Too weak to wag!!

That was Princess's condition just a few weeks ago. She had been abandoned by her owners at her vet's office after he diagnosed her with thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia is a condition that results in an abnormally low number of blood platelets (the factor in blood that helps with clotting). Princess's future looked pretty grim, but then MWCR came to her rescue. She spent the night at another vet's office where, after many blood draws and many medications, a course of treatment was established, and Princess was moved to her foster home.

Today Princess is back to her old collie self. She is a beautiful, four year old, sable and white collie girl with a heart of gold. In spite of her ordeal, Princess loves everyone she meets: men, women and children of all ages. She is housebroken and knows several commands. Though she can be a bit "mouthy" when she gets excited, she is a gentle girl with absolutely no aggression.

Princess's condition is now almost completely stabilized. She is still visiting the vet to monitor her blood platelet count and is taking a daily dose of a very inexpensive, steroid medication called prednisone. If all goes well, she will soon be able to stop all medication, but in a worst case scenario, Princess might have to continue with a low dose of prednisone for the rest of her life. She will also need to visit the vet twice yearly for blood checks.

Princess will soon be ready to go to her forever home. Her foster mom describes her as "everything you could want in a collie." Princess herself is too modest to say much, but then that wagging tail says it all!

***Though Princess's future medical expenses should be very moderate, her past medical costs have been high. Please help MWCR to continue to help dogs like Princess, collies who are sick, injured or abandoned. A donation in any amount will help us to keep those tails wagging.

Update 8-25-04

Princess's count has gone up from 49K to 102K plus clumping. We are going to say she is in the very low end of normal at this point and maintain her pred @ 1 pill in the am &1 pill in the pm. She will go for her next draw in about 10 days (yea, we're stretching out between draws). Otherwise, she is doing well, not as bouncy as I've seen her, but still the sweetest of sweethearts.
She is being fostered in the Milwaukee, WI area