Broken Femur – WestieMed

Fiona

December 1, 2020November 16, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

December 2020

Fiona was found in North Carolina and taken to an animal shelter. Due to her poor condition, she was taken to a veterinary hospital, where she stayed for a week.

During this time, no one contacted the shelter and no owners were identified. After their specified hold time, she was released to Westie Rescue Southeast for further care. She was found to be deaf, anemic, malnourished and with a heart murmur.

I adopted Fiona on 11/22/20. I was in Maryland at the time, caring for my sister after she had surgery. As Fiona’s foster family was in North Carolina, we met in Virginia for the handoff. Fiona remained with me at my sister’s home for the week. She got along fine with other animals, mostly steering clear of them.

On the afternoon of Thanksgiving, 11/26/20, she fell down 4-5 carpeted stairs she had been able to traverse without difficulty on prior days. She remained sitting very still at the bottom of the steps. I did not witness the fall. I picked her up and she would not allow me to touch her back right leg, screaming when I tried to do so. She held it up and was non weightbearing.

I immediately took her to an emergency animal hospital in Rockville, Maryland. She was found to have a nondisplaced fractured right tibia. There was concern that her bradycardia (found to be 70-90s at the vet office, but during prior exams had been as low as 40), would require caution with sedation to splint/cast the leg.

My plan was to return home to Ohio the next day. To minimize risk of complications, Fiona was discharged without splinting and with pain medications to return to Ohio on 11/27/20 (Friday). I contacted my vet in Cincinnati, but they could not accommodate sedating her and proper monitoring that day, so I chose to take her to an emergency vet in Cincinnati. Upon reviewing the xrays from the vet in Rockville, this vet found concern that a bone tumor may be present, as the result of the fall seemed more traumatic than the described fall. (As I said, I did not witness the fall, but another person did, they felt Fiona was started and fell).

After more xrays, any bone abnormality was ruled out and the leg was placed in a splint. Fiona’s prognosis is good for a full recovery of her leg. Limited activity is easy to maintain, as she continues to recover from her general deconditioned state she was found in. Fiona’s leg is expected to heal in 6-8 weeks.

Jen Hosler

Update May 25, 2021:

Fiona and I are very thankful for WestieMed. After being rescued by Westie Rescue Southeast, she underwent an amazing transformation. What was barely recognizable as a Westie is in now a beautiful girl. She had a major setback with a broken leg and that’s when WestieMed saved the day.

Now she has regained her position as a grumpy old lady full of Westietude and is ruling the roost over the two hoodlums that live here, Rudy and Sparky.

Thank you to WestieMed.

Jen Hosler

Update November 11, 2021:

Awww. Fiona died in July. She had come so far and her little leg healed well. She stopped eating and was in pain….could not rest comfortably. It’s never easy no matter how many times you go through it.
Jen

Niles

October 1, 2015December 24, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Niles the Westie, at roughly nine months old, found himself abandoned and seriously injured at the Inland Valley Humane Society in Pomona, California. It all had happened so fast; the squelch of the tires, the force of impact, and then a surge of pain like he had never felt. It is unclear what happened after that moment, but somewhere along the line, Niles’ owner made the decision to leave his fragile, little life in the hands of a shelter worker instead of getting him the emergency medical attention Niles so desperately needed. And in that shelter is where he stayed. It’s not certain how long he was there; minutes turned into hours, and hours into days, with Niles growing weaker, fading fast. It seemed to this poor boy, who had been through so much and was so scared, that all hope had been lost . . .

And then there was movement. Barely conscious, Niles was being readied for transport; he was being rescued! When he was first brought in to the shelter, his story caught the attention of the Aberdeen Scottish Terrier Rescue (ASTR). It wasn’t an easy task to get him out; there were many phone calls to make, much paperwork to fill out, and many arrangements to be made. But finally, it was time, and a real race against the clock it was! Terri and Susan of Wiggle Butts Pet Transport were transporting Niles, along with many other dogs, up to Seattle, Washington. The van was scheduled to arrive between 4 and 4:30 p.m. That left a very narrow window of time to get Niles to the veterinary office in Newcastle before it closed at 5 p.m.! Upon arrival, his rescuers greeted him with open, soggy arms (from the heavy rainfall they endured while they waited Welcome to Washington!) And no sooner had he arrived, Niles was whisked away to the Animal Hospital of Newport Hills.

