Annabelle

Last Updated: October 01, 2003

Annabelle was born in an Amish puppymill in rural Indiana. She was born with impaired vision, as was a male in the same litter. The male’s vision was not as bad as Annabelle’s and he was sold. There is a woman, Jen, in this area of Indiana that does all breed rescue and has been trying to educate this puppymiller. She offered to take Annabelle, but the miller wanted to keep her for breeding. Jen convinced him that Annabelle’s vision problems are genetic and that all her puppies would also be blind…he believed her about Annabelle, but didn’t believe it would continue to happen with Annabelle’s sire and dam, and so is still breeding that pair. 🙁
Annabelle was given to Jen who had her spayed and started on puppy shots. When Jen realized the extent of Annabelle’s problems, she listed her on Petfinders where she was discovered by our own Peggy Neumeier. Peggy arranged to have Annabelle transported to Lynn Stoltzman to be examined by an ophthalmologist. CorgiAid’s treasurer was part of the transport and had Annabelle overnight. She fell absolutely in love with her…and would have kept her herself if it would not have upset the apple cart of her elderly Corgi Gwen’s Addison’s disease. Joyce can state that Annabelle is a darling, very adaptable, smart and playful. Annabelle also did well with Joyce’s neighbor children…absolutely a doll!
Update from Oct. 1, 2003:
Well, Annabelle had a very big day! And she is such a good little patient.
I did have her seen by my vet because I had noticed she had some “gunk” in her ears, either an infection or ear mites. It was ear mites. So, she gets 2 treatments of revolution and panalog in her ears. She has gained almost a pound in 10 days!! She did get her microchip, and I had a fecal run, which was fine.
At the opthamologist they put drops in her eyes to dialate. This took a while so she fell asleep on my lap and was snoring loudly. Just too cute and sweet. The tech loved her there and said it made her think about getting another dog.
I could write all of the technical information but basically she has smaller eyes than normal, smaller lenses than normal and cataracts. They had her do an “obstacle” course with boxes first black with a slightly darkened room, then white in a bright room, she did better with the darker colors which they expected. She does have some sight and peripheral vision. The next step is to have an ERG (electroretinogram) done to see if her retinas are healthy. If that tests show her retinas are healthy when she is adult size she would be candidate for lens replacement surgery. CorgiAid supporters have helped Annabelle with “normal” care, like getting spayed and shots. Their kindness will also pay for Annabelle’s ERG.