Lacey - WestieMed Recipient

Lacey

January 2005: 

Lacey came to Westie/Cairn Terrier Rescue when she was thirteen years old. She had been owned by the same family since she was a puppy and they had taken very good care of her. They had her spayed, kept her shots and heartworm up to date and did some very expensive surgery on her back knees.

Lacey had a history of bladder infections and this family had her ultrasound and it was discovered that her kidneys were smaller than they were supposed to be. The left kidney has dilated collecting ducts and is slightly smaller than normal and this may be what is precipitating the infections. She gets blood in her urine when this happens and she strains to urinate.

Lacey’s luck turned bad when the family made the decision to get a Boxer puppy and the two of them would get into fights. Instead of finding a home for the Boxer, the kids made the decision that they had to keep the pup and that Lacey (even though she had always lived with this family) would have to be the one to go.

So, at thirteen years of age, she came into rescue, and after a few months, a home was found with an older lady who vowed to give little Lacey a forever home. She kept Lacey about a year and a half and then got sick and had to move in with her son. Again, Lacey was sent packing back to rescue. She had another bladder infection and had blood in her urine and was put on Baytril. She seems to get better, and then a few weeks later, the blood reappears, and she strains to urinate.

I decided to get to the problem and had Dr. Kristine Rabb do a urinalysis, complete bloodwork, and an x-ray. Her bloodwork came back normal and her x-ray didn’t show any stones or abnormalities and the only thing her urinalysis showed were clumps of white cells attacking the infection. Lacey was put on Clavamox for fourteen days and C/D dogfood and for now the blood has gone away.

Thank you WestieMed for helping me with some of the bills accumulated for Lacey. I am caring for fifteen rescue dogs, and your help comes at a time when finances are tight.

Lacey is available for adoption, and if someone can give this sweet, little girl a loving home for the last of her years, she (and I) would be so grateful.

Carla Smith

Update, June 2005:

Lacey is still with rescue and her chances of getting a forever home are slim-to-none as no one wants a 16-year-old. She continues to have bladder infections, and I continue to medicate her. She will stay with me until it is time for her to go to the Rainbow Bridge.

I thank you WestieMed for helping with some of her vet bills, and if she does get a home, I will be sure and tell you. You provide a wonderful service to those of us with little Westies that are hardship cases. I will always be in your debt, as will little Lacey.

Carla Smith Westie/Cairn Terrier Rescue

Lacey - WestieMed Recipient
Lacey – WestieMed Recipient

Update, November 2005:

On November 29th, little Lacey went to the Rainbow Bridge. She quit eating a couple of days ago and seemed to be genuinely uncomfortable with the way she was laying. Her tumor had progressed to golf-ball size, and the cancer was finally becoming unbearable to her, so we made the sad trip to the vet where she went peacefully to sleep.

Carla Smith Westie/Cairn Terrier Rescue 

Brodie - WestieMed Recipient August 2001

Brodia (Formely Sebastian)

Sebastian is a beautiful, sweet, funny, little five-year-old Westie who was turned over to rescue by his previous owners who divorced and neither one wanted him. He had not been kept current on his shots, heartworm medication, nor was he neutered. Westie Rescue promptly took care of those matters.

On the evening of July 18, 2001, while in foster care, Sebastian went out in the yard to potty, came back in ten minutes later and collapsed. He was vomiting, defecating and was unresponsive. He was immediately taken to the Emergency Room. It was thought that he had been poisoned and was in shock. 

Brodie - WestieMed Recipient August 2001
Brodie – WestieMed Recipient

The ER vet sent me home with instructions to call back for bloodwork. I called later that night and was told he had high levels of calcium in his blood which could only be caused by two things. Rat poison or cancer. The ER vet was not sure he would make it through the night, I was devastated. But he did, and I picked him up at 7 a.m. the next morning and went straight to my vet. With tests, they were able to rule out the rat poisoning (which was a huge relief in itself, I thought someone had intentionally poisoned him, we do not have poisons in our home). X-rays showed a mass in the liver area but because Sebastian had another episode that afternoon, surgery had to be delayed. Again the vet did not think he would pull through, but he did! On July 24, 2001, he had a transfusion and exploratory surgery. No cancer was found, what appeared to be a mass was actually scar tissue – the colon has adhered to the abdomen wall. My vet feels like Sebastian suffered some kind of traumatic injury during his life. (I have since contacted one of the previous owners and, of course, they deny this…) Sebastian was able to come home a few days later and has had no further incidents. My vet feels like we may never know what caused Sebastian to go in to shock as he did.

Brodie - WestieMed Recipient August 2001
Brodie – WestieMed Recipient

Sebastian has since been adopted and has a wonderful new Mom and Westie sister!

Thank you WestieMed! Without your help with this major expense, my ability to help other rescue Westies would have been much more difficult.

Laura Ardoin Louisiana Westie Rescue

Update July 2002

Well, it has almost been a year since my adoption of Brodie (Sebastian). We have moved into our house and finally, Brodie and Celtie have a backyard. Many times I have thought of how lucky I am to have adopted a dog with such a wonderful temperament. He is a wonderful dog and I can’t thank you (WHWTCC Westie Rescue) enough for giving us this opportunity.

I hope things are going well with you, Amanda H. Celtie and Brodie too.