He wasn’t in the clear just yet. X-rays were taken, and Dr. Aspen Davidoff confirmed he had multiple fractures of the pelvis and tailbone, which could only be healed with rest, and another fracture of his right femur, which would require surgery to remove the broken piece of bone. Surgery, neutering and microchipping were scheduled for a couple of days out, and in the meantime, Niles was given medication to help with the pain and bring comfort.

Niles’ surgery went very well and he is on the road to recovery. But he isn’t alone on his journey. Not only did the kind folks of ASTR save him, but he also has a pending adoption with Dr. Shan Rosenkranz, another veterinarian at Animal Hospital of Newport Hills. Dr. Rosenkranz and her husband fell in love with Niles after bringing him home to recuperate. They knew they couldn’t let this beautiful, courageous pup leave their home or their lives. A last-minute foster turned foster-flunk!

A big thank-you to the volunteers of ASTR, Wiggle Butts Pet Transport, and everyone at the Animal Hospital of Newport Hills involved in Niles’ rescue and medical care, and to WestieMed.org for their generous grant award to help fund his care we are forever grateful.

Crissy Smith

Millie

September 1, 2013December 24, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

The Saturday evening before Labor Day, we received a call on the WRT phone from a very nice lady in Murfreesboro, TN explaining that an injured Westie had wandered up to their front door, and it was obvious she had been hit by a car. A neighbor said they’d seen the dog lying in a ditch and thought it was dead (but they didn’t bother to go check??!!). The lady and her husband took the dog to their personal vet and paid for the office visit and x-rays. The vet there told them they felt like she could be saved, but that the surgery to repair the damage would cost a minimum of $3000. The vet scanned for and found a microchip, and the office called the number only to learn the microchip had never been registered by the current owner, and the chip was registered to a former out-of-state breeder that had since gone out of business because the number on the chip was no longer a working number. The vet advised the couple that it was their responsibility to at least try to find the owner(s), and he felt like the best way was for the dog to be sent over to P.A.W.S.; the local shelter in Murfreesboro. The plan was for the vet’s office to keep and medicate the dog for pain through the holiday weekend, which the couple agreed to do. In the meantime, Brenda (the woman) found and contacted us. When I talked at length with her about needing to get our hands on the x-rays so we could forward them to our vet and on to the orthopedic surgeon we use to see what both of them thought for recovery prognosis, she told me she would call her vet and OK that being done. (Apparently, this is a 24-hour vet, and she was able to reach them on Sunday.) Sadly, the vet’s office had gone ahead and sent the dog over to P.A.W.S. the night before instead of doing what they’d said they would do, and I knew we would have a hard time getting her out of that shelter because they have proven to be extremely hard to pull from unless you have an inside contact. BUT, I was hopeful that because she was injured and thus, probably deemed unadoptable, it wouldn’t be so difficult this time. Well, I was wrong.

On Tuesday morning after Labor Day, I called the Murfreesboro vet the first thing, and the office immediately emailed the x-rays to me and to the orthopedic surgeon (because they, too, use him on a regular basis and know him well). I then reached out to the shelter, and they told me that because she had a microchip, she had to stay at the shelter five full business days, and we couldn’t include her past weekend time and holiday time in that, NOR could we include the following weekend. I was so frustrated!

After MUCH discussion and promises from the shelter director that they would ensure she was suffering no pain, one of our Board Members was allowed to pull her when they opened at noon on Tuesday, September 10th. We all feared that while the injuries seemed repairable in the early stages of her diagnosis, perhaps bones, tendons or muscles had begun to fuse together in an incorrect manner. AND, we feared the poor dog would suffer from some sort of shock. MUCH TO OUR AMAZEMENT, she was happy from the get-go; the tail never ceasing to wag! Also, we immediately got her to our vet, who again did x-rays and got Dr. Newman, the surgeon, over for a special call to evaluate the situation. While he was not concerned about the rear hip injury (and knew he could easily perform an FHO to repair the injury), he was concerned about the front leg and whether or not the alignment would be such that the leg could be saved. He felt like it could be, but wouldn’t know for sure until he got into the surgery. Thankfully, on the day of the surgery (scheduled a few days out from her arrival so she could be on antibiotics for a few days prior), we got the best news that the leg could be saved!

