She would grow a beautiful black coat that grayed over the years, but when we first saw Emma, a remarkable blind and mostly deaf dog, she had no fur and her body was covered with sores. Until the shelter took her in while they could look for a home for her, she'd had a rough life, kept in a crate 20 or more hours of each day for years.
As soon as we adopted her, we discovered what a loving presence she was. It was not just that the other dogs and cats would snuggled up to her, but that they would tangle themselve up with her before falling asleep. I've included some photos below.
Shortly after she joined the family of special needs cats and dogs who live in our home, one of the specialists who examined her determined that an auto-immune disease caused the sores and lack of fur. We were able to treat it successfully.
Several years ago cancer invaded Emma's left mammery glands. They were removed with wide margins, but later cancer appeared in the glands on the other side. These too were removed. Emma lived a joyful and cancer-free life for several years after that. In late December, 2008, fell ill with a carcinoma in her colon, and in January, 2009, she passed away. She brough such great joy and love to our home, and we miss her terribly.
Here's Ariel, a blind and deaf cat, who has intertwined herself with Emma as they take a nap:
Here's Lucy, a cat who almost died as a kitten and who once had also lost her fur, tangling herself up with Emma as they sleep:
Here's Harmony, a cat with an extremely rare muscle disorder, snoozing with Emma:
Here's Faith, a blind cat, hanging out with her friend, Emma:
Here's Annie, a blind & deaf dog, apparently whispering a secret to Emma:
Here's Emma between Annie and Dharma, a dog with an atypical seizure disorder:
Goodbye, Emma!
Here's a link to the family of special needs dogs & cats who live in our home