Safe Haven of Iowa County

UPDATE 4/12/23 - Lilly continues to do well on her current allergy medications and will continue to have check-up appointments with her dermatologist every six months. She has shown to have "flare ups" every now and then when the pollen seasons are high - but they have been controlled by her regular routine at Safe Haven. It has been over 3 years now since Lilly's arrival to Safe Haven - we would love nothing more than to find a good home for Lilly during her golden years. Please reach out if you are interested in knowing anything further about our sweet Lilly girl, we would love to answer any questions or set up meet & greets for Lilly. She will be most successful in a home as an only pet. But we know, once you meet Lilly - you will learn that she is the only pet you will need to fill your heart! 

Lilly is quite the special lady at Safe Haven - starting with her arrival in November as she flew in from a pound in Indiana on the volunteer "Pilots-n-Paws" flight program!  She won over the hearts of all that cared for her in Indiana, as well as all of us at Safe Haven! 

Because Lilly had a serious infection in her uterus (Pyometra) and the malnourished state she was in - her condition was critical!  We were happy we had room and wonderful volunteers devoted to take Lilly in and slowly turn this sweet pup's life around!

Lilly doesn't seem to appreciate any of the dogs in the shelter, and we feel she may likely do best in a home with no other pets.  She is a 100% lover and cuddlebug - never met a couch she didn't like to cuddle on! :) She also does a fantastic job at keeping her kennel clean, so she appears to be housebroken.  We also have decided Lilly must have a little "Hound" mix in her because she loves to howl in her kennel, and sniffing around on her walk is also a favorite past time.  It has been fun watching her blossom into the great dog she is, and guess what type of mix she is!

When Lilly first arrived she had multiple health concerns, including being severely underweight. She hardly had any hair on her body, and her skin was very red and inflammed in several areas.  We are happy to report that she has steadily gained weight (almost 20 pounds) and is looking much better.  Lilly's bloodwork also revealed that she has a thyroid condition (hypothyroidism) which was definitely contributing to her poor overall health and lack of hair.  After starting multiple medications (for thyroid, fungal infection, medicated shampoo, and possible skin allergies)  she definitely looks so much better, and she will likely need to continue on at least the thyroid medication for her entire life. Lilly does not do well with cats at all, and is very selective about her dog friends - so she will be happiest as an only pet, and with a family that understands she would not do well at dog parks, trails, or other places where other dogs may be visiting too. 

After a couple months of steady improvements when Lilly first arrived to Safe Haven, she still seemed to have a few lingering issues with her coat and skin.  At times the skin on her feet, belly and face turn red, and she has even broke out in hives a few times - so on 3/11/2020 Lilly went to an appointment with a specialty vet (Dermatologist) at Eastern Iowa Vet Specialty Center in Cedar Rapids.  The vet is making some adjustments with Lilly's medication to try and help determine if she may have any environmental or food allergies. Depending on Lilly's response, we may need to do actual allergy testing.  We hope to have some answers in a month. We are determined to help Lilly feel and look even better.  We feel Lilly is stable enough for us to start looking for Lilly's FOREVER HOME and hope that her family will love her as deeply as we do!

*Update June 2020 - Lilly is doing great on her current medication.  She does have one prescription medication for her thyroid condition which requires her to take daily thyroid medication.  This condition is likely to be a lifelong condition for Lilly, so her forever family will need to be willing to monitor this condition and ensure she has her thyroid levels tested annually and receives her medication.  If needed, Safe Haven may be able to financially help with these expenses - as our goal is to help Lilly find a family to love her uncoditionally!  She does still have occasional and temporary flare ups of red skin on her feet and sometimes belly and face - but that has gotten much better over the past couple months.  Lilly receives regularly scheduled medicated baths that seems to help, and she also eats a sensitive skin food.  

*Update 11/1/20 - Lilly just never seemed to completely overcome her flare-ups of red, itchy skin - so the Dermatologist Vet started an allergy food trial this summer to see if this would improve her skin/coat condition - but after a couple months with no improvements, Lilly did have environmental allergy testing done in October which revealed she does have many different allergies to the world around her......including to different grasses, wildflowers, dust and dust mites, spiders, and corn - just to name a few. While these results with so many allergies were disappointing, they did not really come as any suprise and at least we now know exactly what is causing Lilly the most issues.  She is now taking daily immunotherapy medication, which is a serum made up of small doses of the things she is allergic to, so that should help her build up a tolerance to these allergies over time.  This immunotherapy process does take up to 12 months to really see it helping Lilly - but we are committed to seeing her through this process, and Safe Haven will continue to pay for this treatment over the next 12 to 18 months, because if the right family comes along we certainly don't want this treatment to deter her adoption! :) 

 

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