Written by Dalene Buchweitz
Professional photography by Tiffany Schultz Photography
In 2018, R.A.D rescued the dog who’d become Sir Arthur from Botrivier, where he’d been covered in motor oil to “cure” his mange. The poor little thing nearly died of poisoning. We had to wash him in Maizena to absorb the oil, and even his poop smelt like diesel. It was terrible!
His adventure only started there…
In September 2018, a picture of a very scaly black drenched thin bat was posted on R.A.D (Rescue Animal Drives)’s Facebook page. We’re pretty familiar with them, as we adopted our Rosie – whom we call miracle Rosie, as she survived Parvo – from them.
I immediately fell in love. Just a few hours later, R.A.D posted the same little black bat looking all grey (they had to cover him with Maizena), and he captured my heart even more.
I sent a message and immediately told Helen and Nicole that I wanted him as part of our family. They informed me he had serious mange and told me his story. Can you honestly believe diesel oil cures mange!?
They asked if I was ready to cope with mange. My late Mikkie girl had mange when I rescued her from the streets, so I was very familiar with the condition.
Mange is such a treatable, curable thing, and when treated correctly, it’s very easy to keep under control.
Helen dropped Arthur off a couple days later, and we fell in love instantly. He was one very stinky, scabby pup.
From day one, my late Mikkie girl washed and groomed him until he fell asleep. We kept him up to date with his Advocate treatments and also treated him with daily egg white breakfast.
At that time, I was still breastfeeding, and I actually gave him some of that and bathed him in some of it (giggle, people think it’s weird, but it worked). He had weekly F10 baths and daily brushes with a baby brush.
Arthur went on his first adventure three days after we got him all the way to Ceres. He most definitely turned some heads as he looked very funny at that time – with almost no hair and scab upon scab.
Arthur healed amazingly, but we had some hurdles and speed bumps ahead of us.
Arthur was about three months old when we realised he couldn’t hear very well. Thinking he might be deaf, we made a trip to the vet. After some tests and some yelps from Arthur, the vet realised the diesel oil had actually made a sort of plug in his ears and the skin had fused with that. I’ve never heard a pup cry so loudly as she had to peel these solid pieces of oil from the inside of his ears. It broke our hearts!
At about six months old, Arthur decided to play with a bee. Needless to say, he had a swollen snout of note, but in addition to that he began to develop lumps and bumps all over his body. After another rush to the vet, where it was confirmed that he’s highly allergic to bee stings.
All of Sir Arthur’s hair grew back by this time, except on his toes – the scar tissue is too severe for the hair to grow back there. He enjoys a regular moisturising routine to keep his toes from drying out!
At the age of one year, Arthur somehow hurt himself, or so we thought – he could almost not walk. Yelping and shivering, we rushed him off to the vet, only to be told he was in the beginning stages of arthritis. The vet suspects the diesel oil actually caused bone damage from the poisoning, taking into account that his poop only started to smell more like doggy poop at about six months.
The vet informed us that he might have other issues such as organ problems, as the diesel oil poisoning probably caused his body not to produce such healthy cells to grow. There’s a chance that he’ll probably not live until a very old age, but for all that, he’s one very bouncy, happy, healthy dog!
At two years of age, Arthur’s journey had been long and hard, yet the hardest part still lay ahead. My late Mikkie girl was like a mommy to Arthur, and when she passed, he became very unsure, uneasy and just not himself.
We’ve had him at the vets, and they’ve now labelled him a special needs baby. Mentally he hasn’t grown into a normal two-year-old.
With some extra reassurance and extra tender loving care, Sir Arthur is almost back to his happy, bouncy self. Arthur is never shy to give hugs and love, and he’s always ready to get onto my lap although he’s the size of a Lab. When it comes to kids, he’s just a lump of goo and so soft. He doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body.
Without R.A.D saving our Arthur we wouldn’t have learned the pureness of absolute love, and that he has taught us. And for that we’ll be forever grateful.
I’d just personally like to create more awareness to inform people an animal is always worth fighting for. That mange is curable, and having a doggy with special needs is a blessing.
They never deserve to be dumped or treated badly just because their lives begin in a difficult way. If you don’t give up on them, they’ll never give up on you, and you’ll have a loving friend for life.
