melvin

Melvin

Melvin is about a year old. He was taken to Jackson County Animal Shelter, North - in Jackson, NJ - as a stray, some time in January. The people at the shelter took care of him and provided veterinary care. We saw Mel's pic on Petfinder in March, and we called the shelter to offer our assistance for Melvin. We were welcomed with open arms. Some of the volunteers even took up a collection to send along with Melvin to help with his care.

Actually we are told that Melvin has improved since he first arrived at the shelter. As bad as he is, I cannot imagine how this poor boy has suffered. These photos really do not show the true extent of his condition... he actually looks worse in person.

We loaded him up in a vari kennel for the trip home. He just curled up and laid down in the kennel. We didn't hear a peep out of him during the whole trip.

As soon as we got him home, he went into the tub for a medicated bath. It was after hours Saturday afternoon, so I phoned the vet and asked what meds to start him on. He told me what to start him on, and said I should bring him up to the office at 9 am on Sunday. Have I mentioned that our vet is a real peach? He is always there when we need him, no matter what time of the day or night it is.

Mel's little body is just covered with crusty, scaly stuff. When you bath him and wash it off, the hair comes along with the crud, leaving raw, red, angry looking skin exposed. Through all this, Mel just submitted to everything we did to/for him.

He is so thin -- he only weighs 14.5 pounds -- he would just lay in his bed and shiver. So we made a coat for him out of soft polar fleece -- borrowing a pattern from our Friends at Cockers in Need.

Special thanks to the following people::

Karen M. in Memory of "Tien"
Holly G.
Ruth M.
Our Friends at Cockers In Need (Linda A)
Mary S. - In Memory of Lorraine Oswald
- In Memory of "Annie"
- In Memory of "Cudjo"
Anne C.
Mike K. (CIN)
Charley N. and "Emily"
"Patrick" and "Maeve"
"Freckles", "Cabri", "Calais", and "Chloe"
Judy from Abrams & Weakley
Tricia, Mike, & Wyatt G. - In Memory of "Joker"
Dolores L.
"Emma May", "Darla May", & "Daisy May"
Elizabeth T.

A big thank you to the staff and volunteers at Jackson County Animal Shelter, North, in Jackson, New Jersey, who took care of Mel for several weeks, and sent a donation along with him.

Thanks to Dover Area Animal Hospital,
Dr. Dave Pike and staff who were instrumental in Melvin's treatment.

Update 3/31/03
Melvin has gained about two pounds. He seems to be improving with the medications and baths, but his skin is still in bad shape. We have to believe that he is feeling somewhat better, as his activity level increases on a regular basis, and his personality is really starting to surface.
Every time he sees someone, he stomps his feet and "sings" until you give him something to eat.

4/3/03
Melvin is slowly gaining weight, but we are not making any kind of fast progress with his skin problems. Some days it looks like he is getting better, and then the next day, he is raw again. He is returning to the vet this coming week, to see what the next approach is going to be.

March 8, 2003

April 8, 2003
When Melvin got his bath today, we noticed he is starting to grow some hair on his tail... he has about 8 hairs on the very tip of his tail, and if you look closely where my fingers are holding the tail, you can see some peach fuzz starting on the shaft of the tail. We had to laugh... he is such a clown, and he is growing hair on the tip of his tail first... we told him it's in character with his silly personality.

Left:
3/8/03

The skin on his nose is finally starting to heal, even though there is no new hair growth yet.

Right:
4/8/03

April 9, 2003
Melvin paid another visit to the good Dr. Pike. He tipped the scales at 19 pounds -- which means he has gained a total of four and a half pounds, in 4 weeks. He is still thin, but we are pleased with his progress. Since we have seen improvement in the last 5 days, we are going to continue the current course of treatment for a couple of weeks. Then if he is not better, we will proceed with a biopsy and further testing.

It's difficult to see the changes when you look at a dog every day. Sitting here, looking at the two pictures above, of Melvin's face... I can't get over the change in him. Just the difference in the look in his eyes is amazing to me. I guess there is more improvement than I had initially thought. I know his personality has certainly changed..

April 19, 2003

When Mel got his bath today, he does not have any scabs on his feet or legs -- only a few small ones on his tummy. His back and ears are still scaly. It's almost like he is healing from the ground up.
He is continuing to gain weight.

We've been buying bottles of STAT liquid to supplement Mel's regular meals. It's a high calorie liquid that also contains electrolytes. He didn't seem to be able to handle higher quantities of food, so we decided to try this. Since we put him on the STAT he is slowly, but steadily gaining weight. We just drizzle a couple of tablespoons over his regular meals of California Natural food.

Above:
May 11, 2003
The red hair on Melvin's tail is filling in. On the photo from 4/8 (left) all you can see is the skin pigment.

Left Photo taken April 8, 2003

Right Photo taken May 11, 2003

Mel continues to improve. We've gotten more weight on him, and he only has a few scaley spots about the size of a pencil eraser on his back.

Left photo taken 3/8/03
Right photo taken 5/11/03
You can see he has gained weight and is much healthier than he was. You can also see how the yellow, dingy color on the hair he did have, has turned into white.

Mel loves to be covered. He will just lay and keep the blankets on. By Monday, he was becoming more active and was cruising around with his tail up and wagging.

On Tuesday, he came over to the gate and stood up on his hind legs to greet me. This was the first he did this.

Melvin will not be ready for adoption for some time, as we will not release him until he is fully recovered.

June 9, 2003
The vet wanted to see Melvin again, to see how he was progressing. When we took him up, Dr. Dave came out in the waiting room. When he spied Melvin, he got a big grin and a twinkle in his eye. He said that Mel looks like a million bucks, and he wouldn't have recognized him, if he hadn't known we were bringing him. I told him we make one heck of a team.
All the emotion that goes along with rescue, tends to build a close relationship with our vet. He is right there with us, no matter what we are dealing with. We share our grief when we lose one, so it's certainly nice to be able to share the joy when we save one.
We try to always let him know how much we appreciate all his help with our rescue dogs, but words could never really convey the depth of our gratitude and appreciation. Without him, we wouldn't be able to accomplish nearly as much. Doens't matter what day of the week it is, or what time of the day or night -- he is there for us, whenever we need him.
.

July 2, 2003
Dr. Dave with a happy, healthy Melvin.

Dr. Dave Pike
5030 Carlisle Rd.
Dover, PA 17315

Melvin's Adoption Day
July 3, 2003

Melvin's story is certainly a tribute the to success that is possible when everyone works together. Shelters often get the short end of the stick in public opinion because of euthanasia issues. This shelter certainly went above and beyond for Melvin. Shelters have much higher numbers to deal with, than rescue does. They do the best they can with the resources they have available. They did what they could for Melvin, and had him there for close to two months. Then he found his way to our care. With Melvin, it's highly unlikely that anyone would have adopted him in the condition he was in. Once we got him, we needed the expertise of our vet to lead us along the way, and there was a tremendous amount of work put into Melvin in the form of frequent baths, monitoring food, and giving medications. This just goes to show what can be accomplished when everyone works together
In this case, it was the shelter, their vet, our vet, and the general public who generously donated to help with Melvin's expenses. Rescue is only the facilitator that brought everything together to make it work. We could not have done it without the help of all involved. Thank you every one.