Millie is now in a foster home with a new foster mom who is friends with Brenda, the gal who originally contacted us. Thankfully she has experience with foster dogs with that sort of injuries, which is great because Millie doesn’t seem to think she has anything wrong with her! Alyce (the foster) has to take her back to the vet weekly to work with the dressing on the injury sites. The staples in her hip came out last weekend, and the front leg is healing nicely too. Still, Millie has to be somewhat sedated to keep from wanting to run and jump. Dr. Newman said it would be about a six-week recovery period. Once recovered, we will then get Millie spayed and get her ready for adoption. She is UTD on all of her vaccinations, heartworm testing, etc.

We will continue to send updates, and thank WestieMed once again SO MUCH!

Westie Rescue of Tennessee, Inc.
a 501-c-3 Rescue Organization

Update April 10, 2014

Unfortunately, we still have not yet placed Millie in her forever home, though we do have a Meet & Greet set for her this Saturday, so paws are definitely crossed! The surgeon says she will have no issues down the road! She is very sweet and loves everybody and every doggie!

Carol Whitmer

Update July 27, 2015

Millie continues to do well. She was adopted over a year ago and the last we heard from her owners, she is doing great. Her surgery will have been two years ago in September. Thanks to WestieMed for all they did to help us help her!

Carol Whitmer

Paddy

April 1, 2011December 27, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

In mid-April, WRT received a call from our friends at Young-Williams Animal Shelter in Knoxville, TN that they had a sweet little male Westie that had been picked up as a stray and no one ever came looking for him. Paddy was estimated to be about two years old.

Thankfully, they work with us and know to call us before putting one up for adoption to the general public. We arranged to have one of our East TN volunteers pick him up and transport him to us in Middle TN. We got a full vet report from the shelter vet (which is rare), along with two well-defined x-rays (which is even MORE rare that they would send those to us!), that identified a bad break in this little fella’s left rear leg.

We got him checked out again by our vet here in Franklin, and it was determined by her and by the orthopedic vet she uses that the break would cause little Paddy to lose his leg, if not corrected surgically quickly. The break had not healed correctly and needed to be re-broken, the femur shaved down and reset correctly. It was also identified by our vet that he suffered from a strain of Mange (thankfully not the contagious kind!), and he would need medicated dips every two weeks along, with two to three rounds of antibiotic (Baytril). We are happy to report that his skin condition is improving, and thanks to WestieMed, he will soon resume his life has a rambunctious, happy little Westie boy that can “zoom” around a room or outside with his other terrier friends!

We look forward to giving you many wonderful updates and pictures of this exceptionally sweet boy! Thank you again from the bottom of our Westie Rescue of Tennessee hearts!

Carol Whitmer Founder/Officer

Scrappy

June 1, 2009December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Scrappy came to Oklahoma Westie Rescue (OWR) in rather sad shape. Scrappy came to us as a result of the diligence of some of our great OWR volunteers. We have several volunteers who are always watching, the newspapers, the internet, etc. for Westies. One of them notified me that she had seen an ad for a FOUND Westie. I immediately went to the ad which stated that a male Westie had been found injured on the side of the road. He needed medical care and the lady who found him was trying to find his owner. I called the lady and told her who we were and what we do. She reported that, sadly, after two weeks no one had called to claim this little guy. She had taken him to the vet for some preliminary first aid care but indicated that his leg was badly broken and would need further care. I told her we would gladly take him and get it taken care of if she wanted us to. She wanted to wait one more week to see if a family called to claim him if not, she would turn him over to us.

A week later I went to pick up Scrappy. What a sad sight! He had head wounds, body wounds, and a green cast on his front leg. He had been shaved so they could treat his wounds and was named Scrappy because of the condition of his body. Little scraps of wounds everywhere! He was a happy guy and had already begun to run around with his cast. He was very affectionate and loved people! He was sad to leave this wonderful lady who had saved him but he went along with me anyway. He soon took to me and followed me everywhere. We scheduled an appointment with a veterinary orthopedic surgeon to have his leg examined. Sadly, the surgeon said that while the one bone was healing the second bone was fragmented and would not heal without surgery. With the help of WestieMed we were able to do surgery immediately and took Scrappy home the next day. A long plate and six screws were needed to hold the bone back together. Scrappy was an excellent patient and was quickly on his way to recovery. He never seemed to mind being crated while he recovered and he was ever so grateful for the love and care. He soon was up and around running and trying to chase the kitty, not much kept him down.

