Dog News

Rare Medical Condition Almost Claims Shelter Dog’s Life

by Katherine

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Lucy, a four-year-old German shepherd was surrendered to the Humane Society of Forsyth County, Ga., in December of 2013. She was a skeleton weighing just 22 pounds. If it wasn’t because her owners gave her up, the pup would have starved to death.

Photo Credit: Crystal Ledford.
Photo Credit: Crystal Ledford.

The Humane Society performed several tests on Lucy and they discovered she suffers from a rare medical condition called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. This disease stops Lucy from digesting essential nutrients, and when rescued she was so emaciated she was almost dying.

Lucky for Lucy, she was treated and put on a treatment plan ensuring she would be able to live and enjoy the rest of her life. She gained back her health while in foster care, but then needed a forever family willing to take on her expensive medical treatment.

In order for Lucy to eat and get the necessary nutrients out of her meals, her food must be treated with a costly medication. Who would want to adopt a dog that requires hundreds of dollars just on medication every month? Kevin and Cyndi Herbert didn’t mind the cost, and in May, they fell in love with Lucy and adopted her.

“My husband was at (a Humane Society spring event) and he called me and said, ‘Cyndi, you need to come look at this dog. She needs a home,'” Cyndi told Gainesville Times. “I was like, ‘No, our kids are going away to college and we don’t need another dog.’ Then someone sent me a picture of what had happened to Lucy, and I was like ‘no fair.’ So I went up and we got her.”

Lucy doesn’t resemble the starved dog she once was. The pet is energetic, playful and loving. She got her second chance in life when the Humane Society of Forsyth County rescued her, but she hit the jackpot when Kevin and Cyndi Herbert added her to their family. The dog with the rare medical condition has a set of loving parents, twin human brothers, and two other canine siblings that simply adore her.