Pets in Need - OSLF

To continue the posts about the OSLF fundraiser, here is a picture of one of the present "pets in need."

I chose Faith for this rather than one of the rescue or service dogs to show even the smaller dogs can have serious orthopedic problems --- and because she is so adorable...



Breed: Pomeranian
Age: 6 Years
Diagnosis: Hip and knee luxation
Treatment: Femoral Head Ostectomy surgery and Patella surgery
Estimate: $3500
Amount Needed: $3000
Fund: Companion Pet Orthopedic

Approximately 2 months ago my daughter and I adopted a beautiful little Pomeranian from less than satisfactory conditions. She was in a small outdoor cage, full of big bushy black hair and never had been groomed. My daughter and I felt we were rescuing a little angle from the 100 degree blistering heat. She now lives indoors and I clipped her hair completely. She looks like a little teddy bear. She loves to follow me everywhere I go like my little shadow and looks at me like I'm her world. At the time of adoption, it was conveyed to me that she has a patella displacia issue and therefore holds her leg up and walks on three.

As we got to know her more, I realized her conditon was worse than was originally disclosed. I took her to the vets for x-rays and review. Faith was diagnosed with a luxation of her left hip (her hip is out of joint) and bilateral advanced medial patellar luxations (her knee caps are out of joint on both hind legs). At this time, Faith's patellas are not able to be manually reduced and will require surgery to be replaced in the joints properly. The attempt was made to do a closed reduction of her hip and place a sling, however, the hip repeatedly slipped back out of joint due to the chronicity of this injury. Therefore, a Femoral Head Ostectomy surgery has been recommended to remove the femoral head and relieve any pain in this joint by eliminating the current bone to bone contact.

She is not able to walk at this time and although she can "scoot" her back end around we are keeping her confined to a crate until she has surgery in order to minimize stress and inflammation. The vet STRONGLY recommended that we crate her and not allow her to move much since not only is the one leg in need of surgery, but the other hip and leg are in need as well. I am extremely careful with her. However, she has fallen over in awful pain with both rear legs unable to move and shaking. Her little paws go up to her head stiff. After holding her and massaging her she relaxes and can move again. I am concerned that the level of pain she is in which can cause other problems and I can't bear to see her suffer.

I am a single mother with a limited income and in no way can I afford to pay myself for such a costly surgery. She is so beautiful and would have a wonderful life with us if she can receive the assistance needed to help her. My daughter and I have had such a difficult time with the loss of our Brandy, our precious companion of 14 years, just prior to adopting Faith. I don't want to go through losing another that has become such a part of our hearts and home. Thank you.

Tiger - OSLF Success Story

Please consider donating to OSLF during their 2nd Annual Celebration of Life and help a pup in need. It's tax deductible and all funding goes to the dogs....
Here's another success story....


On March 31st, a tiny, sweet 12 week old Shih Tzu was brought to an emergency clinic near Detroit, Michigan by his human family. The little guy's humans told the vet that the puppy hadn't been able to walk since he fell down the steps "a few days ago".

When the vet told the family that it would cost $100-$200 to do an exam and diagnostics, they decided not to bother and told the vet that they would just dump him at a shelter. Somewhat stunned, the vet encouraged them to at least let him go to rescue, but that she couldn't arrange that at midnight on a Saturday. Impatient and not wanting to be inconvenienced any further, the owners said no and left the clinic after the clock had turned March into April.

The vet contacted a local Shih Tzu rescue anyway on the hope that the family would reconsider and come back. That smart Shih Tzu-loving lady called and emailed all the area shelters to alert them that a 3 month old puppy, unable to use both of his front legs, might be dumped in their facilities.

Sure enough, a 12 week old Shih Tzu puppy that "was found as a stray" was surrendered to a shelter on the second of April. Not knowing that the shelter had already been warned about them, the "kind family" that dropped him off advised the shelter staff that this poor little stray puppy just doesn't seem to be able to use his front legs at all! When confronted with the truth, the "humans" admitted that, yes, they had taken him to the emergency clinic but they had only found him a few days ago. Yeah.--Right. They signed the pup over to the shelter.

Unable to take him in, the "Shih Tzu lady" called Animal Placement Bureau in Lansing, Michigan. APB assured her that they would do their best to take care of the little puppy. So from a shelter on the east coast of Michigan, the injured boy made the trip to the state's west coast. And just when we thought his little life couldn't get any worse? The volunteer that was driving him to us hit black ice and was in a roll over accident that totaled her car, put her in the hospital, and believe it or not, the poor, already battered puppy came out of it without a scratch!

He did make it to us though, and immediately the next morning (4/6), APB took him to a wonder vet at Ark Animal Hospital in Holland, Michigan. Dr. Wilson (the wonder vet) sent out the x-rays to a radiologist for consultation. Both of the little dog's front legs had the humeral condyles broken off. While the vets concluded that a genetic condition may have made the bones easier to fracture than in a normal puppy, his broken bones wouldn't have fractured on their own and were likely the result of abuse. Unfortunately, in the fast-growing puppy, the healing had begun and after being left untreated for so long-NOT in a good way. Surgery would have to be performed.

