Sweet Louie

Louie and his brother Huey ended up in a shelter at three years old. Candi Bright, Gentle Giants founder, was told that the brothers “had a little problem walking and that this problem “came on when they were six months old.”

Louie and his brother would have certainly would have died in that shelter, but Gentle Giants came to their rescue. When they arrived in New Jersey, they had been neglected. They were underweight and dried blood from flea bites flowed off of them as they were bathed. They lived in Connecticut for a few months, but came back to New Jersey when their foster moved. CAT scans showed that Louie and his brother probably were born being “wobbly” and while they would not get worse, there is no cure for their problem.

But in New Jersey they grew stronger. They are happy and love to go out. They had some pack mates that they love to chase, even though Louie could not catch his new friends. They put on weight, grew steadier and stronger. After a few months Louie even walked down three stairs! That was great for him. And Louie and his brother have a big family room to live in, so big that they have room to fall over, which Louie still does a few times a day. Louie remained the weaker of the two brothers, but is always happy, running his funny run. He runs to greet his family, front legs locked, strutting through the backyard.

Late in June, Louie’s leg had swollen to three times its normal size. Louie refused to walk. His leg was swollen from his toes almost up to his knee! Louie was rushed to the emergency vet, where he was given pain killers and fluids. Further examination showed that he had a nasty bladder infection too. The vets have not determined whether the leg and bladder problems were related nor could a specific injury to his leg be located. X-rays were negative. The swelling in his leg could be from a spider bite, but the bite was not located.

Huey, Louie’s brother, misses him. And Louie was very sad when his family visited the vet, especially when Louie was wheeled back into the kennel area. Please consider helping Louie.