Isabelle's Tails

Isabelle's Story by Isabelle's Mama

One day in April 2005 my husband I were shopping. For some reason we decided to go into a pet store. We normally don’t go into pet stores and we were not looking to buy a dog. We looked around a bit and a teeny tiny little white and black angel caught our eye. She was in a cage next to the window with another dog. She looked at us and we fell in love with her. We held her for a while and thought, what are we doing! We didn’t plan on getting a dog. My husband and I went home and could not stop thinking about her all night. I called the pet store the next morning and told them we were coming to get her. I felt a connection with her right away. Not just that she was a cute little puppy but that I needed to take care of her. I felt she needed me, I felt she would be all alone in this world without us. There was something we could give her that I felt no one else would. We brought Isabelle home on April 22, 2005. That night we slept on an air mattress with her in the living room. She slept on our shoulders nuzzled up in our neck all night. She never ever cried at night. She was so good and full of love. I’ve had puppies growing up but Isabelle is different than any puppy I have ever met!

We spent the weekend with Isabelle and I noticed a few things that weren’t right with her. She had a runny nose and sneezed a lot, more than most flat nosed dogs. I also noticed she was going potty too often and not much was coming out. Isabelle was constantly itching her ears and shaking her head as well. I know what most people are thinking, I should have taken her straight back to the pet store. I called the pet store to let them know about the situation but I could never just take her back because she had something wrong with her. I took Isabelle to the vet that Monday. This was a new vet I had never been to. I voiced my concerns to him right away but he didn’t seem to be concerned. He told us that she probably just had an upper respiratory infection that would go away on its own. He said he couldn’t see mites or anything in her ears and didn’t see the need to test her ears or her urine for infection. He asked me where I got Isabelle and I told him. He said more than likely she had come from a puppy mill. I was shocked and my heart sank. He then told me the story about pet stores and puppy mills. I felt terrible. Not in the sense that I shouldn’t have bought Isabelle. I felt terrible that Isabelle had gone through all that she had. I found out she was from Oklahoma. To think this poor little thing being torn from her Mom and carted off with a stranger and sent to another state to be sold. I can’t imagine what she went through. I’m sure no one gave her the love and attention she needed, she was all alone. We took Isabelle home from the vet and continued to watch her for another day. She was still itching her ears, sniffling and not going potty normally. I called the vet and took her back. I told him that he just needed to do the tests. So the vet did the tests and Isabelle had a yeast infection in her ears, the respiratory infection was Kennel Cough and she had a urinary tract infection. I was so mad that the vet didn’t check her in the first place. If I hadn’t been persistent she could have suffered even longer. So the vet sent us home with a cleaner and ointment for her ears and an antibiotic for her urinary tract infection that was also supposed to help with the Kennel Cough. A week later we took Isabelle back to the vet to be checked. He looked at her ears and said they looked fine but I knew better and made him check them again. The right ear still had the infection. Her urinary tract infection was not clearing up with the antibiotics. So the vet put her on a stronger one. By now you are thinking why are we still going to this vet. I was wondering this myself but the pet store was paying for all the care Isabelle was receiving at this particular vet. I thought since I was making him do the tests then he could make her better when he found the problems she had. Poor Isabelle got so sick from her new medication. I felt so bad for her. So we had to try a few different medications. I called the vet and made another appointment because Isabelle’s urinary tract infection was not getting better. When we got to the vet’s office, there was another vet filling in for the original one. Apparently the first vet takes Fridays off and this vet from another office fills in for him. This new vet started to look over Isabelle; he was very sweet with her. He checked her ears and did another test without me having to ask him. The test for her ears came out clean so that was a relief. Her Kennel Cough was finally gone. I expressed my concern with her urinary tract infection. He said he would do another test that checks everything. I thought why didn’t the other vet do this in the first place? The test results came back and Isabelle had struvite crystals in her urine which can lead to the formation of bladder & kidney stones. I was relieved to finally get to the bottom of things, mad because Isabelle had suffered for so long and scared of what we had just discovered. This new vet was very caring and answered all of our questions and seemed to really want to help Isabelle. He put her on a special diet to hopefully eliminate her condition. The new vet educated us on what struvite crystals are and how to eliminate them. He told us we would just take it one step at a time and try to eliminate the crystals. So we went home with our baby. While all of this was happening you would never think she was in pain or unhappy. She was such a good and happy girl the entire time. That is why I don’t think anyone else could have helped her; I don’t think they would have thought anything was wrong with her. I knew things weren’t right with her health. I started doing research about Isabelle’s condition and found a food that had all the things puppies needed but wouldn’t aggravate her condition. Even thought I trusted this vet, I still wanted to take a more natural approach with what I was feeding her. I found out where the new vet was practicing and started taking Isabelle to him at his office even though we had to pay for the visits. I told the vet about the new food and gave him information about it, he said it was fine and we would keep checking her. Isabelle was getting better. It was so nice to have her healthy again. We had Isabelle checked a few months later and the struvite crystals were gone! Meanwhile, Isabelle came down with a few eye infections and reoccurring infections in her ears. So we just treated them as we went. Isabelle does have blocked tear ducts which causes her eyes to drain down her face. That will need to be repaired with surgery soon. She also has allergies that we are in the process of figuring out. Luckily her allergies are not severe and are easy to keep under control. I am just thankful that she has had no reoccurrences with the struvite crystals. On the downside our vet that we loved has moved out of state.

When we decided to get a sister for Isabelle we did our research and found a healthy puppy that came from a healthy background. Lucy did not come from a pet store. I have done some research trying to figure out where Isabelle actually came from. We know she came from Oklahoma but the only papers we have are from a place called Pine Springs Pets. They are a puppy broker, puppy brokers usually get their puppies from puppy mills to sell to pet stores. So more than likely Isabelle came from a puppy mill, we will never know for sure but the facts point to that. We are so proud of our Isabelle; she is the best dog anyone could ever ask for. Isabelle is a very smart girl; she surprises me all the time. She acts more like a human than a dog! Although I will never purchase another puppy from a pet store, I have never been nor will I be ashamed of Isabelle or where she came from. She is perfect in my eyes and I am very proud of her. We have no regrets with Isabelle, if we had to do it all over again we would. I think people do need to be educated in purchasing a puppy. People need to be educated about pet stores and puppy mills and all the things that come with them, as I was not. I do realize that not all dogs in pet stores come from puppy mills, but unfortunately most do. Isabelle has very minor health problems compared to a lot of dogs from puppy mills. Isabelle has been spayed, which is very important. Dogs that have health problems should never ever be bred to carry on unhealthy genes.

Isabelle shows us everyday what love really is. I know she found me for a reason. She is a very courageous little soul and I feel like we rescued her as much as she rescued us!

I love you Isabelle!


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