Stories – Page 21

Lacy

November 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

One afternoon in mid-May I was talking on the phone to my daughter that lives sixty miles from me. While we were talking it became apparent that she was preoccupied with something. Finally, I asked what was going on. She told me that she was watching a little dog, like Skeeter (my Cairn Terrier) over in the neighbor’s yard. She was concerned because there were some large dogs hanging around. She was afraid they would hurt the little dog. Neither of us could sleep that night for worry of the little guy being hurt by the large dogs that were gathering. This is the beginning of Lacy’s story.

The following day I called my daughter and she told me the little dog was still there. Being a volunteer worker for Col. Potter Cairn Rescue, that afternoon found me at my daughter’s home. I needed to identify the little guy. If he was a Cairn I knew they would take him. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw him from a distance. His coat was so matted that the mats hung from him like pieces of an old rug. This poor little guy had been on his own for a very long time. We called him to us with pieces of lunch meat. He would come to within six to eight feet from us and then turn and run from us. It was then that I could see glimpses of white peeking out. I knew then that he was a Westie. For several hours we tried to catch him. Finally, we had to quit for the night. We went to a local store and brought a few cans of dog food and left it out for him. In the morning it was gone but we couldn’t be sure that he had eaten it. There were some other strays in the area. I had a 22 lb. turkey in the freezer so I cooked it and pulled it apart and made little bags of frozen turkey to tempt him with. I was sure that in a couple of days we would catch him. The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months. I found it hard to sleep at night I was so worried that he would get injured or killed before I could catch him. Each time that it would rain I would cry for him outside in the rain. I started calling him “Westie”. So many times I came so close to catching him. Soon all he had to do was see me and he would come for the turkey and treats, but just as I would reach for him he would turn and run.

We started looking for his owner. We made signs and put them up everywhere that had a bulletin board. We even put signs in the library and laundromat. I called three county shelters to see what help they would be. Each told me to catch the dog and then call them. They would hold him for five days while waiting for someone to claim him. Then if they determined that he was adoptable we could pay an adoption fee and take him. I’m so glad that we didn’t do that. They would have most likely have tested him and found out that he had heartworms and determined that he was not adoptable. They would have put him to sleep. That would have been the end of his story. It didn’t end there. Being a rescue person, I had numbers of people that I had talked to about Cairns. Eight people told me if I ever got a Westie please call them. I did, and the first thing they wanted to know was if he was vetted and healthy. Even though he seemed healthy I couldn’t promise anyone that he was, and I couldn’t afford to have him vetted myself. Still, that didn’t stop me. There was a little lost dog out there afraid and alone.

I made three or four trips each week out to my daughter’s home to try one more time to catch him. I sat on the ground with turkey. I even laid on the ground trying to win little “Westie’s” trust. It was now late August and he was still running around. He got to the point that he would put his little feet on my legs, yet any time that I moved he would run. Finally, in desperation I called my sister-in-law and asked her if I could get him…would she take him? She never asked for a clean bill of health. That was all I needed. The next day I was back out there and this time I would make a desperate attempt to grab him. He came to me as he had so many times before. This time when I was sure that he was close enough I made a lunge for him. I tackled him and managed to get a handful of fur. I held tight and closed him into my arms. He struggled against me. I buried my face in his dirty coat and cried. It was finally over. He was safe! I stayed the night and we handled him and cuddled him.

We were so surprised that he snuggled right in and even sighed and fell asleep in my arms. He somehow knew that he was safe. The following morning I started cutting out his mats before washing him. It took seven hours to groom him. You can imagine our surprise to find out that little “Westie” was not a little boy but a little GIRL. I called my sister-in-law and asked her if it were alright that he was a little girl…all All she wanted to know was when could I bring her to her. I took “Westie” to her the following day. The next day little “Westie” was taken to the vet. I got a call telling me that she was heartworm positive. A few days later I got a call telling me that “Lacy”, as she was now called, was in heat. I knew then, that no matter what, that rescuing the little Westie when I did was a miracle. Most likely she would have been killed by the stray dogs fighting over her. I didn’t know what to do so I went online to Col. Potter’s mentoring list and asked for help. They sent me to WestieMed. your organization. We, as Lacy’s extended adopted family, thank you from the bottom of our hearts…sometimes love alone is not enough. This is truly a love story.

