Kheno, an 8 year old collie/Golden Retriever mix (we think), spent her early years crated for 12-14 hours per day. When she arrived at Forget Me Not, she had severe urine scalding to her legs and tail, major long-term ear infections that have lead to almost total deafness, and atrophy of her rear legs and hips.

In spite of these challenges and the amount of pain she must have been in, Kheno has never been anything but happy and sunny - a true joy to have around.

We've had her on medical hold for a few months getting her healed up and stabilized in a loving foster home, and are happy to report the urine scalding is almost completely healed, her ear infections are much better (we are still cleaning her ears weekly) and a small amount of hearing seems to have returned, and her legs are gradually growing stronger.

X-rays show some arthritis in her spine, and the real issue is extreme deterioration of the balls at the tops of both femurs. Kheno will need to be treated with pain management and joint supplements for the rest of her life (currently she is taking Carprofen and Platinum Performance CJ daily). The most obvious physical aspect of her weak hind end is difficulty with squatting to urinate or defecate; Kheno will frequently start squatting, but then stands up and walks while continuing to go. She has not had any difficulty with urinary incontinence in the foster home. There is a short time between when Kheno knows she has to defecate and the beginning of the deed, so it's important she be able to get outside quickly when she needs to go. She defecates about twice every day, and as her rear end strengthens, her control is growing better; foster mom reports she is almost always making it outside now, probably due to a combination of less pain, more strength, and developing a household routine. The possibility for an occasional defecation in the home remains, but it should become even rarer as her strength continues to grow.

Kheno may benefit from water therapy to continue loosening up her stiff hind end. We are also looking into fitting her for a wheeled cart to enable her to go for longer walks.

Now that we've discussed Kheno's health challenges, here is the GREAT news about this lovely 58 pound senior gal. She is a DREAM DOG! Here is the report from her foster mom:

Kheno is a happy, easy-going, playful dog with good social skills with humans and other animals. She is interested, friendly, peaceful, and polite with all. Her activity level is more than I would expect with her stiff and wobbly hind end. She walks “okay” on leash, and pulls me to the car, because she loves car rides.

Kheno easily gets along with my two senior dogs, and I have no reason to think she wouldn’t get along with all dogs as long as they are respectful not to bump into her. I introduced them without any of them batting an eye, just a little sniffing, and friendly acceptance—then loaded all three into my car and drove home peacefully. I have two seniors, one who is blind. Kheno knows it is blind and respects its space. My other dog is a senior Boxer who is still very active--sometimes when they play indoors, she bumps Kheno and Kheno yelps (my dog is learning to be better with boundaries). Outside they run and chase each other without incident.

I have not had Kheno around cats, but I feel it is likely she will be a peaceful housemate. We have many deer and turkeys passing across our property, right outside the dog yard fence, many times a day. Kheno watches with calm interest, and has never barked or tried to get to them.

I haven’t seen her show any interest in toys or balls.

Kheno is almost entirely deaf, but guess what? It took me 3 weeks before I figured it out. She is alert and watchful with smiles and perky ears, and very good with hand signals. To me, this is a very minor issue. Once in a while, she will pop her head up in response to an unusual sound.

She wants to be near me, follows me everywhere, and lays down near me. She also enjoys being outside, with my dogs or alone. I think keeping me in sight or having an idea where I am, helps her keep track of me. However, I can leave her at home for 4-6 hours and she does just fine—she has the company of my two dogs, but in her prior home she was left entirely alone for very long days (which was very hard on her).

Kheno's ideal home would be with someone who can be with her most of the time, who would love to take her for car rides (she does need help getting in), who can show her lots of adventures and keep up with her medications. She'd like to have as few stairs as possible, would welcome companion pets though won't need other pets in the home if her person is with her most of the time. Are you the right one to bring joy to Kheno's golden years? She is SO appreciative of every kindness, it's impossible not to smile when she's around.

All pets arrive spayed/neutered, dewormed, microchipped and vaccinated. Adoption fee for Kheno is a suggested minimum of $75 or Senior for Senior (more gratefully accepted). All pets are placed with a 30-day money-back trial period, to give pet and family enough time to discover any unknown allergies or other conflicts.

Can't come to Republic? Don't let that stop you! We have monthly transports to the Seattle area, delivering adopted pets to their new owners. If you can add a little to your donation to help us cover our volunteer driver's expenses, that would be great!