This page last updated on 05/03/2008
Scilla Rose   For more info, contact Stephanie

NOT READY FOR ADOPTION

May 2, 2008

We are nearing the end of a one week period in which Scilla has  consistently made small improvements. She is sleeping less, and is  less painful and symptomatic. She is more active each day. She is  happy all the time she is awake, and spreads her joy about the home  and neighborhood. She adores my husband, who was away on a business  trip when Scilla first came to us, and is also thrilled when my  grown daughter or close friends visits.

 Scilla has been perfectly housebroken since the first day here,  and displays no destructive behavior in the home. She continues to  enjoy the other animals in the family, and is playing with them  more and more as time passes. She has an interest in playing ball,  and her nose is less sore so she can pick up a Jolly Ball briefly,  or the other lightweight balls with holes in them. She does some  retrieving, though she often drops the balls. She regularly  demonstrates the BC eye and crouch, and will run after and chase  the other dogs and herd them gently at times.

Scilla had begun to go into the big crates that the other dogs  use for eating their meaty bones and their home cooked meals. We  have now added a fourth crate for her, so she can eat next to her  canine siblings/foster buddies. She has learned to sit and wait for  her food.   Scilla walks extremely well on a leash, as do my other dogs. So,  after taking Scilla to the local pet store to get some gear, she  now has her own harness for walking with the pack. I can actually  walk all four dogs nicely together! I have been stopped a few times  recently, by people wondering if I am a professional dog walker- LOL!

April 20, 2008
Scilla Rose is named for the lovely perennial blue wildflowers  that herald the arrival of spring in woodland gardens in the Midwest and elsewhere in the world. It had been a long, hard winter  in Wisconsin this past year, and the sunny day we brought Scilla home, they created a soft carpet to welcome her to our backyard.  In the short eleven months that she has lived, Scilla Rose has  not always been wanted and welcomed, however- in fact, she has  experienced a world of loss and pain. She has also escaped death a  number of times. She is a true miracle dog, with a strong will to  live, and a compelling and poignant story.

An email from a very dedicated veterinarian that volunteers for  a Collie rescue alerted me to Scilla's plight. The vet had been
treating Scilla for a couple of months for a suspected eye  infection and unregulated seizures. Scilla, the vet said, was a
 sweet, easygoing, beautiful Border Collie puppy, but her family-  the 2nd family that had owned her- was considering euthanasia.   They had not seen that Scilla had her puppy vaccinations, nor was  she spayed. Would I help get Scilla into a rescue, the vet asked? I  said I would, and the vet contacted the family with the  information, only to learn that Scilla has been taken to a local  shelter.

Fortunately, the shelter was interested in getting Scilla out and into a rescue home environment where she could receive proper care. Within a few days, the veterinarian who had been treating  Scilla pulled her from the shelter, and made arrangements to transfer her to her foster home with me, in Madison, WI. The vet  offered to spay Scilla and remove her eye, but I said no, hoping  that it would not be necessary to do the eye surgery. It is  fortunate this choice was made, as we later learned Scilla would  not have survived the surgery.   Worries about Scilla's condition and future surfaced  immediately, however, as even during the transport, she appeared  listless, congested, and in pain. Once she arrived in Madison, I  brought her into my special doggie isolation apartment in the lower  level of my home, where she could eat and be kept quiet and away  from the rest of the pack. Exhausted and painful as she was, Scilla  was affectionate, and happy to be in my home.

A visit to a local holistic veterinarian in the Madison area  the next day confirmed my worries about Scilla. She needed IV's for dehydration, and showed symptoms of a massive infection that was  overwhelming her petite 29 lb. body. Her eye infection has  worsened, and her nose was swollen and painfully congested. The  only positive was that she had not had seizures since she had been  taking her medication regularly. She was put on powerful  antibiotics and pain medication, and the  recommendation was to get  her to the University of Wisconsin- Madison Veterinary School as  soon as possible for an in-depth diagnostic work- up. I was able to  get Scilla into the canine opthomology department at the vet school  early the next day.   I had hoped that the examination of Scilla's eyes by the UW Vet  School opthomologist would reveal a treatable infection, or in  worse case scenario, a need to have her eye removed. This was  something I had been through with other Border Collies, with very  good results. This was not to be the case for Scilla.   Almost immediately, the team looking at Scilla's eyes  recommended that more extensive tests be taken. She would need a CT  scan of her head, and a battery of extensive and expensive tests  for bacterial and fungal infections and inflammation, well as  biopsies for tumors or cancer.  Two difficult days of testing ensued, which Scilla endured with  patience and remarkable good humor. After the CT scan, I received a  call from one of the vets stating that it showed bony destruction,  and some sort of lesion that had spread from her brain to her eye  and her nose. They offered me the option of euthanasia before she  awoke from the anesthetic. I said NO, that I wanted to see how she  came out of the testing, and that the rescue wanted to find out  what illness/ disease she had if we could. With that, permission  was given for additional aspirates and biopsies. Nearly every  department of the vet school was drawn into and attempted to help  with the case of the sweet little Border Collie that was so ill.   Their caring attitudes and obvious effort truly took my breath away...