We believe Scrappy to be about two to four years old. He is very alpha and loves to boss around the dogs in his foster home. He is very much a people person and he loves to give kisses and sit in your lap. Scrappy met an approved couple last week and paws are crossed that he will be adopted by that family next Monday. He will be in hog heaven as the lady wants a dog that will sit with her and take car rides with her. Scrappy certainly fits the bill!

OWR tries hard to cover its own expenses without outside assistance however we have had MANY sick and injured dogs this dump season and we just have not been able to cover all the vet costs. Thanks to WestieMed we were able to get Scrappy’s little leg fixed up!

We are also happy to report that on Monday Scrappy is being adopted by a lovely couple, the wife says she is looking for a lap dog, the boy has she found the right boy!! LOL

Thanks, WestieMed!

Update August 7, 2009: Scrappy has been adopted!

Little Scrappy is showing more of his personality with each new experience!! He is so precious. He loves to play fetch with his toys, and sleep on our laps. He isn’t sure about the car rides yet, but we are working on it slowly. He has nicely put our other two dogs in their place, only took a bark or two with a couple of growls and they got the message! Rix, the German Shepard, had decided he would like to be a little lap dog also!!

We took him to our vet to get his heartworm/flea and tick pills. He said he looks great, and his son, Dr. Jeff, told us why he loves little Westies. He loves their stubbornness and their spunk! He did tell us that usually, an adopted Westie will give you a couple of months honeymoon period and then you will see more of his personality every day! We already love what we have!! A little more will just make it more interesting!! He doesn’t play with Rix yet, so I would like to see that. I think that only takes time. Do you know he sits for treats!!?? Like he’s begging?? He just started that yesterday for Glenn! Without prompting.

He lays on the bed and watches me get ready for work. Pepsi isn’t doing very well, the medication is wearing off. The vet told us he was glad we got little Scrappy because we wouldn’t have her much longer.

Oh, we did take him for a walk with Rix and he loved it! It wore him out, and we didn’t go the three miles we usually do! When it cools down, it will be ritual for him, but we will have to build him up!

I will keep you updated!
MJ and Scrappy

Update March 3, 2010

I wanted to give you guys a Scrappy update! He is doing sooooooooo good! I am so in love as is Glenn! He is the most lovable dog! He plays with Rix, and our daughter is living with us on her move from New York to Texas, for about two months, with her Australian Shepherd and her two years old. Her husband is a Border Patrol Agent in Texas. Scrappy loves the Australian Shepherd, and loves being a part of a “pack”!!

He did have a biting incident. He bit Caleb, our youngest son who has the Westie himself!! Our daughter in law was petting Scrappy on her lap and Caleb reached over to pet him and Scrappy growled! (He did warn him after all!!) Caleb tried again and Scrappy BIT him!! Caleb should have paid attention to the warning!

Scrappy talks to us, as you know. But he is getting more and more vocal. He growls a friendly growl, howls, and makes all kinds of communicative noises! He loves to play tug of war with the other dogs, he still loves his little mouse. He is such a perfect fit!! He walks really well on a leash, and his endurance is building as we go. He is learning to love riding in the car and isn’t scared anymore. HE IS THE PERFECT PUPPY!!

We did have some dog food issues, however. We were feeding him the Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potato, and he had the most awful gas!! A lot of it and it stunk so bad!! He only gets really healthy natural, no wheat treats, and it was just terrible!! So, our son and his wife shared with us that they had tried several brands on their Westie and they use Eagle Pack brand from Britton Feed and Seed. We got that, and we feed him the fish-flavored. He absolutely loves it and has no more gas. His hair looks better too. It has flaxseed in it. The other two dogs love it too, so they are on it. Just a side note, Britton Feed, and Seed said that Wellness just bought out Eagle Pack, so it has a new package. I guess that is a good thing, but I hope Wellness doesn’t change the recipe!

(Aren’t we on the learning curve?)

