Welcome A New Member of the Old Ladies Club!

The Old Ladies Club at the Rolling Dog Ranch just added a new member, and her name is ... Lady!  Ed Franceschina, director of Missoula Animal Control, emailed us on Tuesday and asked if we could take an old, blind Cocker Spaniel mix they had picked up as a stray.  They estimated she was about 12.  She was found wandering near Reserve Street in Missoula, which is a busy, four-lane road.

No one had come forward to claim her, and the shelter put her up for adoption, including running her photo in the paper.  Ed wrote, "She’s sweet and gets around well but she’s pretty old and no one has shown any interest in her."  He kept her in his office during the day, and had named her Lady.  Ed's team at Animal Control had taken her to a local vet for a health exam, and despite needing some serious dental work and grooming, Lady is in otherwise good health.  (Missoula is blessed to have a wonderful Animal Control department, staffed with truly caring people who go the extra mile for the animals who end up at the shelter.)

Lady is totally blind, I suspect from progressive retinal atrophy.  And she is as sweet as Ed said she was.

I took these photos after I got back to the ranch with her this afternoon.  At first I had Alayne take some photos of me holding Lady, but then the phone rang so I handed it to Alayne to answer.  I put Lady's leash in Alayne's other hand, took the camera from her, and started taking photos.  As you can see, Lady looks like a Cocker Spaniel/Border Collie mix, perhaps ... her legs and feet are polka-dotted with black spots:

And here's who Lady was attached to ... the other lady known affectionately as Mrs. Babushka, wearing her ever-present headscarf and looking like she was doing a little tap-dancing in the mud while talking on the phone:

So next week we'll take Lady to our vets in Helena for the dental work she needs.  When she comes out of her isolation period, she'll get to meet the other members of the Old Ladies Club, Ellie May and Duchess.  (Maybe we should call this the Blind Old Ladies Department, or BOLD for short?)

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And speaking of vets, Brenda Culver called this afternoon with the report on Creighton the blind Lab puppy.  The ultrasound showed he had a lot of free fluid in his eyeballs -- Brenda said they could actually see it sloshing around on the ultrasound image.  And the ultrasound indicated his retinas were detached, too.  When she took Creighton to surgery this afternoon, she found that the fluid was blood ... his eyes were filled with it, in both the posterior and anterior chambers.  Brenda said the blood had come most likely from the retinas having separated from the back "wall" of the eye.  As a result of that damage and the fact that the irises were adhered to the corneas, Brenda could not do the prosthetic implants to save his eyes, so she had to remove them.

Brenda said Creighton came through the surgery just fine and recovered from the anesthesia, and he'll be ready to come home this weekend.

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Finally, to follow up a question that some people asked in response to our post about our blind mare Guadalupe being in heat -- why don't we spay the mares? -- one of our blog readers posted a perfect answer.  So in case you didn't see it in the comments for that blog post, here's what Janet wrote:

"Spaying a mare is a hugely invasive, highly risky, and very expensive operation, especially when compared with gelding a male. It's a no-brainer in terms of risk not to spay a mare. It is done on occasion, but usually not for "neutering" purposes. Highly valuable brood mares are sometimes operated on. The recovery on a horse after large surgery is very complicated and fraught with risk."

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Comments

[Bruce Small]

Now that is a sweetie. What a nice dog. Bless you for helping her.

[Margaret]

Lady is a beauty. What a SWEET face. Kudos to all her special angels that got her to you!

I thought you were on the ragged edge of implying Alayne was part of the "club", but, phew, you managed to pull yourself out of it. I sure wish I was as beautiful in a fashion-forward babushka (a new candidate for your list of top 5 personal essentials)! :)

[Lindsey and Izzy from Missoula]

Steve and Alayne,
I saw Lady in the Missoulian yesterday under the name "Lucy" and thought the Ranch would be a perfect retirement home for her. I was so overjoyed this morning when I opened the blog and saw she had found her way to Ovando. THANK YOU for giving her a special place to spend the rest of her days. You two truly are saviors.

[Linda]

Welcome beautiful Lady! You are one lucky gal to be at RDR and more importantly in the BOLD club.

I hope Creighton finds relief after his surgery. I wonder what happened with those eyes? In such a young boy?

[Barbara]

Oh, she is so beautiful!! You picked the perfect name for her. When I saw the first picture on your blog, I thought, oh, what a sweet dog. She is such a lady.

[Andrew, NZ]

I see the picture of Lady and am reminded of my beloved Springer Spaniel Chester and think I truly hope I live long enough to come for a visit to the Ranch.

[Janet in Cambridge]

Throwing away old clothes is one thing, but throwing away old animals breaks my heart. I'll just bet her owner just sorta put her out there and said "run free little one, but don't come back."

But RDR knows better and understands that there's still a lot of life and love in the old animals, too. Here's to the BOLD club.

[Debbie]

What a lovely girl....I hope she is a good fit with the other old ladies...she looks adorable! I only wish I could do what you guys do!

[ginger & Tobias (the greythound)]

Oh Lady, what a beauty you are! How lucky you are at the fantastic RDR! I must say altho your luck may not have been so great the day you were wandering on Reserve Street and before, that is all in the past! You look like a real sweetheart & I'm so glad you're at the best place on earth!
Big hugs from Tx,
ginger, Tobias & Tlingit

[Carla Polastro-Nigro]

A very warm welcome to Lady, who does look very very sweet!

I'm so happy she's joining BOLD soon!:-)

A huge hug to Lady from Italy.

I wish Creighton a speedy and uneventful recovery from his eye surgery.

[maggie]

1) Welcome little Lady!!! You will have to make sure that Ellie May, Duchess, and Lady are introduced properly and understand that they are members of a very special and prestigious club!
2) I am so glad to hear that Creighton is soon going to be feeling just fine - no more pain, just a happy-go-lucky puppy!

[Kae]

Thankyou for the update on speying mares RDR, and best wishes to lovely Creighton who will be pain free soon.

And congratulations and welcome to Lady, she is so pretty! I adore her spotty feet, she looks just gorgeous.

Looking forward to more updates on her.

Kae Norman
Rescued with Love Inc.

[yoonamaniac]

Lady is beautiful! Glad to read Creighton's surgery went well and he's finally pain free. Hope to see more picture of him soon.

[Helen Rietz]

It's hard enough to be old, and then to be blind and unwanted to boot -- so your three little old ladies have done well to find a loving home at Rolling Dog Ranch. For however long these three are with you, I"m sure Lady, Duchess, and Ellie May will be a joy.

[Cora]

Is there anything cuter?

[Shirley & James, Portland, OR]

I pray when I'm an old lady that I find a place just like RDR but for humans! Hail the BOLD girls!

Sorry that Creighton lost his eyes but it won't effect his quality of life--such a cutie-pie!

[Moon Rani]

Welcome, Lady, to the BOLD at RDR! I've a feeling you'll love it there.
Hugs to all the residents at RDR, and best wishes for a happy weekend.

[Vicki]

What a beautiful Lady :)

[Lexie]

I can't express how happy I am that you took in Lady. I saw her on the Animal Control's website the other day and was so upset that my own living situation wouldn't allow me to adopt her. Thanks to you two, she has a happy and loving home to spend her remaining years.