ASTA is toy rat terrier (or perhaps toy fox terrier) who was found stray at the age of 12-13 and brought to a shelter where she was very scared. The kind shelter staff kept her in the office to make her stay as comfortable as possible. Due to her age and severe dental disease, as well as some vision loss, the shelter asked ODH to take her into care when her stray hold was up and she wasn’t claimed. Despite being terrified at the shelter, Asta fit in quickly with the other 3 dogs in her foster home. She is the smallest dog at just under 10 pounds, but she seems used to being part of a pack. Her vision is good enough that she can navigate in the house and she does fine on walks. She also sees well enough to chase the 4 resident cats, who are not impressed since they are all as big or bigger than she is. However, she was having trouble eating with that awful mouth, so we got her started on antibiotics and scheduled her dental as soon as possible. Asta was already missing a few teeth, and had 26 more extracted. She will still need to see the dental specialist to address 3 teeth with fractured roots, but she is feeling much better without all those rotten teeth. Her foster mom is grateful to the donors who made it possible for this little dog to eat without pain, and to avoid any further health complications from her infected teeth. Asta is a pretty lively little dog for her age and quite entertaining. She is extremely food oriented and always on the alert for any kitchen activity – she even tried to make off with a piece of cauliflower!

Update: Little Asta had a major dental after coming to ODH, but 6 months later an oral melanoma was found.    Very soon it became too painful for her to eat and her family said goodbye.    She was much loved for the few months they had with her, and will not be forgotten.