BLUE RIDGE, GA.....The dogs we have taken in recently have been so terribly neglected that we have not been able to tell if they were a girl or a boy. Sweet Lyle Lovett fits into that category. He was picked up as a stray and looked and smelled horrible. His fur was matted with feces, and he was covered with urine. He had horrible skin problems because he was covered with fleas. On top of all this, he had a massive Anal Tumor that was the size of a baseball that was infected and draining. The smell was beyond anything you could ever imagine.
Angels Among Us was contacted to see if they could take this sweet Shih Tzu that was believed to be between 6-8 years old. They did not have any room for a Medical Case of this magnitude, so they reached out to us. I took one look and knew we were it for this pup because of his large mass and medical condition.
We had him transferred to Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Matthews, NC where he was immediately put in ICU. The original Rescue could not stand the smell, so they clipped him and gave him a Capstar and a bath before the drive from Georgia to North Carolina. I am sure everyone knows he was named Lyle Lovett because of his crazy hair. Once the hair was off, it was apparent this little guy was emaciated. Bloodwork was immediately done, and he came back very anemic which we were expecting. You can't have that many fleas and that large a mass without your blood values going crazy.
Poor Lyle has been a handful. On top of everything else, he is mostly blind. His body has hurt for so long that all he wants to do is bite you if he notices a hand coming near him or anyone touching his face or rear end. We are hoping the mass removal will take away a lot of the pain he is having.
The first week was spent stabilizing our dear boy and coming up with a plan to remove the mass. A biopsy was taken and sent off, but we still needed to determine how much of the mass had taken over the anal area and the bowel. After several scans had been taken, it was determined that Dr. Nanfelt would have to determine how much of the body was invaded by the tumor during surgery.
Sweet Lyle had three hours of surgery to remove the mass and to put his anal sacs back together. The surgery was long and complicated. The entire mass was removed and sent off for a biopsy. We will get the results back in a week. Dr. Nanfelt did everything possible to make sure this sweet boy could still use the bathroom without any complications when she was complete. We have him on a stool softener while he is healing from the procedure. It will be weeks before he heals from the procedure. During this time, we will be handling him with kid gloves.
This poor pup was abandoned in horrible condition and could not see what was in front of him. Once we get him over his surgery, we will have an Eye Specialist look at him to determine if he can have surgery to restore his eyesight. I don't blame Lyle for wanting to bite everyone. His World has been in turmoil for quite a long time based on his body condition, and he has had to fend for himself. I am sure after he realizes we are here to make his Life better, he will start to come around. Love and Kindness are the best medicine for an animal in his condition.
Please, DONATE toward Lyle Lovett's Medical Bills. We are just at the beginning of his care, and I am sure he will have several more procedures before we get him better. Thanks for caring and making his Journey to Heal and find Love, possible.
