Our two new shelter girls had their first vet appointment and we received some good news and not so good news. The good news is that they are generally healthy and with very good bloodwork results. The bad news is that both girls have mammary tumors, one with no tear production and the other with very minimal tear production, bacterial ear infections and eye infections. Because of the mammary tumors, we did chest X-rays and they are clear! The tumors were not a surprise because I could feel them while bathing the girls. Poor little Zsa Zsa came in with debris stuck to both corneas that was hardened and resembled what dry cracked desert landscape looks like. How painful!!!! She let me irrigate the heck out of her eyes, lots and lots of flushing until it broke away on its own. Her corneas are ulcerated so we are treating both girls aggressively to bring them much needed relief. We gave the girls a week to settle in and they had their surgeries and dentals yesterday. Eva had a few minor complications. We discovered a hernia but left it alone because it would have been too much for her with the mammary tumors and dental. We will keep an eye on it and address at a later time. She lost 8 teeth and had root tips that could be seen on X-ray but we had to leave it alone also because they didn’t want to budge and that would risk injury. We sent out mammary removal for biopsy and are hopeful they come back clear. We will retest their tear production in two weeks and if there is no improvement, we will visit the ophthalmologist.
People often ask us why we spend so much on these dogs. It’s simple. They’ve spent a lifetime of neglect. By the time they make their way to us, we are their last chance, so we will make it their best chance.
It takes a village to rescue these dogs and it takes a lot of funding. We are so grateful to WestieMed for providing much needed funding!
Karen Simondet
Westie Rescue of Orange County (WROC)