If you know me, you know Ruffles. Ruffles is my older female beagle, a lemon beagle. She is a true Diva. Ruffles talks to you, whines at you, lets you know when something is not right but also snuggles very well.
This black and white shows off her devilish eye.
Well, Ruffles is now my oldest beagle. About 13 or so. She was adopted from Buddy Dog in Sudbury and here is her story. I wrote this for a small book titled “Peeing in the Wind”.
Ruffles Ruffles Ruffles – yes a very funny name. One that always has someone saying “Ruffles have Ridges” Good thing she has a sense of humor.
Ruffles was turned into a shelter because the family could no longer care for her. I am never sure what that means. Did they turn in their kids at the same time? Did they trade in their car for a less expensive model? How can you give away something like Ruffles? I kept having these thoughts as I saw her picture on a web site. It would be gone – good she got adopted. It would be back – why was she back? The circle continued.
One day, I said “Why is she here – does she eat small children?” “No” they said “She is overweight” Well, I looked down at myself, looked at the lady on the desk and thought “Well, who isn’t these days!
Ruffles came home with me. She had very soft fur, a lovely heart on her head, was lemon and white. Oh yeah – she also weighed 50 pounds. Her records indicated she also had a food allergy. But it appeared they had never figured out what she was allergic to – just kept changing her food. Obviously, she got plenty of food.
Ruffles licked her feet, licked her belly, shook her ears, rubbed her bum on the floor – this was a beagle with an itchy body! Her feet looked like she was wearing little red booties. This was a result of the constant licking, staining the fur.
Our vet said she had to loose weight; get down to 25 pounds. And we had to find out what she was allergic to. On a diet she went. We changed food, kept records, and watched her itch. Nothing helped – oatmeal baths, beta dine soaks, anti itch sprays, we tried it all. Nothing helped. She was losing weight slowly but the allergies were painful to watch and must have been painful for her to bear.
One last try. Blood test for allergens. It was only money! Well, the results were astonishing. Ruffles was not allergic to food. She was allergic to just about everything outside – grass, shrubs, trees, pollen, etc. The lab said she had the most allergens they had ever seen. That was not encouraging. But we kept going. They made up the special concoction of anti allergens for the ones she was most allergic to. I started giving her shots on a weekly basis to build up her system.
A year later, we are at one shot per month. She has white feet and she is a happy beagle who just wants to be loved. She still has the beagle ears and requires two to three times a week ear cleanings but it beats the alternative.
By the way, she has gotten her weight down to 27 pounds and was told to put start eating a little more! She still has the name of Ruffles. Somehow it seems to fit her
Well, it has been three years since that was written and we have been through a lot. But she is still my little girl. She still weighs 27 pounds. Her favorite sport is sleeping or holding down the couch.
Dr. Kilgore
This last week she had so many things that were not right, I thought it was the end. But our great vet, Dr. Alex Kilgore of Littleton Vet Hospital, has fixed her up. She pulled a very abscessed tooth, put her on soft food for her gastro issues with some antibiotics for the tooth and chinese herbs to help her ears. We are off and running again!
There comes a time when it right to help your dog to the Rainbow Bridge. But apparently this was not Ruffles time – she just needed some patching up. She had a lot going on that made it look bad but each symptom had its own cause.
My deepest thanks (as usual) to the whole team at Littleton – Tracy, Jude, Carol, Sharon, Heidi and Dr. Kilgore.
P.S. Here is a photo of Ruffles doing what she does best
