Meet Tilley - She is 5 years old and a petite girl. Tilley came into rescue due to no fault of her own and we immediately realized she had several health concerns. She was diagnosed with fly-catchers syndrome and heart worms upon intake. She was not house-trained and was not used to being crated. After a failed attempt to house-train her we ran a series of tests to determine the cause with no avail. She sometimes loses control of her bladder while she is sleeping for long periods of time and is not aware of it.
Tilley’s adopters will need to be diligent about letting her out frequently and on a routine in order to help her with house-training. With patience and routine her accidents are minimal but she does urinate in her sleep some nights. She sleeps in a dog bed on the floor covered by a waterproof pad. Her fur gets dirty and she needs baths more frequently than other Cavaliers.
We started noticing signs of neurological problems and our vet recommended an appointment with a neurologist. This visit warranted an MRI that revealed that she has PSOM (she is deaf in both ears), CM/SM (Chiari-like malformation/Syringomyelia) and hydrocephalus (this may be the reason behind her urinary issues). The neurologist does not think these issues are related to the Fly Catchers syndrome.
Tilley loves to be held and needs to be picked up gently and handled with care. For that reason, she needs a home with older, gentle children. Since she can’t hear she sleeps very hard. After going through heart worm treatment she is now heart-worm negative! From now on she will be on regular monthly treatments as normal.
Despite all of Tilley’s medical concerns she is the sweetest little girl and loves everyone. She can be slow to warm up to new people but once she knows you she wants to be with you at all times and the closer the better. She melts in your arms! She is very happy, playful, loves to eat and go for walks. At this point her quality of life is very good. She would benefit from a canine companion.
Tilley takes fluoxetine (the cost of this medication is inexpensive) for fly catchers and a urinary supplement. The fluoxetine has her fly catchers under control, and she rarely has an episode.
