Clover

June 2007: Little Miss Clover was released from a puppy mill breeder in Missouri allegedly because she had a “slight” heart murmur and the breeder did not want to sell her, so she was offered to Rescue and Westie Rescue/Austin offered to take her. Clover was born March 18, 2007. When she arrived in TX, the “slight” heart murmur was very pronounced and a cardiologist was consulted.

After the sonogram showed an enlarged heart due to the failure of the patent duct to close at birth, it was determined that Clover had a very serious PDA defect that needed to be repaired or she would not live to see her first birthday. She was put on Lasix (a diuretic) for the latent congestive heart failure that was developing, and scheduled for surgery on July 3, 2007. At 3 and 1/2 months old Clover had open heart surgery. Her surgeon, Dr. Caplan, felt Clover had an excellent chance at full recovery and should live a full and active normal lifespan for the spunky little Westie that she is.

We brought Clover home to her foster mom on July 5th, a subdued and quiet little Westie. She had been gaining weight this past month and is now at 7.2 pounds. She will need two weeks of quiet recovery before getting her stitches out of her side, and allowed to play again with her foster sister. But we know she will pull through. Clover was wagging her tail furiously when we went to pick her up and bring her home. Clover will have follow up re-checks with the surgeon and with her cardiologist for the next 6 months before getting a clean bill of health, but both her doctors feel she will do fine. Clover will be available for adoption after that.

We are deeply grateful for WestieMed’s assistance with her major medical bills, that have exceeded $2100. so far. Without the support of WestieMed, Clover’s surgery might not have been able to take place. Thank you for being there.

Update August 2007:

Chloe (formerly Clover) Gets a New Family and a New Name

Chloe (formerly Clover) is a little West Highland White Terrier that came into the world before her little heart was finished.  She had what is known as a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA).  It happens in humans and can happen in puppies too.  The surgery to correct it for a puppy is fully invasive open heart surgery.  It is quite expensive and as you can imagine, for-profit puppy places are not in the business of saving every dog.

Thankfully there are kind people like Barbara Ott of Westie Rescue of Austin and groups like WestieMed who stand up and devote their time and money behind the scenes to save these precious little lives regardless of the bottom line.

As we were mourning the loss of our Lizzy, our nine-year-old Westie who passed suddenly within two weeks of learning something may be wrong, for the first time in our lives together we were living in our all-too-quiet and deathly still house without a little furbaby.  It was not a joyful place to be.  I certainly wasn’t yet thinking of another pet, but when my husband emailed me the Pet Finder picture and story of Clover (now Chloe), our heart just went out to that precious little ball of fur.

I just couldn’t imagine her having to go through full open-heart surgery.  I was hoping to learn that she was all right.  From seeing her sweet little pictures, I knew that if she survived the surgery there would be no shortage of homes for her, but I just had to know that she had survived the surgery.

I contacted Barbara Ott of Westie Rescue of Austin to check on Clover and one thing led to another and by late August we were so fortunate to be able to foster her in our home!  Our home was joyful again!  Her doctor’s orders were strict and we didn’t deviate…except for the part where a 6-month old puppy is to stay calm ALL the time.  Well…we tried our best.

She was so quick to learn the rules of the house…even learned how to ring a bell on the front door to ask to go potty.  She is truly a remarkable little girl with the sweetest disposition.  The fact that she remains very open and trusting after all she has been through early in her life is a testament to the kind and gentle care she received with all of the good people involved.

She has continued to thrive and her little floppy ear even came up.  (Although it was pretty darling the way it was.)

Update November 2007:

On November 8, 2007 she was cleared by her cardiologist and we were incredibly thrilled to be able to formally adopt her!

Chloe has since been spayed and is up to date with her shots and has been micro-chipped.  Her little coat is filling back in beautifully, which I should add, she insists on keeping quite clean.  When she came to us we were told that she loved her little pool, so we got one for her and, yes,  she loves it…although not as much as the shower.  My husband has learned to be extremely careful not to leave the shower running with the door unsecured.  If he so much as steps out for a new bar of soap, he returns to a blissfully happy puppy frolicking in the water.  She is almost always very very clean.

She is thriving and is the busiest little girl with many many toys in her toy box.  Initially I worried if she would be lonely with no other dogs to play with, but she makes challenging games for herself by always having one toy in her mouth while playing soccer with her balls.  When she isn’t dancing and playing with us, she hops and pounces, and plays a mean game of keep away from herself using a racket ball under the round grate of the coffee table.

She isn’t a barker inside at all, but when her favorite racket ball gets trapped under a piece of furniture she gives us one announcing bark then sits beside it patiently until one of us comes to rescue it for her.

We have a house rule is that she is invisible when we are at the dinner table and consequently she does not ever beg or bother.  Although the hardest part is for US not to acknowledge HER as we see her playing so sweetly and intently.  She is s constant source of smiles.   We are so fortunate to have her in our lives.

I just don’t know how she could be any sweeter.

We were told that we can expect Chloe to lead a full life.   After all that this little girl has been through and the caring and diligent work everyone has done to make her survival possible, I certainly hope to do everything I can to make it a happy one.  She is our little girl.

To Barbara Ott and WestieMed, thank you sooooo much for all you do.  You really do make a difference far beyond just helping the furbabies.

Sincerely,

Holly Alario

Update May 2008:

Our little Chloe is doing so well.  She doesn’t seem to have any problems at all.  She has two speeds; Full-On-Boundless-Energy and Stop-I-Need-My-Beauty-Sleep.  I feel very confident that the cardiologist will be pleased at her next check up.

Chloe is the sweetest little girl I can imagine…and smart too.  My husband is convinced that she can tell the good guys from the bad guys on TV.  Actually she does actually watch the television.  (She’s the first of any of my furbabies to do this.)  And oddly enough, while watching if she growls, most often it when an evil character is doing or saying something.  I’d like to think she is a great judge of character, but I do fear that if we were burgled, she’d make fast friends with the person.

Her sleeping and relaxing abilities are second to none.  She loves sleeping in the bed with us and loves to be the last one out of bed in the morning.  (Our bed is too high for her to get into by herself so we’ve installed the “Chloe Climber”, a little step system next to the bed that gives her a little more autonomy.)

Then it’s on the floor for her Yoga where she does her downward doggie stretch followed by the cutest “Zombie” stretch where she sits upright and pushes her little shoulders down, makes her neck stiff and lets out a little groan like a zombie.  We love it every time.

 And she’s actually turning into a little cuddler, which surprises me for a Westie, especially one so young.  I guess now that we’re older we may be treating her more like a grandbaby.  She receives an endless supply of hugs and “kisses” (actually Mwha sounds.)  Just yesterday, I tested out a new “Chloe Call” and to my shock it worked.  She was upstairs and I was down.  So instead of calling her with “Chloe Come” I made two loud kissy sounds, like “Mwha Mwha” and instantly she came bounding down the stairs not wanting to miss out on any hugs and “kisses.”  :-)

She is a constant source of smiles and laughs and warm endearing feelings.

Thank you so much for doing what needed to be done to keep this little light of life shining.

With Gratitude,

Chloe’s Mommy and Daddy