ELLIE'S SAGA
Ellie has her own wonderful family!
Ellie is a little puppy that was born in Velvet's litter on May 28,
2004. She was born with a cleft palate and was therefore
unable to nurse. It was so bad that she was not even able to bottle
feed, I had to tube feed her every 2 hours. The vet that I
took her to tried to talk me into putting her to sleep. Well, Ellie had
plans for her life and dying at such a tender young age was not part of
it.
She was frightfully skinny scrawny weighing
7 ounces at birth. She was not a disposable pup.
This is the cleft in her hard palate. You
can't see the huge cleft in her soft palate here.
We (that
would be the royal "we") started
out tube feeding every 2 hours for the first 3 weeks, then were able to
go every 3 - 4 hours.
She was a social butterfly. I took her
everywhere with me. Here she is waving "hi".
By this point she had been to about 4 different vets. The findings:
along with the significant cleft in her hard and soft palates, they
thought she was blind, lame, and retarded. That just didn't set well
with me so I kept on trying to bring her to good health.
Ellie with her lampshade. After she
had
her surgeries it was imperative she not have anything at
all in her mouth. It was also important she not pull on her feeding
tube. Do you see that white tube with the green end
hanging down? That is a feeding tube that was surgically placed in her
neck going into her esophagus. I fed her through that for about 6 weeks
or so. 
This is Ellie after her 4 surgeries.
The cleft palate is still not totally repaired. She weighed 8 pounds in
this picture.
This is Ellie
on the day she went home with her first new family. First she kissed me
bye,
then she snuggled up with Kasey, her very own girl. Isn't it hard to
imagine that she is the same pup as the one in that very first picture?
Although Labradoodles are allergy friendly and usually a good choice
for people with asthma, not everyone's lungs can tolorate them. Ellie's
adoptive family had to give her up due to a family member with
lung/breathing problems.
3/19/2005 I was so excited to see Ellie when she came home today. I
just
couldn't believe she was the same dog.
She is completely shaved down to about 1/2 inch of hair all over, even
her face. Her family had to do that to see if it would help with the
lung problems. She reminds me of Deni. I even called her Deni a couple
of times so far today.
This is Ellie at 10 months. Ellie is on the left and Velvet her mom is
on the right. I can't wait to see what Ellie will look like when her
coat grows back out.
current stats: 37 pounds, 18 inches to the shoulders. She has no
health problems other than the cleft palate. She is able to eat and
drink by mouth. Her vision is fine, she is not at all lame, and she is
very intelligent.
Here she is playing and having fun
Ellie went to a new family today for a trial run. If the family is
not allergic to her then she will have a new forever home with them. If
it works out I will report here.
Ellie had another surgery April 15, 2005. It was a complete success.
Her cleft palate has been repaired and she is a normal dog now.
Ellie is back home with us. The family did not have any allergic reactions at all to her. They just found they were not ready for a dog. She will stay with us until
she finds her forever
home. She will need a home with another dog that she can play with.
5-22-2005 - Ellie is on a plane flying to her new forever family in
Maryland right now.
Ellie's new family just loves her. She even has a doodle friend to play with. I really think she finally found her forever family.
6/2005 - Ellie's cleft in her hard palate has opened up slightly. Bummer, it shouldn't affect her, but bummer.
Life is just one learning experience after another. Throughout this entire ordeal, I was so focused on making Ellie physically healthy and fixing her cleft, that
I completely forgot to teach her that she is a dog. I used to have her sleep in bed with me, carry her around, and inadvertantly taught her she is a person.
Her new family is now working on teaching her to be a happy dog. Good thing they love her and are committed to her.
10/2005 - Yup, Ellie and her family are totally attached to each other. She really is in her forever family. The older daughter in the family is even planning on
dressing up as Ellie for Halloween.
12-26-2006
Dear Jane and Family,
Happy Holidays and Happy New
Year! I am doing great and am sooooo happy in my home! I still have a
little problem with barking at people I don't know who want to come into my
house but my family is working on it. The little hole in my mouth hasn't changed
much so the doc doesn't feel it is necessary to do anything unless I start
having symptoms.
Have a wonderful new year! Hope you and your family are well and happy, like
me!
Love,
Ellie
Feb 2008
Ellie is doing well with her same forever family. She sends her love.
email jane@lincolnmanor.com
____________________