Thank you WestieMed. for jumping in to help little Lacy. Thanks to all of you, for because of you, a little Westie whose days were numbered can now look forward to many years of life and love. Thank you and your wonderful group for jumping in and giving her the gift of life. Her nickname is Lacy Love. Once again I really want to thank all of you. I can’t believe how great your group has been. You have all went above and beyond working with me for little Lacy. I wish that you all could see and meet the little charmer. She is so cute and lovable. She really is the perfect little Westie girl…what an attitude she has. She is so full of herself and yet so sweet and loving. I really think that someone knew that she had heartworms and was coming into heat and didn’t want to deal with the expense and bother of the whole thing. Their loss is Lacy’s gain because she is loved so much.

Thanks To So Many,

Kathy Cabble

Lacy’s care was funded by a grant from The Pedigree Foundation.

Mason

October 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

I am an independent rescuer through the WHWTCA. Blind diabetic Mason fell into my lap one day in late September 2010. He was abandoned at a county shelter in southern New Jersey, with no information about his history. The shelter easily adopted him out since he is so sweet, only about six years old, cute, and housebroken, to boot. But when he collapsed a few days later, the new owner returned him. At that point, a kindly shelter worker, at his own expense, took Mason to a local veterinarian who diagnosed Mason with diabetes. That was when the shelter asked me to take him into rescue, knowing how difficult it was to adopt out a dog with diabetes.

Mason’s insulin dosage has taken some work to figure out and unfortunately, even with a “rescue discount” his expenses have mounted quickly. This was particularly true the first week when the vets and I were still working out what his proper insulin amount was, and Mason suffered one serious “crash” in that time. Thankfully, diabetes now seems to be stabilized with a modest dose of insulin, and his blood glucose is monitored daily to avoid further unexpected problems in that regard.

But Mason’s medical issues don’t stop there. He still needs some major medical work, including extensive dental extractions, investigation of whether his sight can be restored, and further examination of some of his other symptoms. But without all the initial work to get his diabetes under control, these future issues would be out of the question financially, and Mason might not even be with us today. I am hugely grateful to WestieMed for stepping in with a generous and badly needed financial contribution to Mason’s bills, which allows me to continue caring for him. He is worth it. He is a sweet, friendly, well-mannered fellow who doesn’t mind his insulin shots and doesn’t seem at all bothered by not being able to see where he is going. In fact, his favorite pastime is to fling his squeaky-toys up in the air – and then search for them! While he does that, I continue my search for his forever home: I know there is someone out there who will be able to accept and love this sweet little boy despite his medical challenges.

With heartfelt thanks, I am
Sincerely yours,

Lisa Curry
Garden State Westie Rescue

Kimmie

October 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

I was contacted by a Westie owner on Oct 5th. She informed me that her dog groomer had a shampoo girl that worked at the salon and also worked as kennel help in a puppy mill half time for income. The woman (Mary) was homeless and lived in her car.

She told the salon owner that animal control came and issued a summons to the mill that they had to downsize from seventy dogs to thirty dogs in ten days or be closed down. The woman started to dump her dogs. Two of her Westies had given birth about six wks prior and she was going to dump the older breeding bitches who were about five years old. She was going to dump them in the woods. The mill breeder gave Mary the two dogs to dump in the woods, and Mary wound up taking them to the grooming salon asking for help. They called me and I picked them up. Both dogs were in bad shape, (Kimmie/Lesley) and the vet bills for both were $1131.67. Both girls have the best personalities and are very social little butterflies. Always happy and smiling.

