Carl

by westiemed in Stories

September 2022

Carl was wandering the streets of LA and was picked up by Animal Control.  He was in pretty bad shape.  His coat was matted, he had painful foxtails imbedded in between his toes, ear infection, skin infection and a horrible upper respiratory infection.  The shelter did what they could for Carl with medication, shaved his coat and removed the foxtails.  However, there was no public interest to adopt Carl because he needed an expensive hip surgery.  

Carl’s only chance of exiting the shelter was if rescue came for him and when we found out that Carl had been lingering there for several months, we knew we were his only chance. Oddly enough, when we arrived at the shelter, there was a person in line ahead of us there for Carl, but again, Carl was turned down because of the cost of surgery.

Carl needed time to recover from his upper respiratory infection and once he did, he had his surgery.  He also had a dental at the same time and thankfully he did because foxtails were found imbedded in between his teeth!  Overall, he did well only losing a few teeth, but had he not been on antibiotics for his upper respiratory infection, his mouth could have been much worse.  

Carl has several weeks of rehabilitation ahead of him.  We are doing range of motion exercises and short walks to aid his recovery.  He is now using that leg and walking on all fours which is something he hasn’t done since coming to rescue.    

Living on the streets and shelter life took a toll on him, but thanks to WestieMed, Carl has a new lease on life!  This incredibly sweet and playful boy will now live pain free thanks to the surgery.  This is something that he probably hasn’t had in a very long time.  

Thank you WestieMed!

Karen Simondet – WROC

Update May 25, 2023:

Rehabbing Carl had to be the easiest rehab of any dog we’ve fostered, hands down. He is such a calm and well behaved dog that is happiest being with his person. Our precious little man was adopted just a few days before Christmas, making this his best a Christmas ever! Carl has fully recovered from his hip surgery and is now enjoying life at the beach in Santa Barbara with his new mom and dad, Karen and Bill.

With WestieMed’s help, another deserving dog will never be neglected again. 

Karen S.

Update February 8, 2024:

Is been a little over a year since Carl was adopted and he continues to do great!  He is a very happy dog that loves his walks at the beach and his hip no longer bothers him.  His adopters continue to successfully manage his skin allergies and overall, he is doing fantastic.  He has quite a few friends in the neighborhood and for being the smallest kid on the block, he has the biggest personality and is sure everyone knows he is the boss!

Thank you WestieMed for giving Carl a second chance!

Karen Simondet

Sammi - WestieMed Recipient

Sammi

by westiemed in Stories

September 2007:

Age of Dog: Two years Rescue State: Georgia Medical Condition: Degenerative Joint Disease and Legg-Perthes

Synopsis: Sammi was encouraged to be surrendered by a good Samaritan who knew the owner was handling the dog irresponsibly in that she would let the dog run loose and it was frequently being lost. She wasn’t getting any attention and had been neglected in the sense of any grooming or hygiene. One of our members worked with one of the wonderful regular vets of the West Highland White Terrier Club of Greater Atlanta (WHWTCGA). WHWTCGA took Sammi into the rescue program called upon this vet to assist us and Sammi. She was a scruffy mess that desperately needed cleaning up. She was given a general physical and was treated for hookworms and spayed. She was anemic and not very playful at that point. She was then placed in foster to recover and be evaluated. When she became comfortable in her foster home, she started snapping and biting particularly when approached from the back or picking her up. It was initially thought that she needed behavior training by the club’s trainer, but prior to sending her there, we thought it was best to have a vet re-check her for any other medical issues. It was determined that she was in pain from her left hip because she had extreme degenerative joint disease (Legg-Perthes) and possible spine problems. The treatment of choice was an FHO — femoral head ostectomy — which was successfully performed. But the surgery would have to be followed by several weeks of therapy to get her to exercise and use her leg.

