Rella
Rella came to us on the 12th of June 2008 suffering from a range of medical issues. Rella was a friendly girl from the first time I met her but was terribly underweight and was displaying severe symptoms of an untreated respiratory infection, wounds on her skin from scratching and dry itchy skin.
When we first met her she was contained in an old show box full of what we thought was wood shavings and other dangerous material which we have now found out the products she was living on was indeed a wood pelleted product that is being sold as suitable small animal bedding, we urge anyone that sees a product like this to avoid it at all costs.
Although Rella was very friendly I had my concerns about handling her because of her weight. Rella was so skinny I could tell that every time I handled her it hurt so I picked her up within a blanket to give some padding to her small frame, this she did enjoy.
At first Rella was willing to try a variety of foods but she never seemed to finish anything she was offered, I believe this was for a variety of reasons. One reason was that her diet previously was possibly not the best and the second reason was because I felt she had not recently had a great deal offered to her so some of the foods that were offered here were new and she was careful with before consuming them.
We took Rella off to the vet and it was confirmed that she had a serious respiratory infection, her lungs were full of fluid and her skin was so dry (possibly because of the lack of essential oil in her diet) that the skin was flaking away with fur when rubbed backwards. Rella was placed on antibiotics and we added Omega 3 & 6 oils to her diet. Within days this little miracle was starting to improve and our hopes were raised that maybe one day she would find a suitable home.
Rella went into foster care and continued to do well. She went to visit the vet again to get another check up and her lungs were clearing well and her skin was all healed and not dry anymore. Rella decided that she did not want the antibiotics anymore so the foster carers (my parents) were forced to hide them in Soy Milk every morning. Rella never did click onto this and continued taking her meds for a total of 3.5 weeks before the effects of her abuse were gone. Unfortunately because Rella had been left untreated for her respiratory infections for quite a while before coming into our care she will forever be left with lung scaring as a result, this causes her breathing to be faster and deeper than normal but she has learnt to deal with this.
Rella has left a big mark on our hearts as we originally felt that we would loss the battle to get her back to health BUT she was stronger and more determined than I gave her credit for and became one of the happy endings we thrive for.
We keep close tabs on Rella and her now pals as they all have a special place here at PRRR and we are always so happy to hear that she is still doing beautifully and thriving in the care of her new family.
On a last note…. It takes and amazing family to accept an animal that will possibly have medical issues for the rest of her life. The people that adopted this little girl not only offered her a forever home but also a place that she will always be loved, unconditionally with all the medical treatments she may ever need.