Both had severe yeast infections and needed dental. Kimmie was the worst, and she had a severe skin infection and required dental and extractions, spaying and an x-ray of her leg. (Lesley was in much better shape). Kimmie does not use her right back leg. She currently hops around on three legs. She has a severe luxated patella but I think its kind of not even able to go back in the socket at this point and we suspect a cruciate ligament. The vet will not know more until she cuts inside

Karin Parish Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

Update November 1, 2010

Kimmie had her surgery and it was unsuccessful. She had such severe cartilage damage, and bone spurs, and other damage that it could not be repaired. It was hard to see on an x-ray – but once the surgeon got inside, she said it’s comparable to If you knee broke and the tissue around it tore and you have your knee flexed and it healed that way for years to the point where now the bone density is so thick, you really can’t do much about it, its permanently affixed that way. She can balance on it, but she is never going to use it. The upside is that she isn’t in pain and we don’t have to amputate it. My vet is going to find time to write a report up, but everything was fast and furious this weekend, and she didn’t get to that part.

Karin Parish Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue

Boomer - WestieMed Recipient October 2010

Boomer (Now Spencer)

October 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

I received an email from the Center Hall SPCA in Central Pennsylvania regarding a Westie that had been brought to them. They wanted to know if our rescue group could take Boomer. This is his story.

Boomer was picked up by a local dog warden near State College, PA. He was a stray living on the streets. He was taken to a local vet and asked to be euthanized. The vet refused so Boomer was taken to the local SPCA. He was malnourished and underweight. When the SPCA called and asked if our group was interested in finding him a home, I jumped at the chance to help him. He was neutered by a local vet before he came to rescue.

He arrived at his foster home with the Murphy’s a few weeks ago. I took him to my vet for a rabies shot and physical exam. I asked him to look at Boomer’s left hind leg, as I noticed he was not using it when going downstairs. The vet suggested x-rays after the exam. He discovered Boomer had a degenerative hip problem caused by either being hit by a car or being kicked. Also in the x-ray, we could see about 10-12 bb’s. He had been shot many times. To make it even worse the tips of his ears and tail were spray-painted pink as was the top of his head. Despite all this abuse, Boomer still loves people.

Boomer had hip surgery to repair his hip and is doing well. He is even putting some weight on his leg.

Boomer moved to a new foster home last week due to a very dominant male who did not get along with him. His new foster home had three female Westies and he loved being with them. He bonded with the foster family immediately. He stayed in this foster home until today. He is the happiest little Westie who only wanted someone to love him and take care of him. Today he went to his forever home in Edinboro, PA.

I am so happy that we finally found the right home for Boomer where he will receive all the love and care he needs to enjoy a long and happy life.

Bob Murphy Rescue Westies WPA

Update February 1, 2011: Now named Spencer

We have a wonderful dog named Spencer. His name was Boomer. We adopted him soon after you helped him in October 2010. I’ve attached a picture that I thought you might want to post to show what he looks like now.

I’m sure that he wouldn’t be doing as well as he is now without having had your help.

Thanks so much for all you do.

Sincerely, Donna Anderson Edinboro, Pennsylvania

Update April 24, 2011

In October my husband and I adopted Spencer (formerly known as Boomer). When we first adopted him, he had just had the surgery that your organization helped provide. He was only walking on three legs. Our veterinarian discovered that he had developed an infection in the surgery area. After medication, therapy, exercise, and TLC, he regained the use of his leg. He is now doing extremely well. He enjoys taking daily walks along the lake, playing with his fellow rescue Tracy, and sleeping on his favorite chair. Thank you so much for all that you do. We are very grateful for the caring people that made it possible for Spencer to live a healthy and happy “second” life.

Sincerely,

Donna Anderson Edinboro,
Pennsylvania

Cuddlebug

August 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Cat Assistance primarily rescues cats and kittens. We met Cuddlebug, a Westie mix puppy when one of our local shelters called us to see if we could help them.

