Karlee – Age 11
Rescued January 2016
Karlee was dumped in a neighborhood and found by a good Samaritan
11 years old, 99 lbs. (at intake), red, female
Karlee was found as a stray by a Good Samaritan. She tried to find her owner and also reported her to the local authorities at her county’s Animal Control facility. No owner stepped forward so after the required 72 hour hold, the Good Samaritan contacted us and we happily welcomed this little (ok, well, so not so little) girl! She was covered in fleas and incredibly matted (to the point where it was restricting her mobility) so, even though we never like to do this, we and the groomer decided that best thing for Karlee was to shave her down and start again! Well, wouldn’t you know that shortly after doing that and having her vet checked, her owner showed up. The owner had not even noticed that Karlee was gone until 2 days AFTER the Good Samaritan had found her. Fortunately we were able to convince the owner that Karlee would be better off with us and she signed her over to GRRCC. There were a number of audible sighs of relief from all the people, including the Good Samaritan that found her, who had been involved so far with this sweet dog. In speaking with the owner, we found out that Karlee was 11 years old and had spent her entire life as an outside dog…never so much as having stepped a paw inside a house. We were also able to contact her vet and found out that the last time Karlee had been seen by a vet was in 2008.
Not surprisingly, our vet found quite a few issues. The first was that, unfortunately but not unexpectedly, she was HW positive. Also, she was 30-35 lbs. overweight. We also found out she has a low thyroid which is quite common in female Goldens of this age and contributes significantly to weight gain. We have started her on medication for this and she has lost almost 10 lbs. in a month! She will be down to a good weight of around 65 lbs. before we know it and she will be a BEAUTIFUL red-headed girl! (In one of the pictures in her photo gallery she is looking out of the car window…that was taken before she was shaved so you can get an idea of what a gorgeous coat she will have when it grows back out)! She will need to continue on thyroid medicine for the rest of her life but fortunately it is quite inexpensive and has absolutely no detrimental side effects! She also has numerous lipomas (non-cancerous fatty masses) one of which is quite large. We were advised by our vets not to remove it. The reason being that the body abhors a vacuum or cavity. When a mass of this size is removed, the body grows another one in the cavity that was created and that second mass can often be larger than the first. So, we will leave little Ms. Lumpy as is since she is used to it and it doesn’t affect her mobility or quality of life. We did a full blood panel on her and, other than the low thyroid, everything else was perfect! So, that’s all the ‘bad stuff’ and it really isn’t all that bad, based on the condition she was in when we found her.
The ‘good stuff’ is that she is absolutely as sweet as she can be. She is loving living inside and is already reliably housebroken. She gets along great with her Golden foster brother, even engaging in play with him for a bit. Her foster mom is trying to keep rigorous exercise controlled since she is so overweight. She is a delight to have around….absolutely no trouble at all. She is great on leash, likes to play with toys but not destructive, is ok in the car (pants a bit in nervousness). Even with her current extra poundage she is quite ‘young’ for her age and has no orthopedic issues. She goes up and down the steps in the house with no effort or concern…slippery hardwood floors? Not a problem, bring ‘em on! I have no doubt there will have even more ‘spring in her step’ once she finished losing over 1/3rd of her total body weight!
Karlee will have finished her heartworm treatment and be available to adopt in mid-March. However, we would consider an earlier adoption if her Forever Family had a quiet home environment and they would commit to following all the post- heartworm treatment recovery protocols. Karlee would be a wonderful companion for anyone…maybe a retired couple that has as much spring in her step as Karlee does! She may not be your jogging partner or tri-athlete training companion but would truly appreciate the opportunity for ‘walk-abouts’ and a chance to smell the roses (and whatever else is intriguing to her). Karlee is the true definition of a low maintenance required, high level of love provided’ kinda gal.