Zsa Zsa, a petite 10-pound Lhasa with a lovely personality, was a “stray” who turned up looking like a matted mess and sat in a small shelter for quite a while. She’d been partially shaved by shelter staff; they said she was blind and wiggly but very friendly. When our vet examined her there, we found a bladder full of crystals (and yes, an outgoing friendly wiggler!). We immediately took her into foster care and had an ultrasound done, confirming that she was not spayed and that she had bladder stones – no doubt the reason this little girl was tossed out, she was most likely having accidents due to the pain. After the spay and bladder stone surgery she felt much better! She also has nearly mature cataracts; she can see enough to get around but that’s about it, and probably fairly soon will lose her vision entirely. She is now living with a family and several other dogs; she particularly loves the teenagers and settled into her new life very easily. With her great attitude, and people who love her, she’ll handle her “handicap” just fine. What a beautiful little dog she is!

Update Fall 2018:   At the age of perhaps 17 Ms. Zsa Zsa has lost one of her eyes to an accident and sees almost nothing from the other.  She is completely deaf and of course toothless.    A mammary tumor appeared some time ago (the cost of being spayed so late in life).     Despite all this, our cute little girl has a lot of spunk – and an excellent voice to tell us what time it is.   She still flounces around when the mood strikes her and she eats anything available, but her best skill now is doing what old dogs do best – sleeping.

Update:  Our little lady lost the last bit of her sight, became confused and easily intimidated.   Now there were several large mammary masses as well.  We said goodbye but will not forget this sweet soul.