly couldn’t have picked a better happily ever after if we tried. A beautiful beginning for a mom and her new best friend.