Cuddlebug is a fantastic young dog that was dumped at the shelter because she was leaking urine. When we saw her at the shelter her white coat was all stained yellow She is such a great dog so loveable we knew we had to do our best to save her and do whatever it took to find her a home. We took her to our vet and had her spayed. Our vet had told us that even in the cage she was leaking urine.

We were lucky and found her a great foster home and we sent her there in the hopes that the problem would resolve. Unfortunately, the foster home called us a few weeks later and told us she was still leaking urine. We took Cuddlebug to a specialist and found out she has a congenital condition called ectopic ureter that needed very specialized and costly surgery.

We were able to raise some funds to get the surgery done but we did not count on the complications. Cuddlebug had a massive infection that affected her kidney and she needed to have a second surgery to repair the infection. The infection was so bad that we had to make a decision whether to remove her kidney or repair it and hope it would be OK. We made the decision not to remove the kidney as she is a young dog and a real fighter. She was in the emergency vet hospital for ten days even though we originally were told she would be there two to three days.

She is now doing well and we are hopeful that she will make a full recovery.

WestieMed has been so generous to help us with our vet bills to pay for Cuddlebug’s surgery. Without their generous support, we could not have saved this great dog.

Cuddlebug is now renamed Coco. Thanks for your support.

Sarah Hart, President, Cat Assistance

Update April 12, 2011

We really appreciate your support!
Here is a photo of her going home after her surgery.

Sarah

Update April 5, 2012

She is doing great adopted by her foster home and they love her!

Sarah

Lillie

July 1, 2010December 27, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Lillie came to me from Westie Rescue Tennessee where I was to foster her and another dog that came from a puppy mill. Lillie led a miserable life until she was rescued.

When I saw her, I immediately fell in love with those big black liquid eyes. Even as scared as she was, she was able to wag her little tail to say that she trusted me.

I did not know much about her history, but when she came to me, she had medicine for her ears as they were pretty messed up. I religiously put in the drops until she started vomiting and would not stop. I rushed her to my vet on Friday and Lillie was still vomiting in the vet’s office. She was diagnosed with a severe case of Cauliflower ears and my vet said it was so bad that she could do nothing for her and recommended I take her to a specialist in Decatur, Alabama.

I carried Lillie to Decatur which was a two-hour drive from my house and dreaded every minute of it as it was going to cost me around $1,200 per ear and I did not have this type of money. My vet stated that if Lillie did not get the surgery, she would go deaf. This was not what I wanted to hear and because she is such a precious little girl with a very positive attitude, I vowed to help her in any way I could. Before calling Westie Rescue Tennessee, I tried to come up with the money for her surgery, but the vet bills had amounted to over $880.00 and I had nothing left in my savings.

Westie Rescue directed me to WestieMed to see if they would help me pay for Lillie’s surgery and they have been very kind as I had no other avenue to turn to and I did not want this precious little girl to suffer any more than she had already suffered. She was in pain and was constantly shaking her head to the point of blood.

She does not, at this point need the surgery, but the bills and future bills for Lillie could become staggering.

Honey Bun - WestieMed Recipient July 2010

Honey Bun (Now Jackie)

July 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Honey Bun was a 4-month-old puppy who was bred in Ontario by a back yard breeder and then sold to a family when she was eight weeks old. The family quickly noticed that their new puppy was not eating well and not playing or enjoying life as a new puppy should, so they immediately brought her to the Vet.

Their Vet diagnosed her CMO (Craniomandibular Osteopathy) and they promptly returned her to the breeder asking for their money back.

Craniomandibular Osteopathy (also known as “Westie Jaw”) is a non-cancerous growth along both lower jawbones. Fortunately, CMO is treatable and puppies nearly always fully recover, however, the recovery period is long and quite painful for the puppy till their growth period is over.

