Bear with me. Its a long story but you need the context. This is Walter (formerly known as Gunner) He was a stray from Georgia. He stayed with some nice people there until he could be transported to us for heartworm treatment. Fast forward to the day before Thanksgiving. He began to get growly and snarky. He had a planned vet visit after Thanksgiving for heartworm assessment and to begin his pre-treatment meds. On that day, he couldnt bear weight on his front paw. By the time he got to the vet, he had a swollen front leg and a paw full of blood and pus. He ended up being sedated, had the lesions drained and had a couple of drains for a few days, 2 kinds of antibiotics and pain meds. Did I mention Walter chews things up? Shoes, slippers, reading glasses, toilet paper, t-shirts, chews holes in sweaters, etc. He is 18 months old and has some puppy behavior and this eating stuff probably is left over from his days on the run in GA. Eating anything to keep his belly full. Well, Christmas Eve day, Walter had some vomiting and didnt feel well. He was lying around and isolating himself. He wouldnt even eat brisket. Christmas morning, he began whining, whimpering and crying intermittently. He progressively got worse and we made the decision to take him to MedVet. I was concerned about a bowel obstruction (because of his eating behavior) and his intermittent pain made that diagnosis plausible. They xrayed him and validated it looked like he had an obstruction of some sort, but nothing could be identified. He stayed overnight for fluids and pain meds, hoping that with increased fluids, it would move into the large intestine. This morning I got the dreaded call that his xrays did not change and they were recommending surgery. We conferred and decided that this boy was worth it and we decided to move forward. Luckily, the surgeon was able to remove two pieces of sponges, one they pushed back into the stomach and the other one was already there. It was the best case scenario. No need to incise the bowel. No bowel perforation. He did well with the anesthesia, he is recuperating and Ill pick him up tomorrow. Ironically, the sponges he had in his stomach were the sponges we used to wet the OESR Christmas card envelopes so our tongues wouldnt dry out. The point of this story? If not for the generosity of all of you, our supporters, we would have had to make a much different decision. Walter has heartworms, had already had an expensive paw procedure and now was facing abdominal surgery. How could we justify this kind of expense when there are so many dogs in need? We committed to Walter and because of all of you, we were able to cover his unexpected vet expenses. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. And Walter really thanks you-he has been given yet another chance at a good life.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 22:35:34 +0000
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