Sweet Irma Follow-Up

The ever so heartwarming tale of Irma the gentle 8 year old rescued Rottweiler (for those not familiar with Irma, see my 2/18/2008 post titled Sweet Irma) has gotten even more touching. Now long fully recovered from her life saving procedure, she lives free of pain or discomfort. However, with her surgical procedure having left her lower jaw 25 % shorter, Irma was having a problem with her food falling out of her mouth as she tried to pick of the food out of the bowl.

Two days ago, Irma was dropped off at my clinic's kennel facility for a short stay. Her rescuer and current owner, Barry, asked if it would be okay to leave her special dishes that he made for her to resolve her eating issues. He had taken a very nice set of Formica housed stainless steel bowls and welded a 6 inch high berm onto the entire rear side of the food bowl. Having the ability to push the food over to to the back of the bowl and up the berm, Irma now eats with no difficulty at all. Barry also left us with her joint health supplements and anti-inflammatories that control her arthritis, as well as her high end food and treats, complete with specific feeding guidelines (Barry does not want her experiencing any stress due to straying from her regular feeding and treat schedules).

It moves my staff and I indescribably to be witnesses to this wonderful dog live out her golden years with peace and love under the care of such a good man, knowing that she had previously lacked a consistent home for much of her life. We feel privileged to have played a part in her happy ending.

On another note, I recently came across a very clever, fun, and informative animal website I felt obliged to share with my readers. Below is the site description and link:

Deputy Managing Editor Ann Hellmuth writes the animal crazy blog for the
Orlando Sentinel - a collection of animal stories from the inspiring to
the whacky. Ann likes to say that her British birthright explains her
love of animals. After all, Britain is the only country where you have
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.