The breeder reluctantly agreed to have the puppy returned to her and contacted Westies in Need for help. She asked us to take this little girl in as she was not familiar with Craniomandibular Osteopathy – as a matter of fact, had never even heard of it – and was not willing to pay the inevitable costly vet bills or put in the time to make this puppy well.

We immediately agreed to take this puppy into our rescue, but also felt very strongly that this was a good opportunity to educate her on CMO and to let her know that both the male and female Westie she used for breeding Honey Bun were carriers of this condition and should NOT be used again in her breeding program.

After much discussion and calls from our Vet, she finally agreed to surrender the mom of this little puppy to us as well. She also agreed to have the male neutered right away, but would keep him as a pet. The Mom was surrendered into our rescue four days after Honey Bun came in and is now spayed and had some badly needed dental done and is now living a wonderful new life!

WestieMed has been so incredibly generous to our rescue and we could not thank them enough.

Westies in Need is committed to making sure this little girl gets the best care possible and lives a long and healthy life and we could not do it without WestieMed!

Corrie Yeoman Westies in Need

Update November 16, 2010: Honey Bun now named Jackie

Jackie is doing extremely well. We can barely remember the frail little dog we brought back from Kingston in August. It has been amazing watching her grow in character and confidence. She has also grown physically, she is currently twelve pounds and has a healthy appetite. Chloe and her have developed a wonderful bond and I am not sure what one would do without the other. Chloe really watches out for her little sister and Jackie simply worships the ground her big sister walks on. She is fantastic on off-leash trail walks and we can’t believe how fast she has become. Chloe only has about half a Westie length on her. They run and play like crazy. She does not show much sign of the jaw pain as she did in August and September. It certainly opens more but is still a little limited. We are hoping to get her off the Metacam by next spring. We will make our final decision upon having X-Rays done in Feb- March to see how the jawbone looks. Jackie has brought a lot to our little family. In the early days of August, she did not seem to even act like a dog. Watching her grow into all her natural instincts and become the thriving little dog she now is, seems nothing short of a small miracle. When I watch her running “hot” laps around the house or yard, the catchphrase “high on life” immediately comes to mind.

Update April 12, 2011

I saw Honey Bun just a few weeks ago. We had an indoor Westie Play Day-which was so much fun-had 147 Westies come for an afternoon of fun!!! She was there with her family and she is doing great. No longer on any medication and looks PERFECT!!

Corrie

Sugar (Now Marin)

May 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

A few weeks ago we had a phone call from our local shelter about a purebred Westie named Sugar, who was turned in by her owner. She was about three and a half years old, according to him, and he gave no reason for no longer wanting her. He did say, however, that he had paid a lot of money for her and, since she had not been spayed, he wanted to sell her papers to whoever adopted her from the shelter. The shelter manager told him that would not be allowed and that, furthermore, all dogs adopted from the shelter are required by law to be spayed or neutered.

We made an appointment at our vets and went to pick her up at the shelter. Her vaccines were not up to date and no heartworm preventive had been purchased for a couple of years. We were concerned that she would be heartworm-positive. And she was very thin with no flesh over her ribs.

When I arrived at the shelter the manager was walking Sugar outside on a leash. It was very obvious that Sugar was in distress as, in spite of constant squatting, she could not urinate but a few drops at a time. We realized that her medical needs were urgent. When we arrived at the vet clinic, Sugar continued to squat and this time we were able to see that her urine was bloody. Dr. Foster examined her, brought her vaccines up to date and ran a heartworm check which thankfully was negative. She also had intestinal parasites. But, she suspected bladder stones and the x-rays confirmed the presence of three very large stones which had been causing her distress and had put her life in jeopardy. She had surgery the following morning after spending the night at the clinic on IV’s. We knew she was finally in very good hands and was going to get the medical care she needed. We had asked if it would be possible to spay her at the same time as when the stones were removed and Dr. Foster said that if she could, she would but that it depended on how extensive bladder surgery was going to be.

