February 2007:
Hi, Everyone!
My name is Jewel. I’m a ten-year-old Westie who has found Nirvana for Westie World. I don’t remember where I was born or who my parents are, but I do know that I spent a long time in a kennel somewhere in Kansas which my new Dad says is “Toto Land”. He told me that has to do with something called “The Wizard of Oz”. I have no idea what he means, but I do know that my journey here to Mom and Dad was something special. I don’t remember how many puppies I had at that kennel – I was there for lots of years so I know there must have been tons of them!
Anyway, after a long, long time – December 2006 in people time – an angel named Meredith came and got me from where I lived that had no heat, not a lot of shelter from the elements (there were holes in the roof and missing boards in the sides of the building) and very little food or water. It was FREEZING COLD (like one degree) and the wind was strong out of the North. Meredith braved the ice, snow, and wind to come and rescue me and my Westie kennel-mates. The weather was so bad and she was terrified to make the drive, but she also knew I was in a really bad place and may not make it if she didn’t come to get me. I got to ride in a car! I never had before. It was SO WARM inside and Meredith made sure I could rest.
Anyway, I wound up in Oklahoma with some very nice people who took care of me for a little while. I’d been bitten in a fight before Meredith came and I had a bloody leg and bloody ears that no one had taken care of. Both my ears and both my eyes had infections and Meredith said she didn’t know when we all last had baths because we didn’t smell too good and when she bathed us, she said she’d never seen so much dirt come off Westies before. These nice people got my leg healed, got my infections cleared up and trained me to sleep in a crate. They took me to someone called a vet and I had something happen to me to me, which I was told meant that I won’t have to have any more puppies. Woo hoo!
Then, one day, Meredith came and got me and took me to a place (motel) in Tulsa and my second angel appeared. Meredith also had another little Westie with her named Penny, who is now my little sister. I didn’t know it at the time, but that second angel is my now my new Mom. My new Dad says her name is Jackie, but she’s just Mom to me. Anyway, Mom drove Penny and me for almost nine hours to a place called Houston, Texas, which is where I live now. When I got there, I saw a really big Westie. His name is Chivas. He is a very big, handsome, and gentle boy of six years. When I got out of the car with Penny, he sniffed and sniffed and we sniffed and sniffed back. Within minutes, we became big friends and now we’re all family!
My new Mom and Dad took Penny and me to their vet to get us checked out. The vet is a very friendly man who looked me over and over. He told Mom and Dad that three of my mammary glands were overgrown because of tumors he thought were cancerous and that the cancer could possibly have already spread to my lungs and liver. Dad said he thought I just had some big breasts – he didn’t know there was something wrong with me until the vet said so. This terrified Mom and Dad and, of course, I had no idea what was going on. The vet said I needed some tests and some surgery if there wasn’t any cancer in my liver and lungs. Mom talked to Meredith and Meredith said she’d take me back, but Mom said, “Thanks for offering, but we’ll see this through. Jewel is family now and we just can’t give her up – we love her.” My heart did a dance when she said that!
Anyway, the vet did some tests and learned there was no cancer in my liver or lungs, so he did surgery to remove the three tumors. The surgery was rather extensive and reduced my overgrown mammary glands to normal (Dad called it breast reduction surgery). I had to wear an Elizabethan Collar (Dad called it a cone head) for two weeks so I wouldn’t pull out all those stitches – there were so many. I did fine with that collar in spite of trying to run around after Chivas and Penny in the back yard with it on my head when I was supposed to be staying inactive, as Mom called it. And now I’m FULLY recovered and run around and play with Chivas and Penny in our back yard all the time. We chase squirrels and I just LOVE living here!
All of this cost Mom and Dad a pretty penny (not my sister… the coin). They have no regrets, though, and I’m very blessed to be here in my new home. I’ve heard that y’all (that’s a new word I’ve learned now that I live in Texas – people here say it all the time) help people who help Westies like me who’ve been rescued. Mom says y’all were very generous to Dad and her and she is so very appreciative. And I am too – THANK YOU, WestieMed, for helping pay for my surgery!! That surgery has given me some assurance that I can be here with my new family for a good while. As Dad says, “Jewel, this isn’t Kansas anymore,” and I’m SO GLAD!!
Update January 15, 2008:
AS OF TODAY, WE’VE HAD JEWEL FOR A WONDERFUL ONE YEAR, ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY and she has progressed dramatically socially and physically (weight gain, which she needed) and is very much an integral part of our household and a great playmate for Chivas and Penny, her Westie brother and sister.
Medically she had no problems resulting from her mammary tumor removal surgery one year ago and we continue to thank WestieMed for helping us financially with her surgery. We did learn this past October that she has an enlarged heart and is currently on 18.75 mg of Furosemide daily to help alleviate the fluid. We pray she will be with us for a very very long time, as we dearly, dearly love her.
My husband took quite a few pictures over the holidays and I’ll definitely email some to you soonest.
Kind regards and sincere thanks,
Jackie