Godiva and her siblings have had a rough life. Born outside, their mother Krizzy did everything she could to keep them safe. She found an old shed where she raised the puppies for a couple weeks. Upon discovery, the family of dogs were evicted and found themselves in an overcrowded animal shelter in North Carolina. A woman named Connie took in the family and looked for help.
Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation rescuer Kate McEntee heard about their situation and stepped in to help. “We worked with our rescue friends in North Carolina to find a way to have the whole family brought to safety at the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation,” said McEntee, the director of animal relations at the shelter.
The rescuers noticed that there was something different about one of the puppies.
Her name is Godiva, and she was noticeably smaller than her siblings — she was more than half the size of her brother named Cadbury. It was soon discovered that she had a hard time eating and food would regurgitate out of her nose and mouth when she was done.
“We knew we needed to help little Godiva. We knew that she would require specialists in order to diagnosis her issues and see what could be done but we were never, ever, going to give up on her,” said McEntee.
Once the family arrived at the shelter in Hampton Bays, “our staff jumped into action. Our veterinarians assessed her issues, and our staff immediately became obsessed and fell in love with her. We call her Baby G!” McEntee continued.
The shelter also made an appointment immediately with a specialist to find out what else if anything can be done for her.
It was discovered that Godiva has a condition called Congenital Megaesophagus. A disorder that impedes the ability to swallow food due to the lack of muscle tone and motility in the esophagus. With the proper care, dogs with Megaesophagus can still live a long and happy life. After radiographs and examinations, it was determined that there was no surgery that would improve her condition.
“A thorough workup by the Animal Surgical Center revealed that Godiva’s Megaesophagus is congenital. Because it is something she was born with, there are no surgical procedures available to improve her condition. The mainstay of therapy includes feeding her in an elevated position and avoiding circumstances that would increase her risk of aspirating, or inhaling, food or water,” said Dr. Nicole Mirante, the director of medicine at the shelter.
National Geographic veterinarian and surgeon at the Animal Surgical Center, Dr. Gabby Wild fell in love with Godiva and was assigned her case, “Godiva is a loving, wonderful puppy who will need a thoughtful, warm family and great home. Now that we know her condition to be Megaesophagus, we can better manage her disease and hopefully reduce secondary complications to improve her quality of life,” she said.
This condition may or may not improve with age but for now Godiva will need to be fed in an upright position (highchair or elevated food bowl) so she doesn’t have to crane her neck down to eat. She will need multiple small meals per day and must be monitored while eating to ensure she does not choke. In addition, she will need to be kept upright during feeding times, and for 20 minutes after her meals.
The shelter is now looking for a foster family who can accommodate Godiva’s individual needs. Crystal Monaco who runs the shelters Foster Program explained that the shelter “will provide you with everything you need to make Godiva’s foster story a success. Godiva comes with her own special feeding chair.”
“How she got the chair is an amazing story of kindness by a very special four-year-old girl named Phoebe,” said McEntee.
Phoebe Schellinger of Southampton heard that Godiva needed a special chair to assist her with eating. Instead of birthday presents, Phoebe asked her friends to help her get the feeding chair for Godiva. Recently Phoebe came into the shelter and got to meet Godiva and gave her the chair.
So far, all of Godiva’s siblings have found forever homes and only Godiva and her mom are left to find theirs. “As with all the animals in our care the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation will work tirelessly to find the right forever homes to fit their needs. This is just one of the many success stories that we are proud to be a part of and we will continue to work hard to ensure many more in the future,” said Joseph Sprague, the executive director the shelter.
Those interested in fostering or adopting, should visit www.SASF.org or call 631-728-7387.