Dr. Foster called that afternoon to say that Sugar was doing well and that she had been able to spay her at the same time. We were able to pick Sugar up the next day. She had removed three bladder stones that were as big as walnuts. She gave us two of the stones and sent one to the lab. The results came back indicating that they were struvite stones and that she had been suffering with them along with a bladder infection for several months. Her bladder was really rough from the stones and it will take a while to heal.

Sugar arrived at her foster home on pain meds and antibiotics with instructions to keep her quiet and only leash walk her. She will have to be on a prescription diet for the rest of her life and have periodic testing to be sure stones aren’t forming again. Her appetite has returned and she is finally beginning to feel a lot better!

Sweet Sugar is recovering very well and she is a wonderful happy little girl who gets along with her foster mom’s dogs. She wants to play but we are still on ‘play hold’ until she is fully healed. We do roll a ball for her to catch, but not too far, and she thinks that’s great for now.

We look forward to placing this cute little girl who deserved so much more than she got, in a home where she will be loved, can cuddle with her new family, and be properly cared for, for the rest of her life. We will be very careful to make sure that happens!

We would like to thank WestieMed for their help in enabling us to bring this little girl’s health back to where it should be. And with your help, we will be able to get the dental work done for Sugar’s gingivitis which she desperately needs!

Pam Brown

Update May 21, 2010

Great news! Sugar was adopted today!

Her new mom came down from DC to meet her and we all decided it was a perfect match. Sugar will be living with 2 male Scotties.

Susan, her new mom, has a live-in housekeeper so she will seldom be without human companionship.

I’ve attached a photo of Sugar with her new mom, Susan.

Pam Brown

Update May 29, 2010: Sugar now named Marin

Hi everyone! I renamed Sugar Marin because all my “kids” are Ms — Madison (whom I lost last year), Monroe, and Morgan. Marin didn’t know her name was Sugar so she does not seem to mind. I haven’t found any words she does know, actually, including the all-time favorites: dinner, cookie, outside, sit, down, come. We had a challenging week because of this and the fact that she is quite possessive of me and not really great to my two Scottish terriers. She’s pretty aggressive with them, and they had a pretty sedate, calm life before she arrived. My oldest Scottie — Monroe — is eight and a half and a distinguished older gentleman. He’s not happy with our new addition at all and earlier this week, for the first time in his life, he somehow slipped under the fence and showed up on our neighbors’ porch, essentially saying, “I’m moving out; may I come to stay with you?” Fortunately, they called.

We had a breakthrough last night when I realized that Marin is very much like a puppy, regardless of her three and a half years. She doesn’t know any rules or have any manners, chews my fingers like a puppy, and runs wild. So, I have decided to treat her like a puppy who needs to start at the beginning with training and strict rules.

Today we had our first vet appointment; overall she’s in good shape and her gingivitis is not as bad as I thought it would be; they suggested we wait a couple of months before we put her under to get her teeth cleaned and thought that wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, she also had some white blood cells show up in her urine, so she still has a UTI or bladder infection. We have another course of antibiotics and “cranberry” pills to make that better; she does not seem in distress, however, and her previous surgeries are all healed nicely. Some other good news is that the vet thinks there’s a good chance that she does not have to be on the prescription food for her lifetime because the bladder stones were likely just from an untreated infection; we’ll keep her on the special food for a couple of months more and then re-evaluate.

It was a full day for Marin because she also had her first groomer appointment with our groomer (a lovely woman who breeds championship Scotties and used to groom the former President’s dogs — Barney and Ms. Beazley); she was patient and gentle with a nervous little girl who didn’t want her tail or feet touched. She does not look so wild anymore; she actually looks exactly like my precious Madison, which endears her to me more. She’s actually a very sweet little girl, and, although she just doesn’t know what to do, I can see that she would very much like to do the right thing and wants to be accepted.

