HAPPY TAILS FOR SISSY'S PUPPIES THANKS TO HER FOSTER PARENTS AND WISH!!!!

Wow what a month! Sissy and her puppies have had so much fun in their foster home with Stephanie and Franck and their adorable boys. Less than 2 weeks ago, the family said goodbye to their 7 babies. Bittersweet for sure....this wonderful family fostered Sissy and her puppies for the past several weeks. Believe it or not, this was their first foster experience and it was quite a learning experience! Poor Sissy has had some medical issues (skin infection, mastitis, etc.) and her puppies have been a handful! Stephanie and Franck have been absolutely wonderful throughout and we could not have asked for a more compassionate foster family.

Our friends at Wish Upon a Paw in Wisconsin (http://wishuponapaw.org/), have been complete angels as well! Our friends, Emily and Natalie, started WISH last May, although neither of them are strangers to rescue! WISH offered to take in 2 of the puppies right off the bat and find them homes (they ended up with 3 though..oops). Then...without hesitation, they agreed to "courtesy post" the rest of the litter (just to see what happens)! WOW...what craziness followed! Jaime, the Canine Adoption Coordinator, was inundated with applications for these babies! Some of you may remember...Jaime and Glen adopted 2 of our babies (now named Riley and Miles) who originally came from the Osceola Animal Shelter in Arkansas and we have been great friends ever since! Thankfully, Stephanie was an integral part in the adoption process. As a foster mom, no one knows these babies better than she does so her input and expertise was invaluable!

We cannot thank WISH and Stephanie and Franck enough for all their help with these cuties! ALL OF THESE BABIES ARE NOW OFFICIALLY ADOPTED!!! Stephanie and Franck have gratiously offered to foster Sissy as long as necessary (cross fingers it will be forever- lol- come on, we love foster failures!). We are slowly getting updates from the puppies' new families so we hope to post their happy tails soon!

MAMA SISSY NOW NEEDS WELL WISHES/PRAYERS!

Precious Sissy has really had a rough time in the last week. Her foster mommy, Stephanie, messaged me a couple days ago that she was very worried about Sissy. She had a fairly high temperature and was obviously not herself (i.e., shaking, not eating, etc.). We were so worried that she was going to dehydrate, so we made the decision to take her to the emergency vet. It turns out that poor Sissy has mastitis in 2 teats (blocked milk ducts, causing infection, inflammation, etc.). Read info on mastitis here: http://www.vetinfo.com/symptoms-mastitis-dogs.html

It became official...no more nursing for Sissy. No worries...the puppies were already beginning to wean anyway. Sissy was obviously uncomfortable. She was placed on medication and given take home instructions. One of the 2 teats with mastitis abscessed tonight. She has an open abscess, which is considered the better alternative.... Stephanie sent me an update this evening:

The abscess opened more tonight. The abscessed area is roughly a circle with a 2-inch diameter. At first, there was a small hole that the pus was draining from (maybe 1/4 inch diameter), but the skin within the rest of the circle was very saggy and necrotic in areas. Tonight that area has sloughed off, so now the opening is about the size of a quarter, maybe slightly bigger. The vet is going to keep an eye on Sissy during the day tomorrow and possibly Saturday (minimal day fee, it's just for precaution). This way they can monitor the surrounding tissue for sign of spreading infection (which would indicate surgical removal) and thoroughly flush the abscess (Sissy was really not happy with us doing this tonight). She's on a decent amount of pain meds, and sleeps most of the time.

PLEASE say prayers for Sissy. We are incredibly grateful for her foster family. We shutter to think what would happen to Sissy if she were still in the trailer park. FOSTERING SAVES LIVES EVERYONE!!!

Sissy's bills are now over $600 and she hasn't even been spayed/vaccinated yet. We URGE you to please consider making a small donation for her medical care. There is a Chip-In available, but if you prefer to send your donation to the vet directly, please contact Allie at 901-240-9848 or email allieot98@yahoo.com for the information. The good news is we have several great applications on Sissy's puppies so stay tuned!