Nelly's surgery

We call her No Nose Nelly around here cuz we can’t help it – We just like the way it rolls off the tongue to begin another Nelly song. Hey – it’s better than Dragon Lady.

She went in for surgery last month to see if we could open up her nasal passages enough to help her be able to breathe better since she was born sans nose. Two pin-prick holes was all she had. But her blood work said 'not now.' Her white cell count was too high and it wasn’t a big surprise since she had recently gotten over the pneumonia that she contracted while out in the yard of that freezing Oklahoma death pit called home.

We put her on antibiotics for two more weeks, sent her back to San Francisco with foster mom Reagan, and hoped she would heal. Then brought her back to the vet for another attempt at surgery, a procedure similar to what the genetically maligned Pugs and Frenchies go through to open up the airways to their nasal cavities. But once again, her white blood cell count was just as high as before, even though her energy level was better than ever.

So, to operate or not ? Not to be morbid, but seven dogs dropped dead from that yard before rescue efforts were completed. But not Nelly. Born without a nose and bred who knows how many times; starvation, freezing cold, and pneumonia couldn’t kill ‘er. I thought there is no way she won’t make it through surgery at Creature Comfort Vet Hospital where they practice holistic medicine and do acupuncture before they even pull out the scalpel. So let’s just get it over with, and while she’s under, check to see if she can breath fire and have her spayed too.

Well, our Nelly’s doin’ well. She’s healing fine, her energy level is good and she’s not part dragon after all. But unfortunately, not a lot could be done to help out her nasal passages - They were too narrow all the way to the sinus cavity and cutting away bone would have been too radical, even for our tuffy. The pin-prick holes are now longer and we hope that will at least give her a little relief once the swelling is all the way down.

Thanks for the emails from everyone who has a soft spot for our special little 34 pounder. Her tail’s waggin’ harder than ever!