sloughi rescue

In 2002 I decided that I wanted to foster for a Lurcher Charity. Everyone told me that it was just an excuse to adopt a 3rd dog but I was adamant that this was not the case (it seems that my friends know me better than I know myself). I took on a one year old Brindle male called Jake. He had severe trauma to his skull, resulting in the loss of sight from one eye and brain damage. He was the strangest little critter I had ever seen and yet I was in love with him from the moment I clapped eyes on him (not conducive to a successful ‘fostering’!).

Within a few months I realised I could not possibly let this dog go and of course he became a permanent addition to our household. Jack was never overly impressed with Jake, but Oscar took to him very well and taught him how to play and behave like a dog, instead of this frightened little scrap of nothingness that had first arrived.

After a year his bad eye kept getting infections so we decided to have it removed. Unfortunately the socket was so damaged from the blow to the head he had received previously, the operation proved much more tricky than a straightforward eye removal. The socket then reinfected 3 more times needing 3 more lots of stitches and took 6 months to heal!

4 months after that Jake became very sick. He had a constantly upset stomach and started to lose weight. We had many tests and different courses of antibiotics but it wasn’t till the Autumn of 2004 that the RVC finally diagnosed Inflammatory Bowel Disease. By this time Jake had lost 1/3 of his body weight and was severely ill. The vets were telling me to prepare myself for the worst as he was not responding to treatment. Finally he pulled it around at the 11 th hour and after a 2 week stay in the RVC he finally came home.

A further 8 months of medication and finally we managed to wean him off and he is lucky enough to have his IBD controlled by diet and supplements alone now (rather than steroids and other medication).

I feel that those first 2 years with Jake were such a struggle for him, after an already bad start in life and was desperate for him to lead a normal life. I’m so happy that his IBD has been in remission since 2005 and he is an extremely fit and healthy little dog. He still has behavioural issues, mainly I feel because of his brain damage but it's nothing we cant live with and in the main he is full of joy and such a clown, it is a real marvel the way he has bounced back against the odds. He is an extremely affectionate and loyal dog, and I’m so pleased that we failed so badly at fostering him!