Missy

Not too long after we moved house to Puchong, we noticed that the huge hill to the left of our place was a haven for wild and stray dogs. They would come out at night and roam in packs, sometimes even willing to challenge the humans taking evening walks. On some nights we can hear the hungry cries of little puppies. One night the cries were incessant and Mike decided to investigate, and found a litter of puppies nestled near a big drain.


Two of them had fallen in. Under the watchful eye ( and possibly growls ) of the mother dog afar, Mike picked them up to where they should have been. After a couple more of such episodes (they kept falling over), he became "friends" with the mother dog (of course, he would sneak out with some food after dinner to give her.. the nursing mother). And so thus began our relationship with Missy (mother dog)

Missy

The hill to the left which houses so many stray dogs, roam the streets at night

Although initially uncomfortable with human contact, she was soon a regular sight greeting us when we drove into the neighborhood, wagging her tail in a helicopter fashion. She was not just a regular type female dog, actually she was the Alpha female which ( mike says) disciplines some of the other dogs in the area. As nature would have it, soon she was on heat again and the male dogs would gather round. Alas, she was found to be carrying puppies again.


Not wanting for her to repeat the last “drain” experience, we decided to tempt her by preparing a suitable “birthing room” in the little space behind our house. At first suspicious and unused to an enclosed place, she would dart in and out..., but this dog could read our minds! Her belly soon almost like a basketball and nearing term, but we still unsure where she would have the pups. Then one morning we heard the little cries of the newborns… and we felt like proud parents. Six brand new puppies (so so tiny like hamsters), one didn’t make it, but the rest were OK. We pampered them with all the best foods ( loved the raw eggs ) and now wondered what-to-do with these pups.

These cute puppies grew so so fast, from mice size to this in 2 weeks

After several unsuccessful attempts with different avenues for adoption, we became desperate and decided we may have to put them up for adoption advertising on the internet. We took pictures and posted them. Soon there were callers (to our relief) and after some scrutiny and interviews with several of the enquirers, we released the pups to each of them - free of charge. We are very proud to say all six were successfully re- homed and we were happy yet sad to solve the problem. ( we had fun fussing over them, and they start to grow on you.. you know ).

But we had to "fix" Missy so she wouldn’t repeat the same thing. We tried to tell her, ”... now Missy you may be a stray but you don’t need to be loose yeah”. We knew we were against the odds of upsetting nature’s natural order. But how do you get a stray dog spayed without the risk of being bitten. Ouch!! Finally, time running out, I called the vet and  I actually picked her up physically (bravo Andrew!! you brave man!! ) and deposited her in the Vet-mobile. Thankfully she didn’t do me any evil. The vet was useless and didn’t lift a finger as (would you believe?) he was afraid of missy. . faceplam!


After 2 days at the vet, we brought her back to the mammoth task of restraining her from leaving as the stitches needed 2 weeks to heal. And after only 2 days of recovery for her, this resourceful and street smart dog outwitted us and “impossibly” squeeze herself out of our gate. She was free and she wasn’t going to be house-trapped again. It suited us fine as we already had a dog (Passion) in the house. We just didn’t want her pregnant again! Cost me Rm200 but it was well worth knowing she would be alright from now on.



But all was not right as we noticed a vaginal prolapse which looked like a little " lap-cheong sausage" sticking out. The vet surmised it was just the strain of the birthing and that the spay operation would cause the prolapse to retract. Well, it didn't. He charged me another round of antibiotics ( Rm 70) which helped some, but the sausage never fully retracted ( er, excuse the crudeness ). And so she had to live with her condition and we hoped and hoped it would somehow heal. Although it didn't seem to bother her, it did bother us looking at it. Hoping against hope, as time went it just got bigger and bigger.. more like a "cauliflower" now ( i know2.. gross description!). Soon it would smell, bleed, and had flies bothering her. Poor thing she could not sleep at all, constantly snapping at the flies. (shudder to think if flies laid eggs there...)

The growth became even more pronounced. It was a TVT, a dog kind of cancer because of promiscuous behavior. 

She began to frequent our house again as if knowing she wouldn’t be able to beat this thing by herself with just constant licking. We saw her begin to lose weight and yes… I felt like the reluctant “Rescue Ranger” all over again. After several visits to other vets in the area, we found one who (unlike the other) actually loved animals!


So we had to set her trap and then bundled her (again!) in midst of all her loud protests and got her examined, pap smear and all. It was a cancerous tumor (TVT) something like a dog type sexually transmitted disease; highly infectious, like dog Aids. It would set us back Rm 600-800 to fix this time. One jab each week for 6 consecutive weeks through the vein of her forelimb. The vet was compassionate not only to dogs, but also to me as I managed to get a discount (to my relief!) for my foolhardy foray into this Florence Nightingale adventure.


So after 6 visits and quite some wrestles with missy on the operating table, sometimes muzzled and all ( Jared and Mike, you were a big help, thanks!!); we had to hold her absolutely still as the vet carefully administered the intravenous jab; she is now finally well.


And she didn’t bite me.


Today she has put back on a healthy weight and is happy again. She still greets with that helicopter wag of a tail, and bounds like a horse when she is excited to see us. To be honest,  I really "struggled" to cough out  all that cash to get her well, but she has brought quite many smiles to me and there is a certain satisfaction in knowing we did not hold back in showing the kindness, and now we are just happy to see her well.



You know as I ponder over this whole episode with missy, I think I catch a tiny glimpse of how God's heart must have felt toward us (man) .. his fallen creatures.


We have as much a chance to stay without sin as Missy would taking a vow of chastity. We do what is only natural to us because we can’t help it….we are born with it and all the natural dispositions to it.


That’s our condition and we have no solution.


(like how i suspect missy knew she had no solution but was going downhill..)


God saw our helplessness . . . and it cost the Father dearly……very, very dearly but he did not hold back his love .. so we can be made well and whole . . God paid the price for us big time. And that has made possible for us a new and endearing relationship with Him based on that love and trust...


....one which is restorative and redemptive.


(.. but unlike my limited capacity to rescue all the strays, our Heavenly Father's plan includes all.. )


Yeah, sometimes when I look at her and ponder the lessons of life . . i wonder just who is the "lucky" one around here (smile)


The End
June 2009

dressed them up for photo shoot... for postings on the internet "puppies for good homes"

..aren't they adorable?

this puppy says.." if you adopt me, I ll be a good guard dog!"

i think it was Christmas period.. we thought why not..a Christmas puppy present.. someone may take it up!

we grew fond of them quickly.

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

after 6 consecutive jabs she is finally well, and she can finally get some restful sleep..doggone tired man!!

once i lifted my hand to threaten to smack Passion to get her away from the gate and missy jumps in and puts her body between us.. to protect her friend. .. is that almost human or what? ;))

".. unlike my limited capacity to rescue these strays, God's plan is for all"

loves to escort us around "her" neighbourhood whenever we take a night walk; and passion too!

Passion and Missy... good friends!

*Missy finally passed away on 2nd May 2019, the vet gathers she was probably 14-15 years old, (translate 100 human years). Towards the end she could hardly walk, and we had to carry her out to pee/poo. She was unsteady and would  often fall on her face (literally!) as her front legs collapsed. 
In fact the sunday that passed, I was ready to make the decision to put her down at the nearby vet, gave her a bath as she had soiled herself badly, but after the bath she suddenly perked up. So I cancelled.
But on Thurday night, i carried her out to pee and notice she was breathing heavily. We stepped out awhile to do some groceries, when we returned she was gone. I think her heart gave out. 

Goodbye Missy girl.