Sorry, we missed the roundup, too many other obligations! We will check for other activities and try to get a family pic with the three of us together!

Thank you all so much for our precious puppy. My dad and his wife love him too!! I am encouraging my dad to adopt a Westie, so we’ll see!

Mary Jane and Glenn Gottschalk

Odie

January 1, 2009December 26, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

Westie Rescue Indiana (WRI) received a call from the owner of Odie requesting our assistance in September 2008. She said that she loved Odie, but that he did not get along with her young son. He growled at him and she was afraid he would bite.

On the day Odie was to be surrendered, his owner drove to the home of one of our volunteers. She was in tears, and after talking for a time to our volunteer she decided that she couldn’t give him up. So Odie returned home until January, when his “mom” again called saying that things had not improved and that she really did need to surrender Odie to Rescue. When told we would take him right away, she then asked, “So it doesn’t matter that he has a broken leg?”

Evidently, someone tripped over Odie’s cage with him inside, smashing both the cage and Odie’s rear leg. His owners took him to an emergency clinic where Odie’s leg was put in a temporary splint and the owner was told to contact their own vet to see if surgery would be required. That’s when they contacted Rescue.

Odie (age 10 months) was surrendered to WRI on January 19th. He was taken to Noah’s Animal Hospital on January 25th for surgery, which was performed on Monday, January 26th.

Odie is now recuperating at his foster home in Indianapolis. He goes back to the hospital next week to have his surgical splint removed, and the vet said he should be as good as new once the leg heals. An x-ray of his leg taken needs to be taken in about eight weeks to make sure everything is healing properly, and if it is then Odie will be celebrating his first birthday with four paws planted firmly on the ground – or in somebody’s willing lap.

It seems like Odie already has captured the hearts of his foster family and has become fast friends with their current Westie. So it looks like Odie’s search for a forever home may be ending happily ever after a lot sooner than anyone expected!

Jack

January 1, 2008December 27, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

He thinks he can fly! It’s true with most Westies, but especially true with Jack. He’s adventurous, curious and loveable.

In June of 2007, we lost Maggie, our fourteen-year-old Scottish terrier to liver cancer. She had been with us since we adopted her from a shelter at one year old. She was truly a member of the family. After a few months, we agreed it was time to begin to look for another dog – one that could help fill the hole Maggie left in our hearts and our home. Since Maggie had come through adoption, our first thought was not a breeder, but a rescue agency to find our new pet.

Jack is one year old today and has been with our family for only two weeks. He came to us through the Illinois chapter Westie Rescue Mission of Missouri. While his original family loved him deeply, they ultimately surrendered him to WRM because Jack’s high energy made caring for him and their two special-needs kids very difficult.

We were so excited from the moment we met Jack. He is curious, high energy and loveable. From the moment he arrived, he began exploring and investigating our home – one room at a time. He didn’t slow down for two solid hours! Shortly after midnight, we thought it was time to try to get our boy to sleep.

We took Jack to our room with his familiar blanket and bed. Still curious, still exploring, undeterred, Jack tried to jump up on our bed and missed. We watched in what seemed like slow motion as he fell. He never winced, never yelped, but when he got up, he refused to use his leg. We were heart-broken that our boy hurt himself and we hardly slept all night.

A visit to the vet the next day gave the bad news – he had broken his leg. A second opinion confirmed the diagnosis and course of treatment. So less than two days after arriving in our home, Jack had orthopedic surgery to repair his leg.

He is healing well, bonding with our family and is an amazing dog. We are so glad to have him in our home. He’s had quite an adventure in the last month – he’d have an amazing story to tell!

We are thankful to WestieMed for assisting with part of Jack’s surgery bill. We are grateful that resources are out there to help families that rescue loving, wonderful Westies like Jack.

Update February 2008

Just a quick update. Jack had his six-week checkup with the surgeon yesterday. He is healing but not healed.

So it’s six more weeks of restricted activity.

Jack is doing great – walking without a limp, fully using the leg. I would highly recommend the group we used as caring and cost-efficient. Great Practice – Animal Emergency in Skokie. Well worth the hour drive to get there.