Sammi has made great strides thanks to our loving foster home. From what we can tell the pain is gone! She will let you pick her up although she reverts back to her alpha habits occasionally so we have continued her in a foster home that has another Westie and an older cat. She goes on walks daily and uses her leg more each day. After two surgeries, multiple x-rays, some medications for the pain, and physical therapy she has now participating in some training classes to assist in the bad behavior habits she has developed through her medical issues. If it hadn’t been for the good Samaritan’s knowledge of Westie Rescue and the lady surrendering her neglected Westie who knows how long poor Sammi would have suffered leading to an inevitable biting incident.

From her picture you can also see what basic grooming, proper hygiene, and diet with a little TLC will do for the looks too – isn’t she adorable? It will be several weeks before she will be ready for any forever home placement, but she is definitely on the right road to a great Westie life thanks to our volunteers, caring vets, and the support of WestieMed!

–WHWTC of Greater Atlanta

Update March 1, 2010:

We have not heard anything since early 2009 from the forever home. At that time Sammi had well recovered from her surgery and was enjoying life healthy and happy. She won’t set any land speed records but her mobility was excellent.

We will call her again just to see. The adoption home had not renewed her membership with the club for 2010 and we didn’t see her at meetings in 2009.

Kristine Tarrer WHWTC of Greater Atlanta

Jamie - WestieMed Recipient

Jamie (Formally Duggan)

by westiemed in Stories

September 2006:

Duggan (Now renamed Jamie) comes to Westie Rescue from a local animal shelter where we were informed that they had a Westie who had been hit by a car. After a bit of a delay in getting him into the program, the Westie Rescue of Northern Texas (WRNT) veterinarians took the time to accurately diagnose his issues. Clearly, Duggan/Jamie was limping badly and had suffered some kind of traumatic injury – but what?

Several x-rays later and some of the best veterinary minds in Dallas, it was discovered that he had broken his pelvis, not his leg, as had been previously thought. Unfortunately, these kinds of pelvic injuries are exceptionally difficult to heal, are very expensive, and require significant rehabilitation.

While it is the ONLY goal of Westie Rescue to rehabilitate and place Westies, our finances are limited. The difficult pelvis repair surgery was beyond our resources and outside our ability to gain funding to support. Fortunately, an alternate procedure, called a femoral head osteoectomy was available to us. In this alternative surgery, the head of the leg bone is removed, permitting the pelvis to heal. For Westies, there is sufficient musculature to support the leg without the femoral head, and the procedure was within our limited budget.

Duggan/Jamie underwent the FHO surgery like a champ. Duggan/Jamie is using his “bum-leg” more and more each day and is now taking physical therapy at the pool of one of the WRNT Directors. Our little Duggan/Jamie may have caught a “bad break” recently, but he sure came out of this one smelling like a rose. 

With Many Regards, John Workman WRNT – Director 

Jamie - WestieMed Recipient

Update January 2008:  Duggan now called Jamie

Jamie continues to strive and is just a remarkable little Westie boy 🙂 

As his mum Darrell says, he’s a very “naughty” boy but she adores him.  His mom is so thrilled with him and they keep in close contact with Westie Rescue.  Thank you so very much for all your hard work with Westie Rescue. Elizabeth Escobar

Tucker - WestieMed Recipient

Tucker (Rainbow Bridge)

by westiemed in Stories

August 2005

We had a wonderful Westie girl named Kelsey for fifteen years. When she died we explored the idea of a rescue dog. We applied for a couple of dogs through Westie Rescue Missouri but did not hear anything. We eventually got another girl (Dixie) from a breeder.

Just after Dixie had her first birthday, WRM contacted us with the news that there was a three-year-old male named Tucker ready for adoption. His original owner died and he was placed with a shelter. The shelter then adopted him to a family with two small children. Well, we know what happens with Westies and small children… yes he bit them and he was surrendered to Westie Rescue Missouri. WRM placed him in a foster home. On the 4th of July weekend, we arranged to meet the foster family halfway and brought Tucker home.

