Chauncey came into Westie Rescue USA three years ago at the age of three. He was in good health and received his vacations at the time of rescue. He was a very nervous dog and was un-adoptable. As a volunteer, he came to my home where he is now a permanent foster. I have worked with Chauncey over the years but I just could not get him out of some very bad habits. If Chauncey was in a room with more than one person he would become wild-eyed and start licking anything in sight. This included walls, furniture, floors, and salvia would be coming out of his mouth like a rabid dog. About a month ago, I noticed a change in him where he would start licking his lips and swallowing rapidly. I started to watch his behavior and it began to progressively get worse. He would vomit at least once a day. This went on for a week and I made an appointment with my vet who checked him over and did blood work. Several days later the vet called and said the blood work showed nothing wrong. The next week Chauncey again would start to drink a lot of water and after eating at night, he would wake me up around 2:00 am in the morning and the sound was like he was choking and he would vomit. Even after the vomit was out of his stomach, he would wretch for about five minutes. I became alarmed and went to another reputable vet where she checked him overtook more blood for tests like pancreatitis and other diseases. The blood work came back negative. She also x-rayed his abdomen and could find nothing. Sunday came around and Chauncey became very lethargic and was vomiting every two hours. I rushed him to the vet that Westie Rescue USA uses for the dog intakes that come into our program and they kept him overnight. At this point, Chauncey had not eaten in over two weeks and kept it down. An ultrasound was done and there was evidence that something was wrong with the lining of his abdomen and intestines. They could not do the endoscopy which was needed to be done and referred him to a Veterinary Specialist in Manassas, VA.
He was admitted again and was transferred to the Veterinary Specialist. I had used all of my savings at this time and I then panicked and called WestieMed. The one and half days that he spent at this hospital cost between $1,850 and $1,950 which I did not have. Chauncey was dying right in front of my eyes and I was helpless. I had run out of savings and nowhere to go as we have tried every soft food there is to get him to eat. WestieMed came to my rescue and paid this bill. If it wasn’t for WestieMed, I would have had to put Chauncey to sleep. He is only six years old and I felt that he still had more life left in him. I cannot thank WestieMed enough for coming to my rescue because it just seemed like I was continually praying for the tests that had already been done on him with no results and kept being repeated on him and we were getting nowhere. Chauncey still has a long road to go and I am not sure if he will make it as today he had to be taken to my vet. We received the Prednisone in a shot and have to give him three injections over the next three days. He still has not eaten and is shaking a little. I will ever be grateful for WestieMed as they jumped in and helped me save this little boy. Since this ordeal over the past month, Chauncey has lost over five lbs. I am praying that we can get Chauncey over this hump and I will always be grateful to WestieMed as they were there when I had no one else to turn to for financial help. They are and will always be champions for these Westies who need advanced care. Thank you WestieMed for giving me more time to spend with Chauncey and trying to get back on the road to recovery. If it had not been for your financial support, there was no other avenue I could turn to and he would have had to be walked to Rainbow Bridge which would have broken my heart. YOU ARE THE BEST!
Phyllis Hovey