We lost our little Westie Man in December of 2017 at the age of fourteen. Our hearts were broken We went back and forth discussing if we wanted another dog or to wait. Well after a few weeks we both decided that we had a huge void in our lives without our Little Man. Nothing beats coming home from work and having the little guy coming running over with unconditional love.
My husband started tearing up the Internet looking for another Westie to rescue as we had with Westie. Yes, our little Westie was named Westie by his previous owner. In the middle of January, my husband came across Bella which was in a Rescue in New Bedford and had been surrendered by her elderly owner. The Rescue was nice enough to keep her for us as we had a trip planned in early February. The day after we got home, we rushed off to pick up our new little lady, Bella. When we picked her up she had this awful cough which we were told was being treated with medicine and she would have to be on it for life. This cough was so horrible that we called our Vet who took her two days later. We were also told by the Rescue that he felt she had been neglected and it was apparent by her not being groomed.
Our Vet thought that it was probably Kennel Cough and put her on a round of Antibiotics. After the round of medicine, it appeared that the cough had stopped and that we were out of the woods. Two weeks later we ended up rushing Bella into the local emergency hospital with severe vomiting and diarrhea along with some shivering. I became very concerned as she was also lethargic and just seemed to be slipping very quickly. Even after only four weeks, this little girl had already grabbed my heart.
After three days in the hospital, we were able to bring her home and start from scratch again. Bella came to us underweight and very timid. We had basically gone back to the start again. We went for our follow-up with our own Vet after the hospitalization and the cough was back again. Our Vet had us resume the heart meds and referred us to an internist. The Internist found after an EKG that Bella’s heart was not pumping properly and referred us to a cardiologist.
As I write our story tonight, it is after her cardiology appointment today with still some unanswered questions. At this point, Bella is being treated for Chronic Degenerative Valvular Disease with further testing ahead of us We just want Bella to be healthy and happy. Over the last two months, Bella has become the little lovebug and just can’t get close enough to you. After just eight weeks, Bella has stolen both of our hearts and we will continue to get Bella the best treatment that we can.
Thanks to WestieMed, it will assist us to go a little further with Bella.
Maisy was surrendered to the Westie Rescue of Missouri on Sunday, July 17th. She was just seven months and eleven days old. She lived in a second-floor apartment and spent most of her life in a kennel. The apartment complex was surrounded by concrete drives with little to no grassy areas. She was surrendered because she was having more frequent accidents in her kennel and the couple was expecting their first child with the mother experiencing a difficult pregnancy.
Maisy rode on my lap on the way to our home. She seemed very curious, happy, and filled with lots of kisses. We stopped at a park on the way to let her out and when we sat her in the grass, she did not know what to do. She slowly started exploring with her head buried in the grass, sniffing and sniffing as if it were her first experience. When we got home we showed her the backyard and her new home. She ran through the house over and over and over again at full speed.
First up were a bath and an appointment at the vets and groomers. She had never been groomed, afterward; she looked so tiny and even more adorable. After the initial visit to the vet, she received a healthy report and we started her on heartworm and flea and tick medicine. At her spay appointment, the veterinarian found a problem with her heartbeat. We were devastated at first because we had two Westies that had died from heart problems. Alex lived to be thirteen years old and Gracie (also a rescue puppy that we adopted at the age of two years old) lived to be fifteen years old.
While Maisy healed from her spay surgery, we all truly became a family. It feels like she has always been with us. She is so ornery and sweet at the same time. She ran off with a bar of soap, she pulled the towels down off the towel rod and dragged them out of the bathroom, and she constantly needs a toy instead of your hand to chew on. However, she looks directly into your eyes. She climbs up and sits on your shoulder like a Cockatoo. She loves to play hide and seek she creeps around the furniture to sneak upon us. She loves being outside and going on walks. She sleeps between us at night and loves to be covered up with her little quilt. She loves car rides. But mostly she loves to run up and down the fence and chasing the neighbor’s dog back and forth. She will run over to us for approval and then go back to running the fence line.
Maisy is currently being seen by a veterinary cardiologist. She is currently being evaluated with test doses of medication to control her heart problem.
Maisy does not have any more accidents – she is a rock star!
Update April 8, 2016
Maisy- WestieMed Grant Recipient
Thank you so much for your support for our Maisy.
She is doing great under the supervision of her veterinarian and cardiologist. Her condition is being managed with medication and monitoring.
She is our little love. She is adorably curious, she loves attention, and is a thief of all socks.
Thank you so much for helping her!
Update November 22, 2017
Maisy- WestieMed Grant Recipient
Maisy is doing great.
She is still taking her Atenolol twice daily.
I am scheduling her for her annual cardiologist appointment soon.
My name is Penny, well now it is. Let me start from the beginning. I was owned by a breeder in Oklahoma. I had several litters before I was five years old. When I was pregnant with my last batch of puppies the breeder discovered I had a heart condition and sent me to an auction where I sold for $500 to a person that didn’t want me, they just wanted my puppies. Once my puppies were old enough to be away from me, I was sold to a rescue shelter for $50. Lucky for me the rescue shelter that bought me put my picture on petfinder.com for my new mommy to find.