The biggest challenge is keeping him down. He continues to believe he is invincible! He’s getting more attached to us and we to him. He’s a loving, wonderful dog – we are glad we have him in spite of all the chaos and challenges. We are learning some of his quirks – he is very skittish around loud noises, fire, and anything around his head. Makes us wish we could talk to him to hear his story in his original family…over time I am sure he will forget and change. Our last dog was nervous around shoes for the first year – my son reminded us of that this morning.

Update July 1, 2008

Jack is doing well. He is adjusting emotionally. When we received him he had huge issues – every noise scared him, he would not take food or treats from human hands, would not obey even simple commands, and was a bit reclusive.

Today, he knows some basic obedience commands – sit, stay, shake, no (a big one for high-energy Westies!). He loves to play fetch with his favorite toys. He trusts us enough to take food from our hands. He is a much calmer dog and a great pet. We really love having him.

Healthwise, the leg is fully healed. He is one of the fastest dogs I have ever seen – loves to run in the back yard. On humid or cold days he will still, on occasion, limp on the leg that was broken. The Vet says this is normal and may just be a life-long side effect.

I thought I would send some pictures of Jack. Sorry ~ he is a little scruffy in these pictures ~ we don’t ever seem to get them right after he is trimmed up ~ but he is cute anyway.

Jack is sitting up on my lap as I type. He has to be on my lap or near me when I’m sitting down. He is such good company.

He absolutely loves our granddaughter. We keep her on the weekends for our daughter and Jack is very protective of her. He goes into the room where she sleeps and stays by her bed until she wakes up. When we sit in the rocking chair with her ~ he has to be there too and she just laughs and reaches over and pets him. Our biggest problem is keeping their toys separate. They both want what the other one has…just like siblings. They are going to be very good friends growing up!

We just love Jack and are having so much fun with him being part of our family.

Blessings,
Greg and Connie

Update September 27, 2008

Jack had surgery – again – two weeks ago.

His pins were coming loose from the previous surgery. The surgeon said that his broken bone healed perfectly and he should have no more problems. Pins and wires were all removed and should eliminate the periodic limping and swelling that had been happening over the summer.

He has become a very expensive dog – but make no mistake that we love him and would not give him up for anything. He is full of life and character. He makes us laugh on a daily basis. And he is back to being the fearless dog with lightning speed.

Thanks,
Greg

Fergie (Formally Suds)

August 1, 2006February 6, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

August 2006:

My name is Suds. I have such a story to tell you. I was bought by a family to be a companion to their children when I was a wee puppy. I did not understand yet that people can be so cruel. The children had not been taught that I had feelings and felt pain when they pulled my hair and slung me around. Finally, they threw me off a washer and the pain in my leg was terrible. I hurt so bad and I couldn’t walk.

My family took me to the Anderson Animal Hospital and Dr. Pam Helm looked at me and told my family that she thought my hip may be dislocated, but probably my leg was fractured. The only way to be sure was to take something called x-rays to be sure. Everyone was shaking their heads. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I just couldn’t get away from the pain. Then I heard my family say they couldn’t afford to spend any money on me and wanted the doctor to euthanize me. I saw the look on the Doctor’s face and I knew that must be bad. I’m just a baby, I want my mom again. Dr. Helm told them she would take me into the hospital if they would sign papers to give me up. All I knew was I was scared and I didn’t know who I could trust. My family signed the papers and left me there. I was terrified of the smells and the sounds, but the doctor kept touching me, telling me it would be okay. Then the doctor gave me some medicine and my leg didn’t hurt so bad and I took a nap. Oh, it felt so good to rest!

On Monday, all these strange people came to the hospital. They petted me and called me by name, but I didn’t trust them. I was afraid they would hurt me too, so I huddled in the back of my cage to stay away from them. Stephanie and Patrice kept saying they would find me a home and that’s just what Stephanie did. My new parents came to see me and everyone was so happy. Then they took the x-rays of my leg. Oh my, everyone looked so sad and worried. I heard them say major orthopedic surgery, long aftercare, pretty expensive. Was this bad? Why won’t they explain it to me? Does my new family not want me? I heard Dr. Wooden say to my new mom, “We want you to take Suds and I will split the cost with you and we will keep him here till his leg is healed so your other Westies don’t hurt Suds.” Everyone smiled again and my new mom cuddled me up. I think I like her. My dad is kinda gruff and calls me his little man.