To make matters worse, on April 8, the pup became very, very sick and was diagnosed with Parvovirus. The surgery would obviously have to wait, on the hope that the injured puppy might survive the Parvo. Of course, had he been properly vaccinated by his careless owners, he probably wouldn't have caught this disease which can be deadly in puppies.

He was taken home by his caring foster care giver who kept close watch over him, dosed him with Tamiflu, administered subcutaneous fluids to make sure he didn't dehydrate and prayed, and the tough little Tiger SURVIVED!

Now that Tiger has recuperated, immediate surgery is a MUST! He's clearly feeling better as he has begun to use his head to pull himself along, but we need to make this tough little fellow whole again. Tiger's surgery is will be very, VERY expensive and far more than APB can afford for one single dog. Please help this little guy to get made whole and to have the long and happy life he deserves!

UPDATE - Tiger had his surgery and has been happily adopted by a loving family. This is the kind of ending all stories about dogs should have.

Orthodogs' Silver Lining Foundation

Orthodogs' Silver Lining Foundation (www.oslf.org) is having their 2nd Annual Celebration of Life . They're looking for photos, stories, songs, links to blogs and websites - ways to show how dogs inspire us. The Celebration of Life is to remember the dogs in our past in the most positive way possible....

In honor of the fundraiser, I thought I would do some posts on success stories and Pets in Need.
First Post - Success ---- Shiloh/Molly

This is an image I've used before but I have never linked to the full story. From the OSLF Success Stories page:

"Every so often a dog comes along that just touches you to the very soul. This poor little girl is one of those dogs.

When we first saw the photo of her injuries we were all horrified. Weeks before, little Shiloh — as her rescuers later named her — had been attacked by another dog. Her owner, for reasons known only to her, did not take her to the vet to treat her bite wounds. Instead, she wrapped this tiny puppy's leg in duct tape.

As the days went on Shiloh's leg became infected, the bacteria multiplied, and the leg became more swollen. The duct tape became so tight that it cut off circulation in Shiloh's leg. The hungry bacteria began to dissolve and eat away the tissue of her leg. Slowly, even the bones of her toes and feet melted away and all the while poor little Shiloh suffered in great pain and distress while her owner did nothing.

Nobody knows for sure how long Shiloh had been enduring this torture, but she was discovered one day by the manager of the apartment complex where she had been left with a relative while her "owner" was out of town. The manager of the apartment complex called the police. The police contacted the local shelter and an Animal Control Officer seized the 10 week old puppy and brought her to a local emergency hospital. Here is a synopsis of what her doctors wrote over the last day and a half: "...taken by the ACO from the owners for neglect...a wound that was reported to be an old bite wound that was covered with duct tape...the left hind leg has a 360 degree strangulation wound...degloving injury 360 degrees around the hock...the metatarsal bones (foot bones) are exposed all phalanges (toe bones) are gone...severe necrotic infected wound...significant infection, swelling and pain associated with this injury...due to the pain associated with this injury no bandage could be applied to cover the wound...Shar Pei rescue was contacted...will determine the course of treatment and future of this pup tomorrow...estimated cost of surgery (amputation) $1500-1800...pet released by owners to ACO and to Shar Pei rescue...polaroid pictures have been taken...digital pictures are not always acceptable in court...at this time it does not appear that charges will be laid against the owners..."

She was in the loving care of Shar Pei Rescue of Virginia and the staff at Cherry Hill Animal Hospital who took great care of her. Shiloh has had a very rough start in life but things are looking up for her. Sadly she will have to go through life with only 3 legs because of the cruelty and neglect that she has suffered but we know with your help she will be well on her way to being a normal tripod in no time."

UPDATE: She was adopted to a family with another Shar Pei, is loved madly and has been re-named Molly

Another Bear story

I was looking around at blogs today (something I don't have much opportunity to do anymore) and saw this amazing photo and a great story about it....

I'm kind of bad at this now

You get out of the habit, and it's very hard to get back. And then, you see something you want to share....

I do want to share this encounter with a polar bear and a husky. It's kind of great.

The pictures are by a photographer - Norbert Rosing and his photos are just beautiful.

Jessica

Funny how some people have no idea how to treat dogs (see post about Michael Vick) and then there's others who show how wonderful a bond between mankind and the animal kingdom can be...

Now, these are my peeps :)

Jessica, the Hippo

Dog Breeds

It's interesting how people get attached to different breeds of dogs. I suppose there are many reasons for it - some of them good, solid reasons (the right temperament for the owner, kid friendly), some of them - not so much (wanting the same dog as Paris Hilton, comes to mind).

I have a friend who loves Irish Wolfhounds - in fact, I have two friends who love Irish Wolfhounds but, right now I'm talking about MC who just got a puppy. A puppy that is 105 pounds at a little over six months old.This is a picture of Hudson at four months when he only weighed 53 pounds.



Because they are a rarer breed (unlike some, ahem, other dogs we could name if they weren't sitting next to us), MC drove a round trip total of 1200 miles - solo - to pick up a male pup. The breeder put the four male pups of the litter into an enclosed area and asked MC "If you were able to pick from these four, which one would it be?" She said they were all so cute...running around, playing with sticks, an old carpet, jumping on each other, chasing each other and then one stopped, turned around, looked her right in the eyes and she fell in love...and named him Hudson.