Muffin

On August 5th, Miss Muffin went to the Rainbow Bridge, not because she wanted to, but because years of neglect had their toll on her poor used up body. 8.5 years of living in a cage and producing puppy after puppy has taken it toll. Her cancer returned and spread to her lungs and bones. There was nothing we could do for her except keep her comfortable in her final days.

We are heartbroken that we have lost our flower child. Miss Muffin's favorite spot in this world was underneath the flowers in the garden. She was content to lay out in the sun enjoying her freedom.
It is tragic to us that we were only able to give her 4.5 months with us here. I expected more, wanted more for her and for us, and she needed more to make up for all the years she suffered. She taught us all about quiet, gentle love, with just a lick or gentle gaze. She enjoyed her freedom as best she could with the images of her horrible beginnings always in her mind. I have always said, she is happy in her world, not the happy playful puppy world she should have lived in, but the world that she could handle as best she could.
So my precious baby is now with all the other furkids, Jordan, Precious, Barbie Doll,etc that left us to early, all because of inhuman treatment and greed. She is not afraid or scared or lonely anymore. Thunderstorms don't scare her anymore and she does not shake or tremble anymore.
But she is so missed and will there will always be a part of my heart that aches for her.
This last picture of Miss Muffin was sent to me by a special friend of mine; she knows how much this means to me.

Carol S
Mom to PMR Miss Muffin (1996-2005) My beautiful Flower Child

Congratulations to PMR Muffin, she is going HOME FOREVER also congrats to Carol and her husband for adoption this precious little one. We promise to keep everyone updated on her progress.

Just wanted to let everyone know that "Miss Muffin" came home on, March
13th, and since we do not know when in 1996 she was born, March 13th is
now her birthday.

I flew to St. Louis and met her Foster Mom, Robin and Marci at the
airport. I can't begin to explain the joy of finally getting to see her
face to face and to actually hold this baby that I had been waiting for
since November. She just came to PMR in November and she was one very
sick little dog. She had cancerous tumors and was heartworm positive.
She was a victim of a puppymill, where she had been breed for 8.5 years,
litter after litter, and received no medical attention. She was with
Aunt Jackie in Texas and PMR decided to send her to Robin in St. Louis
to get her the medical attention she desperately needed. It was decided
to wait to see how her medical treatments went before she would be
ready for adoption. I waited, not patiently , but waited nonetheless. I
was away on vacation for 3 weeks in St. Maarten and I checked the web
site every day for any news of Muffin. I came back home and again,
waited for news of her condition. Once I saw the pathology report, where
they
said they think they may have gotten all the cancerous tumors out and
that her prognosis was good, but guarded, my husband and I discussed
formally applying for her. We know she is an older dog, her future is
not terribly long, and we would have to deal with her medical conditions
and face the reality of possibly losing her in a few years. We both
felt that despite those shortcomings, this dog needed us as much as we
needed her. We are both cancer survivors and and so is she and there was
just something in those eyes that said to us "Please, adopt me--I've
been waiting for you for a long, long time".

We were approved, but had to wait to get her until she was finished
with her heartworm treatment. These 6 weeks have been the longest six
weeks of my life, so when I finally got to St. Louis, it was hard to
believe I finally had my baby in my arms.

Shortly after we got home, we took her to our vet as we wanted a second
opinion as to her medical condition. My vet here said he was extremely
impressed with the care PMR has given Muffin and that they left no
stone unturned to help this sick little girl. He also said she has gotten
everything she could possibly have to make sure that she survives what
she has been through. The vet said she is in good condition despite
what she has been through, which was wonderful news for us and we breathed
a heavy sigh of relief. She does have cataract issues which cause her
problerms with her vision so we are going to give her some time to
adjust and then take her to an eye specialist.

Muffin has been home a few days now and as you can see from the picture
of her in her swing, is settling in nicely. We have two other dogs
that are owned by us, but they are pups by comparison, and Muffin is now
"Miss Muffin" as the children should have respect for their elders.

So, PMR, a big THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for caring, for
rescuing these babies and fot granting us the priviledge of taking Miss
Muffin into our hearts and home.