There will be more challenges, but she is now part of our family. She has hundreds of toys to play with and gleefully dives into the toy box all the time to try them out. She has her own comfortable, safe bed in my room and has started to play in a healthy way with my youngest Morgan. She and Monroe were even chasing each other around last night; she runs like the wind. She’ll be okay.

Thank you all for your help and support.

Susan

Update September 5, 2010

I adopted Sugar (now named Marin) in May. She had severe bladder stones when her previous family gave her up, as well as gingivitis. She was on antibiotics for several months after I picked her up, but her bladder infection is all gone now, and her gingivitis is cleared up due, according to her new vet, a healthy diet. She has gained weight, which she needed.

She is also settling down into her new home, and she seems very pleased to be a member of our family, which includes two Scottish Terrier brothers. They play well together and go on long walks with my housekeeper, who also takes loving care of them.

Marin is asleep on the foot of my bed as I type this evening, where she likes to sleep “bottom to bottom” with my youngest, Morgan. He only tolerates that but it’s very sweet to see.

I am attaching a photo of Marin with her new afghan, especially crocheted just for her by my sister.

Thank you for taking care of our girl before she came to us.

Susan

Update April 5, 2012

WestieMed and a rescue group in Virginia saved sweet Marin’s life before she came to us, and she has been on a really healthy, happy track ever since. She has not had a health crisis in the almost two years since then. She is incredibly energetic, and she loves everybody, including her two brothers, Scottish Terriers Morgan and Monroe. She sleeps in her bed in my office while I work, and has lots of toys (which she loves) to play with.

Marin’s spirit is definitely indomitable, and we love her very much.
Susan

Rosie

March 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Hello, my name is Rosie. I am about four years old and I have spent all of my life in a PA Puppy Mill. My home was a wire cage and I was used for breeding purposes only. I had very little contact with people. Due to the wire cage and poor care in the puppy mill, my feet and teeth are in terrible shape. I have had repeated infections in all my paws.

One day a very kind person from the PA AG Department came and rescued me from my poor environment. She called the MD Westie Rescue to find me a good loving home. Due to the kindness of the MD Westie Rescue, I was placed in a temporary foster home for about a month for evaluation, for medical care, and for finding me a loving family. Then some nice people found out about me and brought me home with them. I have been in their home from January 2010 to the present. My current owners are known to me as “Momma and Poppa”. They take good care of me and I have been under the care of a veterinarian who gave me multiple antibiotics and pain medications for my infections. I have been on medications since I have been living with Momma and Poppa. I had numerous surgeries (5) on all my paws. My Momma changes my dressings every other day.

When I first came to my new home, I was very timid and afraid of any human contact. My Momma and Poppa have been very patient and good to me. They give me lots of love. They take me on car rides and I can watch TV with them. I love to play outside. Now, I am much more sociable and even walk on my hind legs when I get excited.

I am restricted in what I can eat because the Vet believes I may have an allergy. I am on special dog food and allergy medication. Hopefully, this will prevent me from getting any more infections. Once my infections are under control, they will take care of my dental problems.

All this care has cost my owners, Momma and Poppa, a lot of money. Due to the wonderful people of WestieMed, they will receive financial help. Their bills total over $2,400 and climbing. I feel so much better now than I have ever felt in my life. I am beginning to trust and feel much love at my new home. I know this will be my “forever home”.

We want to thank WestieMed for all your help and support. We love our little “Rosie” and we will do all we can to make life better for her.

Thanks again and God Bless,
Bill and Marge Lutz Fallston, MD

Update May 3, 2010

Basically, Rosie is doing very well, except for her two paws, one of which requires lots of care. The other three are a lot better than when we first got her last Jan. We spend ~ $260/mo. (includes a 20% discount) on her caretaking her to see our vet and having him clean out her re-occurring cysts and 4 drugs given daily. We will send you a more detailed update on Rosie when we get back from vacation in October. She is a sweet and lovable lady.