This is where my story really gets good. My mom applied to Westie Rescue and was approved to take me home. At that time my name was Misty, but I didn’t know that was my name since no one had ever talked to me before. Since I responded better to names that started with a “P” my mom named me Penny.
At first, I was unsure of my new surroundings at my new home. I was shy and just tried to be on my best behavior. I really liked my new mom from the minute I met her and I stay right by her side whenever I can. I have a new sister that looks a lot like me. She wants to play with me, but since I had spent all my life in a small pen, I didn’t know how to play. I had no idea what to do with these things called toys. Thanks to my mom and sister, I am learning how much fun playing can be. The only problem is that my mom gets nervous to let me play too much because of my heart condition.
The nice doctor told my mom that my heart rate is too slow (48 bpm) but they aren’t sure why. I have gone to a new doctor that specializes in hearts. He has done a lot of tests on me. I was then sent to Purdue University where another doctor ran more tests on me to see if I needed to have a pacemaker. I had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours to see what my heart rate does all day. Thanks to WestieMed my mom was able to afford to do these tests that cost so much. Now I’m just waiting for results and hopefully, I don’t have to have a pacemaker but WestieMed is helping me and my mom all the way!
I sure am lucky to have such a great home now. That is why I am always on my best behavior. I am very friendly and never know a stranger. I will let just about anyone hug me or pet me. I never chew on anything and always try to go to the bathroom outside. Thank you for helping me so that I can get better and run and play with my new sister!
Update December 17, 2007:
Penny is doing great today. She did have her surgery and she had a dual pacemaker put in. After the surgery, she started having a little trouble with her diaphragm beating to the pace of her heart. They found out that it was the atrial lead communicating with the diaphragmic nerve so they had to turn off the atrial lead. I have to take her back to Purdue in one month for a check-up which will consist of two chest x-rays and another echo to check for the lead placements and to see how the pacemaker is functioning and they hope with the tissue growing around the lead that they will be able to turn the atrial lead back on. Right now the ventricular lead is the only one pacing and it is pacing 80% of the time since Penny’s heart rate was so slow. Now it’s just waiting for another month and trying to keep her from feeling too good so she doesn’t dislodge a lead!
Update January 30, 2008:
I just thought I would let you know that we took Penny back to Purdue for her check-up yesterday. She is doing great. They still were not able to turn her atrial lead on yet because of the thumping in her diaphragm and they turned up the voltage to her lead in the ventricle. Overall was that she was doing great and they took x-rays to check the lead placement and they were still where they had put them. (Don’t mind telling you I had my doubts!) Penny would fly off the couch before you could catch her and that was a no-no. We take her back in again in six months and hopefully then they will be able to turn the atrial lead on then. Hope everything is going well with you and again I thank WestieMed from the bottom of my heart for helping Penny. I’ll keep in touch.
Update April 21, 2008:
Penny is doing fantastic! She is running with Chrissy outside like a maniac. She loves to just take off running as fast as her little legs will carry her! We have to take her back to Purdue this summer to try again to see if they can turn on the atrial lead. I guess if Penny still has the same reaction that she had the last two times then the atrial lead is worthless. I have faith that it will work this time! I will let you know the outcome. We take her back in July. Thanks and sorry again for being so tardy with a reply.
Penny – WestieMed Recipient
Update March 3, 2010:
Penny is doing well. She no longer has a pacemaker due to infection. She just couldn’t leave it alone and so I made the decision that if it bothered her that much that I would not have a new one inserted. After all, I did not rescue her to make her miserable! She seems to be doing fine without it.
A couple of months ago she had her teeth cleaned. The Vet nor I really wanted to have her put under an anesthetic because she has such a low heart rate. Turns out she kept her heart rate up to 130 bpm during the entire cleaning!
I think she loves the life she has right now if she could only find a way to get rid of Chrissy (the other Westie in the house)! She is, of course, spoiled…I’m not sure who did that to her, looks forward to eating (big eater) and I have to watch her diet or she will just go on her own See food diet! She thanks everyone from WestieMed for where she is today (alive and healthy).
Lynn Locklear
Update April 20, 2010:
This is my last update to you about Penny. I just wanted to let you know that I had to put Penny to sleep yesterday. I am so heartbroken and I wish they could have figured out what was going on. Last Tuesday she wouldn’t eat and was acting very strange. That little girl never missed a meal. I took her to my Vet and the to a specialty vet up north and they sent me home with prednisone and antibiotics. I could get her to eat a little of her human food favorites but every day she would drop another one of those off her list. I felt by Friday that if the vet couldn’t help anymore that I would have to have her put to sleep. (I have been crying for a week and as I type this to you) They gave me some hope on Friday and gave me some other medications for her stomach and then some a/d food. I had to force her to eat on Friday and then on Saturday when I came at her with the syringe she wanted to eat it herself so I put it on a plate. I was feeling better until I later looked at her gums and they were white. She was bleeding internally somewhere, most likely into her abdomen. There wasn’t anything else I could do. I am so sad and I miss her so much. Penny is now an Angel as I always knew she was.
