Bella

Bella

The Westie Club of the South received Bella on March 25, 2022 at the age of 3 months. Her breeder surrendered her because of a disorder involving an ectopic ureter.  We were advised by the University of Georgia (UGA) Veterinary Hospital that surgery was the only option for improving Bella’s condition. She underwent the procedure which was originally done with a scope in hopes the issue could be corrected without making an incision.  Unfortunately, one of the ureters was not attached and was below the actual bladder and more surgery was needed.

The Vet at UGA said he has performed the procedure Bella had hundreds of times and has only seen Bella’s additional issues less than 10 times.  Shortly after the second surgery, Bella developed a hernia due the wrong size of stitches used and the hernia would continue to grow if not surgically treated. The cost to repair the hernia if treated at UGA would be another $3,000. Bella’s foster caregiver urgently texted her own Vet, Dr. Shannon, after hours to discuss Bella’s situation and Dr. Shannon performed surgery the next day at a significantly reduced cost. Bella’s incontinence issues remained but worse were constant urinary tract infections. The rescue consulted a specialty vet in Greenville, SC  and the recommendation was to perform a Vulvoplasty to fix the issue causing the infections. Dr. Shannon once again offered to perform the recommended surgery at a reduced cost.

Bella has gone through so much in a short time.  She is doing great…very independent, but loving and sweet.  She still has a “leakage” issue which more than likely will result in her continuing to be in diapers. We humbly thank WestieMed for their support of our organization and sweet young Bella who will now have a bright future bringing joy to others.

Update May 25, 2023:

Bella is a happy, sassy Westie. She has gained weight and has had no issues with Urinary Tract infections until recently. She plays outside most of the day with her Westie sister Maggie. Bella keeps our family entertained and on our toes.

To WestieMed, thank you for providing assistance with Bella. We love her very much

Barbara Perry

Cuddlebug - WestieMed Recipient August 2010

Cuddlebug

Cat Assistance primarily rescues cats and kittens. We met Cuddlebug, a Westie mix puppy when one of our local shelters called us to see if we could help them.

Cuddlebug is a fantastic young dog that was dumped at the shelter because she was leaking urine. When we saw her at the shelter her white coat was all stained yellow  She is such a great dog so loveable we knew we had to do our best to save her and do whatever it took to find her a home. We took her to our vet and had her spayed. Our vet had told us that even in the cage she was leaking urine.

We were lucky and found her a great foster home and we sent her there in the hopes that the problem would resolve. Unfortunately, the foster home called us a few weeks later and told us she was still leaking urine. We took Cuddlebug to a specialist and found out she has a congenital condition called ectopic ureter that needed very specialized and costly surgery.

We were able to raise some funds to get the surgery done but we did not count on the complications. Cuddlebug had a massive infection that affected her kidney and she needed to have a second surgery to repair the infection. The infection was so bad that we had to make a decision whether to remove her kidney or repair it and hope it would be OK. We made the decision not to remove the kidney as she is a young dog and a real fighter. She was in the emergency vet hospital for ten days even though we originally were told she would be there two to three days.

Cuddlebug - WestieMed Recipient August 2010
Cuddlebug – WestieMed Recipient

She is now doing well and we are hopeful that she will make a full recovery.

WestieMed has been so generous to help us with our vet bills to pay for Cuddlebug’s surgery. Without their generous support, we could not have saved this great dog.

Cuddlebug is now renamed Coco. Thanks for your support.

Sarah Hart, President, Cat Assistance

Cuddlebug - WestieMed Recipient August 2010
Cuddlebug – WestieMed Recipient

Update April 12, 2011

We really appreciate your support! 
Here is a photo of her going home after her surgery.

Sarah

Update April 5, 2012

She is doing great adopted by her foster home and they love her!

Sarah