Charlotte American Staffordshire Terrier Nashville, TN

For folks interested in adopting sweet Charlotte, please email us at llawp@live.com.

Charlotte was found lying in the doorway of a church, way out on a country road....who knows how far she had dragged her broken, weary little body to get there? Members of the congregation gave her food and water, but nobody would take her in. Little Charlotte watched as, one by one, they all drove away, until she was left alone again...and darkness began to fall. When I arrived that night, Charlotte was still lying in the doorway of that church, lonely, frightened, in pain...but waiting still for salvation, hoping for sanctuary.

UPDATE 8/1: Charlotte is up to 26 pounds! She will be ready to leave the vet soon!
I can't believe how far she has come, how far her fighting spirit has taken her. A month ago, she was a hairless and starving and so sick. Now she is gaining weight.

From her vet 7/16/2011:
Little House Animal Hospital, Dr. Kunkel, " Charlotte is doing well on her road to recovery. However, there have been a few speed bumps on the way. While treating her for her severe demodectic infection, we realized that she had some additional problems preventing the immediate response to medication. Charlotte has a unique auto-immune disorder that is occasionally seen in young dogs called Juvenile Cellulitis, or puppy strangles. This disease usually presents in puppies between 3-4 months of age and results in sudden swelling of the muzzle, eyelids and face. Charlotte had these symptoms, but it was not as prominent looking due to her generalized skin inflammation that was already present. With juvenile cellulitis, the swelling will soon turn into pimples that rupture, bleed and crust which is why her face began to look worse despite treatments. These lesions can be more painful than itchy, but fortunately Charlotte’s pain has been easily controlled. If this disease goes un-noticed it can be life-threatening. Because this is an auto-immune disease, the treatment of choice is intense immune-suppression. High doses of steroids, like dexamethasone, are needed to stop the progression. However, with these potent immunosuppressive drugs it is easier for Charlotte to get secondary infections and for her demodectic infection to worsen. With this mind, we have to balance the amount of steroid she is receiving with antibiotics and her demodectic treatments. Improvement of juvenile cellulitis is usual rapid; however, treatment of the secondary infections can take weeks to months.

Charlotte continues to improve every day. She no longer has festering wounds and evidence of new skin repair is present each day. She has small patches of hair growth, but she may not re-grow her full coat, this is something that we will have to monitor over time. Charlotte now trusts us and rapidly wags her tail every time we come near her. She is a very bright and loving puppy."

For folks interested in adopting sweet Charlotte, please email us at llawp@live.com.