Thanks,
Bill

Update April 15, 2011

We had Rosie for the past sixteen months and as you can see via the attachments, she is 100% better than when we got her. She only had two flare-ups in the past six months and she recovered very nicely. As long as Rosie gets one Atropica tablet every other day is fed venison and potato dog food that we get from our Vet and wears her boots very time she go outside, her flare-ups seem to be controlled and eventually eliminated. One thing we need to do is to housebreak her. She does know how to tell us when she needs to go outside and thus she pees either on the floor or on pads. Thus, Rosie is restricted either to the kitchen or on our bed (she doesn’t mess on the bed). Rosie and our cat gets along very well — no fights. She is also good around our grandsons (ages two and four), but we need to watch them to ensure they don’t hurt her. There are times when I believe that she remembers her past, from the way she reacts when she is sleeping and having bad dreams. All-in-All, she is a wonderful pet and companion and we love her dearly. She weights ~ 22 pounds and in good health except for her allergy.

Any suggestions you may have in getting her house broken will be greatly appreciated.

We thank WestieMed for their help in getting Rosie back to good health.

Thanks,
Bill and Marge

Jack

March 1, 2010December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Although Jack, unfortunately, lost both of his owners within the past year the remaining family saw to it that he was well taken care of and boarded him at the Vet who had taken care of him since he was a puppy. The lady that owned Jack would take trips from the nursing home to the Vet’s office to visit him as often as possible as she obviously loved him very much. She did this for as long as she was capable of making the trips. When River City Westies learned of Jack, Teresa from River City Westies contacted us and asked if we would foster Jack which we did. We fell in love with him virtually instantly and a week or so later we adopted him. Jack is eleven years old and has a zest for life! He is a very happy, loving and active Westie boy who loves to play with toys, chase tennis balls, bark at squirrels, ride in the car, interact with others and go for long walks with us, but is equally content snuggling with you on the couch and giving you kisses! He gets along great with our other adopted Westie (June) who was a rescue dog from a puppy mill. They run around like two little white bullets and play together in our fenced yard. All in all two happy Westies!!

Jack has Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) and requires a special diet and food supplement for the rest of his life. He has responded very well to this treatment, and the EPI is under control. We recently noticed that Jack seemed to be consuming a lot of water so we took him to the vet that had always taken care of him. They did a urinalysis and the results indicated his water consumption was too high for his size. The Doctor recommended that we have an ACTH test done to try and determine what the problem is. Thanks to WestieMed who is assisting us with the cost of the test we are getting it done ASAP. He is the love of our life and we want him to be healthy during his golden years. We can’t thank WestieMed enough for all they obviously have done to help Westies in need.

Thank You So Very Much,
Tom & Helene Wagner

Update October 6, 2010

Jack is doing very well. He just had his annual physical exam at Midlothian Animal care and everything seems to be OK.

He is a happy little guy and is getting along fine with our other Westie (June) who is 5 years old and adopted also. June seems to get Anal Gland infections frequently and the Doctor suggested surgery to remove her anal sacs. Right now she is on antibiotics to see if that can clear up the infections.

We have Jack on a special diet that the Doctor recommended of Purina EN with a measured scoop of Pancrea powder plus twice daily. He is pretty active for his age of 11 years and we love him very much. So we are enjoying every minute that we spend with him.

Thank you again for your help in the past. Enclosed is a picture we took of Jack in his Halloween costume when he participated in The River City Westie Walk last week.

Thank you,
Thomas Wagner

Update April 13, 2011

Jack is doing good, he just had his twelveth birthday on March 4th. I had him in the vets a few days ago and he needs to have his teeth cleaned as he has tartar on them. The vet gave us some antibiotics to give him until we can afford to get his teeth cleaned which will be probably next month. Jack won’t let me brush his teeth as I have tried several times and so has the vet he gets vicious about it so we have to get his teeth cleaned annually, the last time they had to remove three teeth that were bad so we are hoping we don’t have a repeat of that again. Other than that he is doing great.

Tom Wagner