Carol & Jim Schwed

including Kathleen Heist, Theresa Connolly, Amber Kyle , Valerie Burkhart, Kimberly Van Dyck, Traci Pearch
Abigail Beasley, Carol Schwed, David Hatlee, Lisa Overstreet, jeanette johnson, Kate Noonan, and Sheila Miller.

A Christmas donation made by : Barbara Swiacki in Memory of of a special dog named Sony Lemongello. This money will go to help Muffin above.

I'm
8-9 years young. Today is the first day of my freedom and I
love running in the yard. I went with Texas to the vet
today and I tested a low positive on heartworms, I need a
dental, spay and I also have some mammary tumors that will
need to be removed. I am such a beautiful little girl. I
just know someone will fall in
love with this beautiful face.

Muffin has been free for a couple weeks now and my heart
breaks for this little girl. She is so very frightened, she
is a true puppymill dog as she circles and circles and
circles whether in a crate or out of it or outside in the
open. She will not come out of the kitchen, she will stay
in there and lay in the beds there. I have to carry her
into the living room to be with with the rest of the kids.
She just stands there and doesn't know what to do but she
does love the beds and will get into one and stay there.
She won't go in and out the door, I have to carry her out
and in, although tonight she came up to it like she was
going to come in but didn't, that's an improvement. When I
go to pick her up, she flattens to the ground, and then
shakes. When I do pick her up, she is as stiff as a board.
The one good thing is she doesn't have that far away look in
her eyes. She will be going to Robin in St Louis for her
surgery and heart worm treatment. I've attached a couple
pictures of her, one is of Belle checking her out. What a
sweetheart Muffin is and I know with time she will be a
loving little girl.

Muffin has been free for over a month now. Her weight is now 6.4 pounds. She was evaluated by the vet on the 10th. Her teeth are awful and she will most likely loose a lot when a dental is done. She is on Anitrobe until the dental is done. She also needs the tumor removed and spayed. They drew blood for a blood panel, x-rays, and a second heartworm test. The x-rays show a spot on her heart and that the heart is enlarged that drew some concern by the vet. So her x-rays were held for review by the Chief Veterinarian in the office to review. Her blood work can back all in normal ranges and she is definitely heartworm positive. It was decided that she needs to get her dental, spay, and the tumor removed as soon as possible. Then while she is recuperating from the surgery, she will have an ultrasound of her heart and the decision on the heartworm treatment will be made after this is done.

Muffin is a very loving little girl. She loves to cuddle and sleep in the bed. She will paw at you to continue to pet her. She is not circling as much any more. She only does it when she is nervous or excited.

Muffin will be a perfect little pal once she gets all her vetting done. She will not be available for adoption at least the end of January.

Muffin had her surgery on December 27th. They cleaned her teeth and she only lost 3 of them. She was spayed and she had the tumor removed. The tumor has been sent out for a histopath. It will be back in 7 to 10 days. Muffin is also up to 6.5 pounds.

Source: Left Caudal Mammary mass. Two specimens. Received at lab 2 X 2 cm specimen with mass and multiple fragments - all processed.
Microscopic findings: Slides 1 & 2. Representative sections of specimens: Low grade malignant mixed/compound mammary tumor
Prognosis: Fair to potentially long term - guarded
Comments:
The results show that this mixed or compound mammary tumor exhibited low grade morphologic malignancy characteristics of the epithelial component suggesting the possibility of low grade malignant behavior. Complete removal of the mass prior to metastasis could prove curative. In the examined sections, it was peripherally well demarcated, exhibiting expansive, non invasive growth qualities. If possible and if not yet preformed complete excision of the mass would be recommended. Monitoring of regional lymph nodes would also be warranted as would monitoring for development of any additional/future mammary masses in this intact female. The neoplasm extended to apparent natural borders/margins of these presumed partial submission samples.
I was told to monitor her for local recurrence and to have chest x-rays every 3 months. If she stays clear for 1 year, they feel that she will be in the clear.
She starts HW treatment tonight. She has to has a series of 3 shots over a 2 months period.

Update 1-11-05

Muffin had the first of her 3 injections for class 3 HW. She is doing great and will return to the vet on 2-11-05 for the last 2 shots. With the recovery time, Muffin will not be available until the end of March.

Muffin has had a dental, spay, tumor removed and histopath preformed, xrays, bloodwork, first of her heartworm treatments. Her vet bills are already $373.70