Rosie came to us as a surrender in very poor condition, with significant hair loss over her back half and under her neck. The hair that she still had was very long and stained; she had black skin from a long-term skin disorder, and she was covered with flea dirt. She was also vomiting up everything. The owner realized she was critical but had no means to care for her. When I got her to my vet he realized she was in acute renal failure. She spent six days in ICU, and he managed to save her life. It turned out that the renal failure had been brought on largely by a lifetime of mis-medication (too much prednisone).
Rosie’s recovery was remarkable. After about six weeks of treatment, her blood levels showed that her kidneys were almost self-sufficient. She is on a strict diet of prescription food for kidney patients, and she still needs sub-Q fluids – but only every few days. She will need to be checked every few months, but with proper care and a good diet we hope for even more improvement. She can’t ever be spayed because the anesthesia would damage her kidneys. Despite her history, she is now expected to live almost a normal life. She is a very sweet dog, housebroken, and loves people and animals.
Through some miracle, an elderly couple came to us recently wanting an older westie. They didn’t care about medical issues or costs. They came to meet Rosie, and were enchanted with her and took her home. The love between the couple and Rosie was obvious – she loved them as much as they loved her. We did not charge them an adoption fee, due to the extraordinary costs they are taking on, which will be at a minimum, $150 – $200 monthly.
The generosity of WestieMed enables small rescue groups like Garden State Westie Rescue to do what we do. If we were not sure that WestieMed would help us out with extraordinary cases like this, we would not be able to take in these dogs, and deserving dogs like Rosie would die too young. Rosie’s story is just one more example of how one special westie was given a second chance at life thanks to the good folks at WestieMed.
Lisa Curry
Garden State Westie Rescue
Update January 14, 2016
Rosie is now named Piper. She gets her fluids every other day at the vet and she is on Benedryl (for summer itching, allergies), Prilosec, gabepentin, aluminum hydroxide, kelp help supplement powder, organic (no salt – just peanuts) peanut butter, organic plain yogurt and chunky applesauce (just apples).
She weighs 15.6 pounds and is doing very well. The pain medication has helped immensely toward a happy attitude especially with some of the hindquarter and tail pain she experiences.
She is still on the dry Purina NF food and tolerates a 1/4 cup for breakfast and a 1/4 cup at dinner with some of each of the “people” foods listed above. Figured out how much to give her and it helps with not having episodes of spit-up. Our vet group is the best and they watch her closely. Blood work is done on occasion to help with giving her the best medical care as well. The hair on her back (though thin) has grown in nicely! She has come a long way, naps contentedly and loves walks in the back! She is very loving as well.