Winnie - specific home required

You may recognise this little sweetheart from social media as she has become quite famous over the last few weeks, sadly, not for good reasons. Winnie had a traumatic start to life – she was found at just 8 weeks old after being dumped in a bin and then bought in to our care, where she has since received all the love we could give in her temporary foster home.

Unfortunately, when Winnie arrived at the centre, it was obvious that she had a problem with her front left leg, which she is unable to straighten and use normally due to a fused dislocation. After lots of investigation from an expert veterinary team, a decision has been made that due to her age and the test findings, the best welfare decision would be to amputate the leg and allow her to recover and live a full and happy life as a three legged lady.

During her time in foster, Winnie did experience a small seizure while feeling unwell with a UTI – test results have come back all clear, so we are unsure of an exact cause for this. She has been monitored since with no further signs or symptoms, so this could have been a one off occurrence, but we can’t rule out any re-occurrence in future, or that this could be early signs of  epilepsy. Winnies new family will need to be fully prepared to take on any future medical needs as well as her immediate post-op recovery following the procedure to remove her leg.

We are hoping to find the forever home Winnie deserves where she can continue to receive lots of love, have her needs catered for and the best life possible following her troubled start. Preferably we would like someone who has some veterinary experience or experience with rehabilitation. Amputation of the leg should hopefully be quite straight forward should no post op complications occur, therefore strict recovery is expected to last around 4 weeks before she can slowly start enjoying normal things again while getting used to life with three limbs.

Winnie will require and benefit from physiotherapy or hydrotherapy (veterinary advised) following her operation, to aid her recovery and allow her to strengthen her body to help with it’s adjustment. We are looking to rehome Winnie and allow her some time to settle in to her new surroundings before she has the procedure, which will be done with our local expert veterinary team, therefore, it would benefit if any adopters were relatively close to the centre for travelling purposes. The cost of the procedure will be covered by ourselves, however, costs of advised aftercare will need to be taken on by the adopters.

Winnie has been an absolute dream for her foster carers – she is playful and intelligent – already mastering some basic commands. She is almost through her house training and copes very well be left in her safe space over night. She adores people of any age, so can live with calm and understanding children who will take on board her delicate situation. Winnie loves other dogs and cats, so as long as meets and play can be appropriately managed, this will be considered. Of course despite her leg,  she is a typical who will puppy mouth and chew given the opportunity, but when given appropriate toys and enrichment, this can be diverted.

Her new owners will need to be around for most of the day, especially during the recovery phase, to assist her and ensure she gets the care she needs. Leaving her can be slowly built up following her recovery as part of her puppy training and being only 11 weeks old, she still has plenty of time to learn.

If you feel you could provide Winnie with a wonderful forever home and give her the best opportunities in life, please let us know by completing a perfect match form below: