ADOPTED

MERCEDES

It sickens us to see one of our beloved American Eskimos turn up in an animal control facility at the age of 13, presenting with this kind of inexcusible neglect....directly from an owners home.

We've seen strays in better shape than Mercedes. When we picked her up, we were speechless, and we can usually find something to flap our gums about. For starters, her gorgeous white coat is dry, porous and gray, which suggests a whopping nutritional deficiency. The layers of dead hair are matted to the skin with poop and flea dirt, while some areas are dreadlocked and can be easily hand plucked in great tufts. Clearly, nobody has taken a brush to this dog in 13 years.

We rushed her to the vet, before we could book our groomer, so the next pictures you see of Mercedes may well show the usual, unfortunate shave job. It won't be pretty because short hair is absolutely never a flattering cut on a chubby girl and, Mercedes weighed in at 43.5 pounds today at her vet visit. She is down from an astounding 51 pounds when she first arrived at the shelter. Her goal weight is 20 pounds. We are relieved that she is losing weight with the change to a healthy diet, but are awaiting the results of her senior blood panel to rule out a low thyroid issue.

Mercedes showed signs of longstanding ear infections. The hair on both sides of her face was encrusted with terrible smelling black gunk. It was one of the worst infections our vet has seen. The vet techs cleaned her ears and applied a long lasting antibiotic ointment.

And then, it was onto her teeth! She's going to lose most of them....rotted from poor diet and lack of care. As soon as her bloodwork comes back, she will be scheduled next week for a comprehensive dental appointment, with extractions.

And so, Mercedes is now resting comfortably in her foster home with a dedicated foster mom, who clearly cares more for her than the family who had her for 13 years. It's too soon to get a behavior read on Mercedes, because her painful ear and dental conditions are clearly having an impact, but she seems genuinely grateful for the attention she is receiving. We will post an update soon.

We expect Mercedes to be available for adoption within the next couple of weeks to savvy Eskie folks, who understand that the quality of life is more important than the quantity. Although Mercedes is a senior girl, she deserves to spend her golden years pain free in a home with folks who love her. We are doing all necessary medical treatments to restore Mercedes to good health, but her adopter will need to focus on nutrition and exercise going
forward.

Mercedes has already been spayed, and vaccinated for rabies, parvo/distemper, bordatella. She is microchipped and de-wormed, and has tested negative for heartworm, lyme, earlichia and anaplasmosis. If you are interested in Mercedes, please write to Denise@EskiesOnline.com for an adoption application, or call Denise at 720-903-0636 for more information.

In the meantime, donations are very much needed to offset the expense of Mercedes medical care. If you can help, please donate here: