Sweetie.  If ever a dog earned this name, it's this little guy.   We don't know much about him, other than that he was picked up as a stray with a leash wrapped around his neck.  The pound where he was housed did nothing to clean him up, and he was so bad when Eileen picked him up that they gave her a pair of disposable gloves for handling him!  Our vet bathed him three times before they even began his examination.

We had been told, at first, that Sweetie was a female Kees of a probable young age.  However, as our vet began her examination, she discovered that Sweetie was, in fact, a neutered male.  To complete his exam, the vet had to shave part of his coat away, but they only removed what was absolutely necessary, so most of his coat, while matted and still somewhat filthy, is intact.

We were also told by the pound that Sweetie was heartworm negative.   Wrong again.  Not only is he heartworm positive, but he has young heartworm larvae in his blood, which indicates that he has had heartworms for at least six months.

What to do, what to do, what to do?  The vet asked us if we wanted to have Sweetie put to sleep.  God!  The rescuer's worst nightmare come true.   We talked further with our vet, who told us that she wouldn't even begin to give Sweetie the heartworm treatment for at least a month because he was so malnourished.   In fact, she was surprised that he hadn't simply fallen over and died from hunger.

As far as we were concerned, there was only one decision we could make.   We're going to give Sweetie the time he needs to gain weight and strength, and then take him through the heartworm treatments.  We don't know how old he is or how many years he has left, but we want to make the rest of his life better than what he'd endured up to this point.

We'll continue to post updates about Sweetie, and we'll let any interested parties know when he's ready to be placed into his forever home.

7 September 2001 Update:  Sweetie has been treated for heartworm and has come through that process with flying colors.  The vet recently gave him the "all clear" as far as heartworms are concerned.  What a relief!

However, repeated attempts to clean up Sweetie's extremely matted coat were unsuccessful and the vet recommended that he be shaved.  While the sight of a Keesie with a crewcut is certainly a disconcerting sight, as you can see below, it was the best thing for him as several of the mats were causing hot spots on his flanks.

Also, as can be noted from these photos, Sweetie has put on some weight since we first brought him into rescue.  Actually, he's gained about seven pounds so far and is getting pretty close to a normal weight. 

December, 2001 Update: Sweetie was diagnosed with masses iin his kidneys -- probably cancer -- along with a number of other problems, including the first stages of multiple organ failure. He had been losing weight, although he was appearing to gain it. It turned out that it was simply stored water in his system; not a good sign. He was having continuing problems with walking and even standing up at times. Sweetie's quality of life was rapidly bottoming out. So, Eileen and I made the very, very difficult decision to have Sweetie put to sleep.

I believe that Sweetie knew what was about to happen to him and that he actually welcomed the opportunity to become whole and healthy once more at the Bridge. Eileen and I held him and told him how much he was loved and how much he would be missed while the doctor injected him. Sweetie had the strangest reaction -- he looked up at us, sneezed once, then put his head down. "How long do you think this will take?" we asked our vet. "Oh, he's gone already," replied the vet. "He was ready to go. You did the right thing to help him along."

So now, Sweetie is waiting for us, too, at the Rainbow Bridge. Will he find his previous owners there? I don't know. But I do know that, some day, he will be there to join up with us once more. Goodbye, our dear Sweetie. We hope we gave you a better life than whatever you had before coming to live with us.