When I woke up from my surgery, Stephanie and Patrice were there to touch my face and tell me it was okay. They told me my leg was all fixed and they were going to take care of me till I went to my new home. Patrice told me that WestieMed was looking at my situation and wanted to help me be sure I found my forever home by helping Dr. Wooden and my new family pay for my surgery. I think that is a good thing!

It has been a week since my surgery and I feel GREAT! I’m not sad anymore and my new mom and dad visit me every day. They even brought my new Westie sister, Tsunami Sue to meet me yesterday. She kissed my nose and I wanted to play with her. They told me I would have to wait to do that. My mom feeds me treats. Life is good. I have so many people to thank. Dr. Wooden for his kindness and generosity. Dr. Helm for saving my life and all the staff at the hospital. But most of all I want to thank WestieMed for coming through and helping pay for my surgery. I know that all these people really love me and have made it possible for me to be exactly what I am, a wee Westie boy with the tenacity of a terrier and more spirit than can be contained.

Thank you all, Suds

Update January 2008: Suds now called Fergie

I am so happy to report that Suds AKA Fergie as he is now known, is doing WONDERFUL. He is a much-loved member of the Ost Family of Pineville. They dote on him and he has two Westie sisters that adore him also.

He is properly spoiled (in such a good way) and has just done remarkably. No evidence of pain or residual damage from his injury. He loves his mom and dad, but also loves us at the clinic and also his “beautician” who grooms him on a regular basis.

This is such a success story and I am so thankful to you all for stepping in and helping him. The Ost family also extends their gratitude! I will see if I can get Carol to email me some recent pictures of him with his sisters. They take regular photos for their album.

Your organization is phenomenal to work with.

Thanks so much,
Patrice Lasiter

Malki

June 1, 2006February 6, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

June 2006:

Hi! My name is Makii (pronounced Mackey). I am a Westie through and through, and today I would like to share with you my story. It all started quite normally. My owner adopted me when I was just a puppy. Life was good, and I was as healthy as can be with the energy and enthusiasm of the best of dogs. I had loving arms to hold me, and a very large fenced-in yard to run around in. Unfortunately, that all changed when my owner was diagnosed with some serious health problems early this year.

In March, after a hip replacement surgery, my owner was on her way to a rehab facility, but before she went she just had to see me. I was so excited, but as she left and was driven away, I forgot the very important rule never to try to break out of my back yard. All anyone can guess is that I ran out into the busy street to find my beloved owner. That’s when I was hit by an oncoming car. The driver paused but never stopped to see how badly I was hurt. The next car in line’s driver stopped and lifted me onto the side of the road, but then left me to suffer. Then, the third car’s driver, who had witnessed the whole accident, not only stopped her car but brought me immediately to the closest emergency veterinary hospital. She then went back to my neighborhood and rang all the doorbells until she found out where I lived. Then this guardian angel of mine blocked the fence where she thought I may have escaped. She then left a note saying who she was and where I had been taken. When my foster father came over a half-hour later to feed me, he found the note and my whole foster family came to the hospital to find me.

The veterinarian on duty said she didn’t have much hope for my survival without surgery and a very strong will to live on my part. Well, my foster family believed in the knowledge and dedication of the veterinary surgeon on staff and in me to be strong enough to make it through. Everyone wanted to make sure I would return to excellent health-giving me the quality of life I had always known. So, after the spleen and 50% of my small intestines removed, spinal surgery, and three fractures in my back leg pieced together, I survived. My surgeon performed miracles to save me. With the love from the doctors, staff, my foster family, my owner, and even strangers who had heard about me, I was able to stay strong throughout the three-month repair and recovery ordeal.

Today I can tell you is, indeed, a special day for me, because the last of my surgical procedures (to remove the outside fixator on my fractured leg) will take place. Best of all, I am leaving this evening to go to another state called Indiana to meet and live with my new adopted family. We have never met, but they know all about me because their son-in-law works at the emergency veterinary hospital that now knows me so very well, plus my foster family here in Illinois have kept them posted.

I have WestieMed to thank for helping my foster family through this amazingly eventful time of my life. I am now three years old and am looking forward to what many more years to come will bring. Thank you, again, to everyone who has ever touched my life, and to you who have just read my true life story!

Sincerely, Makii