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Lily's Diagnosis & Recovery

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Lily Lovedog is a beautiful white standard poodle who is 8 years old. I adopted her at age 6 months when the young woman who had her couldn't keep her. You have never seen anything as adorable as a 6 mo. old white standard poodle, I assure you. She stole my heart.

She grew up to be a smart, loyal, funny, and beautiful companion. And above all, the most loving creature on earth.

Lily's lived happily with other dogs and cats, so it never occured to me there might be a problem when about 2 months ago I adopted these kittens.

Mina & Char were rescued from the frozen alleys of Baltimore, sick and underweight. Happily they are now in the pink. Because of my tight budget, I got my vet care through the Humane Society's subsidized clinic.

But soon after their arrival Lily began to scratch and chew at her fur. A vet tech from the clinic suggested it was ringworm. The cats showed no signs of ringworm or any other skin problem but can be carriers. She recommended shaving the dog and treating with antifungal shampoo and an off-label oral medication.

It would take over 2 weeks to know if it was working.
Ringworm is known to be highly contagious, so my friends understandably asked us to stop visiting. I began to bleach, launder and dispose of everything. Lily got her winter coat sheered off when it was bitter cold outside.

Cats and dog got multiple anitfungal baths: soaped up, left to 'cook' for 10 minutes and then rinsed. Big fun, let me tell you!


Fast forward weeks later to this Monday and Lily is obviously worse:  ugly, crusty sores. If I take off her 'cone of shame' she chews herself bloody. The itching is driving her mad, and it's horrible to see her suffer!

Without much left in the bank, in desperation I called the new young vet in town. I needed some science. And he gave me some great news:

It's not ringworm! And, it's not mange. That's good news, and it certainly explains why she's not getting better. But what IS it???

You know I would have got her the best care if I could have. The challenge is, I find myself unable to afford the vet bills. I know, I just rescued two cats, what was I thinking? But those kitties are healthy and fine, and now are unlikely the source of infection, despite the coincidence.

He can do the testing to determine the cause, and the first estimate was $470.  Then there is treatment, followup and re- testing.

I knew the kitties would cost me a few hundred dollars. But with this complication, I have already spent over $600 on vet expenses since January. That's why I have to ask you for help.

If I still had a big corporate salary I would have been able to absorb the blow. But, I'm an older freelance artist and writer who lives simply,  I'm in the midst of moving, and my finances are already stretched beyond what is doable.

I hope you can help us out! Any amount, no matter how small, can help Lily get the diagnosis and treatment she needs to recover. She is such a loving creature, I want her to be happy and enjoy life every day she can.

Thank you for your compassion!

Organizer

Patrise Henkel
Organizer
Accokeek, MD

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