I met her on a Sunday, and I immediately knew something was wrong. Shae was far too thin. Even for a street dog, it was extreme. I brought her home, and on Monday morning we went straight to the vet. She was taken into emergency surgery, without knowing if she would make it. Her overall condition was clearly not in her favor.
She made it. The vet removed a tumor the size of a ping-pong ball.
Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Shae started bleeding. Back to the vet. Diagnosis: a venereal cancer, which required six rounds of chemotherapy. And that was another battle. There were the nausea. She felt sick. She didn’t want to eat, even though she absolutely needed to gain weight.
And every week, she changed her mind. What she loved one week, she completely refused the next. I had to test, improvise, adapt constantly. Be creative. Because Shae is stubborn. Like a mule.
Despite the chemo, she managed to maintain her weight, and even gain some. Honestly, it was pretty epic.
Today, Shae is doing well. She has energy again. She jumps everywhere. She loves climbing, scrambling over the rocks around the house when we go for walks. She has nothing left in common with the dog I first rescued, who was terrified of her own shadow.
But you’ve probably guessed it by now: Shae likes to overdo things a bit. And it definitely shows in her personality. The queen of drama. The undisputed drama queen of Rancho Peludo.
Shae is officially part of the Team Poilu.
If you like telenovelas, you’ve found your perfect partner.
