We found Shelly in the Animal Shelter. She was one of a litter of 5, and the only one that looked like she did. All the others were brown and smooth coated. She was terribly skinny, the runt of the litter and literally starving to death as she was not big enough to push her littermates out of the way in order to nurse, and weighed less than a third of what she should have. She as just SO cute we had to have her. After a few weeks home, she started developing these lumps on her body. Before we removed them, they were benign tumors, we did a pre anesthetic blood screen and her kidney values were way off. A trip to an Emergency Internal Specialist proved that she has underdeveloped kidneys with less than a third of them functioning. She was given less than a year to live! I was heartbroken, but husband being the optimist he is, says, "her eyes are just too bright, she will be with us a long time". He was right! 12 years later, she still has a spring in her step and is a cherished member of our family, keeping my husbands feet warm at night under the covers.

Syd
Charlotte, NC