Mia Grace Arroyo began her life as Mary. She was one of several Westies in a loving home in New York. Her owners were active in the show dog community. Her dad was a well renowned Westie judge and her mama was once the president of The Chesapeake Bay West Highland White terrier club. Her owners have since passed away.
A very kind and generous caregiver for the last five years of her owners lives inherited Mary. Mary was stricken with a very severe case of pyometra. Her new owner, being retired and on a limited income, could not afford the $6500 surgery to save Mary’s life so she signed her over to Maryland Westie Rescue to have the surgery and almost $3000 worth of aftercare follow up visits.
Out of respect for her new owner and former owners, I fostered Mary and cared for her. Because Mary is nine years old and has lost her original parents and, unfortunately lost her second owner due to financial circumstances, I did not feel that it was fair for her to go to a new environment where no one knew her. My husband and I decided to adopt her.
Mia means Mary in the Bible and because she started a semi new life with us, I decided to give her a new name. She became Mia Grace Arroyo. She took to the name very quickly without missing a beat. That’s how I knew I had made the right decision in keeping her, renaming her and welcoming her to our little pack of two Westies, now three.
Mary has suffered ear infection, her whole life that went unnoticed because it was not coupled with the regular symptoms of food allergies so her food was never changed. Her ears were just constantly treated. It has since been discovered that her ear Is causing her extreme pain. It is not able to be treated any longer because the ear canal is so tight that medication and ear wash is just being trapped in the ear and hence she needs to get surgery. Without the surgery she could die a very slow and painful death.
She is an absolutely delightful little dog with a big personality and strong spirit and will. She fits in very nicely at our home. Unfortunately, due to the current political environment, I have lost my federal job of 20 years and I am unable to afford the surgery to correct Mia’s ear condition and so I reached out to WestieMed for help.