Tucker was very quiet and slept most of the way home. Upon arrival home, he took an immediate dislike to Dixie. He snapped at her and growled. He was very un-Westie-like. He did not run, jump, bark or play with toys. He had difficulty getting up from a prone position. Our first thought was that he was a very old dog. Not the three-year-old we heard about. We contacted Angie at WRM and she indicated that this was the information given to them and the foster family did not notice anything amiss.

We made an appointment with our vet for a follow-up. He did not think he was old and could find nothing wrong on the surface, so took some x-rays. The news was not good. Tucker had severe hip dysplasia in both hips. No wonder he was crabby, his poor little bones were so misshapen and arthritic, it hurt just to look at them. We were referred to a specialist for an appointment the next week. I asked the vet for alternatives and he stated that some people choose euthanasia.

We again contacted Angie at WRM and they offered to take Tucker back, but we did not think another placement would do him any good. She also told us about WestieMed and what a wonderful organization it is.

Tucker - WestieMed Recipient
Tucker – WestieMed Recipient

We took Tucker to Veterinary Specialty Center in Buffalo Grove, IL. Dr. Claude Gendreau examined Tucker and stated he thought surgery was the only option. He could perform it that very day. We decided to go ahead as we had become too attached to Tucker to put him down or put off the inevitable. That evening Tucker had a Femoral Head Ostectomy on his right hip. The surgery went well and the Dr. indicated his prognosis was good and maybe the left hip would not have to be operated on if he heals well enough to compensate with his right. The procedure has been very successful in small breeds.

We thought it was too late to apply for aid as we went ahead with the surgery. Angie from WRM put us in touch with Bette from WestieMed and she assured us it was not too late. She helped with the application procedure and we just got the terrific news that the board of directors had approved his expenses.

We cannot begin to thank the generosity of WestieMed and the donors that made it possible to defray the huge expense incurred.

Tucker looks a little sad in his picture but is improving daily. He and Dixie are pals now and roll around together. He is even starting to play with some toys. It will be a long recovery but we think he is going to be every bit the happy Westie.

Thank you so much for the overwhelming generosity,

Julie, Tim, Dixie & Tucker

Update: June 2006:

Tucker is doing very well. He is a happy dog. We found out that he is much older than we were told (at least ten) and has the beginning of kidney disease. In spite of all that (he is on prescription food and being monitored) he has dramatically changed from the sad little rescue we picked up last July.

It has been a long road for Tucker, who knows what happened before we adopted him, but he has healed well after the surgery. He loves to go for walks, he loves to eat, and even loves his veggies for treats as traditional biscuits are out because of kidney disease. He has several beds around the house where he settles in as he doesn’t leave our side. He and his sister Dixie play often and he now initiates play which never happened before.

Thank you Westie Med for helping to make Tucker the happy dog he is. The generosity is still overwhelming.

Sincerely, Julie

Update: October 2006:

To all the kind people at Westie Med:

It is with a heavy heart that I must give you a sad update on Tucker. Tucker suddenly stopped eating one day in September but we weren’t immediately alarmed as we had just changed his food to a different prescription kidney diet. He would accept food from my hand and would occasionally eat treats. He stopped playing with his sister and then began vomiting and diarrhea. We took him to the vet and they kept him for tests as he had a high fever and all his blood tests were way off. We took him home the next day pending the results of further tests. The news was not good. He had pancreatic cancer. He was hardly able to stand and was degenerating quickly. We decided that poor Tucker had enough and made the difficult decision to put him down. We stayed with him and stroked him and told him how much he was loved. 

WestieMed helped make the last year of his life the best one. Before the illness he had recovered from the surgery so well he was acting like a typical silly Westie, playing, loving his walks, meals, and enjoying tummy rubs. We really fell hard for Tucker in the short time we knew him and miss him terribly.

Thank you for giving dogs like Tucker a chance at happiness.

Julie, Tim & Dixie