When Scilla was still in the critical care unit after the 2nd  day of testing, I was allowed to bring her a dinner of cooked chicken breast, veggies, and yoghurt. She was sleeping when I  arrived, but as I got into her floor-level cage with her, she roused, and started to eat her dinner. "She can go home with you,  if she can walk out of here on her own power", the vet internist  said to me. With that, Scilla got up, and started to get out of her  cage- with her IV's and catheter still attached!! Her equipment was  quickly detached, and a leash attached, and Scilla, I, and a  resident left at a steady, if shaky walk. When we rounded the  corner and Scilla saw light through the clear glass of the outside  door, she broke into a run!

I was overjoyed to be able to bring Scilla home from the  hospital. There was significant danger of an adverse reaction to the anesthesia and the biopsy sampling procedures, so to watch  Scilla closely, I slept on the floor next to her for the next two nights. Scilla was exhausted from the hospitalization, and slept a  great deal the next few days.   The results of the tests began to come slowly in. Significant  infection and inflammation was found in several samples, and while  a tumor was a distinct possibility, no definitive diagnosis of  cancer could be made. Test results for fungal infection indicated a  low positive for blastomycosis, but it was also not considered  significant enough to be definitive. Other tests for fungal  infection were negative. We were to continue the antibiotics, the  seizure meds, the pain meds, and we were to add an anti-fungal  medication. We were also to return for re-testing for the  blastomycosis in a few weeks. Scilla's prognosis remained unsure, and was most likely very guarded.  

Scilla had been with our family for a tough, tough week, and  she and I had spent hours and hours together. I decided that it was  time to slowly introduce her to the rest of the pack, and to begin  to live as much of a normal doggie life as we could.  Although Scilla still slept a great deal, when she was awake,  she began to spend small amounts of time with my two other female  Border Collies, my male Rough Collie, and my 4 rescue kitties. The  animals all sensed that Scilla was ill- even my one bossy cat- and  were extremely gentle with her. She, in turn, was interested,  loving, and appreciative towards them.   Within a few days, I was able to take Scilla on short leash  walks in the neighborhood, with one of the Border Collies or  Collie along for extra company. We started to meet strangers, and  neighbors and their dogs, and Scilla's extremely friendly nature  began to express itself. She adores men and women, and dogs of all  ages and sizes. At home, Scilla also began picking up on the many  commands the other dogs know, and was falling into the household  routine and rituals with obvious pleasure.

Still worried about how much Scilla was sleeping, but spurred  on by her will to live and enjoy herself, I met again with my vet to make a holistic treatment plan for Scilla. The current goal for  Scilla is to strengthen her systems so she can overcome the infection and inflammation in her body, and to shrink any abnormal  growths or lesions which may be present. To address these goals,  Scilla is on a special grain -free home cooked diet, which includes  meats, veggies, fruit, greens, yoghurt, and a number of supplements  that enhance the immune system, and combat inflammation and  abnormal cell growth. My vet has provided me with research  literature on this type of special diet, and donated a number of  expensive supplements to assist in Scilla's recovery. It takes a  few extra minutes at each meal at present to give Scilla all of her  meds and supplements, but she takes them very easily. She also  loves her food, which is also encouraging!


The puppy in Scilla is beginning to emerge. She is wanting some  chewies, and really enjoys toys such as Kongs, or rope pulls that  that have chewing materials woven into them. After all she has  been through, Scilla is supervised every moment when she is playing  with her chew toys, or out in the yard, where she can pick up a  piece of mulch or a stick.   We are so relived and happy with the progress that Scilla is  making. We still have an uncertain prognosis, and Scilla will be on  medications, a special diet, and supplements for some time to come.  She is not strong enough to be spayed, and I do not know how or when we will be able to finish her puppy vaccinations. We will have  many hurdles ahead, but we have been helped by many wonderful  people, and with her fighting, positive spirit, we will just take it one day at a time.

As you probably can guess my vet bills have been very expensive so Midwest Border Collie Rescue has set up a Guardian Angel just for me so people can make a donation to help pay my bills.