Small K9 Rescue – WestieMed

Penny

February 1, 2005February 6, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

February 2005:

I run a small dog rescue and a commercial dog breeder asked me if I would take Penny, a fivee-year-old Westie female in his kennel because her health was deteriorating for unknown reasons. Her hair was falling out and she was losing weight. I took her to my vet who gave her a thorough exam and did blood work, all of which was inconclusive. He suspected food allergies and put her on a special diet, Science Diet Z/D ($52 for 18 lbs!).

Another possible cause for her condition could have been uterine infection or disease, so the next step was to spay her. He didn’t see anything unusual about her uterus or ovaries, so he did a liver biopsy when he spayed her. While waiting on the results, she starting looking better, and while the results indicated that she was producing excessive steroids that could be due to diseased adrenal glands, it is possible that a tumor in her ovaries or uterus could have been what was causing the excessive hormones.

Penny’s breeder/owner told me that Penny had become increasingly agitated about being confined and that he had to take extra precautions to prevent her from escaping her whelping quarters and roaming the neighborhood. My vet said that history supported his theory that a tumor in her reproductive tract was producing excessive testosterone, so we will wait two weeks to see is her condition improves. If it does, then the problem was probably in her reproductive tract. If not, the problem is in her adrenal glands and she’ll have to start treatment for that. As a precaution, we will also keep her on the special diet for now as she could also have food allergies as well.

Needless to say, the vet bills were mounting!! I’m an independent rescuer whose only source of income for the rescue is adoption fees, and Penny’s vet bills would far exceed her adoption fee, so I turned to WestieMed for assistance and they came to the rescue, covering her vet bills.

Pat Kellim
Small K9 Rescue Paragould (NE) Arkansas

Cutie

February 1, 2005February 6, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

February 2005:

Cutie got his name from the office manager at my vet’s office. I had just gotten him from his breeder the night before and hadn’t been told his name, so she quickly named him for the records.

Cutie was surrendered to me because I run a small dog rescue, and he had a huge hernia in is the groin. While my vet gives me a very generous discount for my rescued dogs, he estimated Cutie’s surgery to repair this hernia would run $200 – $400. Since adoption fees are my only source of income for my rescue organization, and an eight-year-old retired stud dog wasn’t going to bring anywhere near that much money for his adoption fee, I turned to WestieMed for financial assistance, and they agreed to fund his vet bill.

He’ll have the surgery next week, as well as dental work and he’ll be neutered, and will then be available for adoption. He’s a very good, very sweet, mild-mannered boy and will make a wonderful companion for some lucky person.

Pat Kellim Small K9 Rescue Paragould (NE) Arkansas

Update, February 17, 2005:

Cutie had his surgery today. it was a hernia…a huge inguinal hernia and the testicle on that side had become infected too. H also had to have a lot of teeth pulled. The vet said in a few weeks he’ll feel like a new dog…and that he had to have been in a tremendous amount of pain for a very long time ;-(

Pat

Update: May 29, 2005:

Here is Woody. He is doing so well. This is the cutest, funniest little dog you can imagine. He is totally mellow about everything. He’s super affectionate, gentle, and fun-loving. We have now had him about three and half months, he is mostly housetrained and just a delight to live with. He will be getting his first haircut in about two weeks. We’re looking forward to his new image. He is healthy, active, and just great. He gets along well with our other Westie rescue, Muffy. She is a nine-year-old female from a puppy mill near Kansas City. We have had her for two and a half years. His “zipper” on his belly healed beautifully. It is difficult to find it now. We put his dog food through the food processor because he has so few teeth, but he LOVES to eat. We are feeding them Eagle Pack, which was recommended to us by a dog groomer. They really like it. His coat is thick and healthy. He almost never scratches, doesn’t seem to have allergy problems at all. This is a great dog! Thanks so much for letting us be his forever family.

Cheers, Marge & Tom

Baby Girl

February 1, 2005February 6, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

February 2005:

A commercial dog breeder contacted me and said he had a Westie pup with a deformed leg and asked if I could take her into my rescue. I took her to my vet who examined her and took X-rays. Her left rear leg bent at the hip only, but she was able to use it and it didn’t seem to hinder or hurt her any. The vet had never seen anything like it and was at a loss as to what to do, but thought it would cause problems as she grew. He suggested amputating it.

I didn’t want to have the leg amputated, so I contacted a lady I knew who was involved in Westie rescue to see if she might know what was wrong with the pup that I was now calling Baby Girl, as she was a tiny little five-week old baby girl. She e-mailed some other Westie rescuers and they all recommended that I take her to a vet school where she would be examined by specialists with state-of-the-art facilities.

One of the Westie rescuers recommended that I contact WestieMed for financial assistance. I did and they were eager to help this precious little angel, so I arranged for her to go to a vet school six hours from here. The vets there said her leg had been broken and had healed and her quadriceps was just scar tissue. There was nothing that could be done for her, but the leg shouldn’t cause her any problems unless she scraped her toes or pads when she walked – in which case they suggested a bootie or sock, etc. to protect her foot.

Baby Girl is now fourteen weeks old now up for adoption.

Pat Kellim Small K9 Rescue Paragould (NE) Arkansas

Update: July 2005:

This precious little Baby Girl came into our lives the weekend before Easter in March of this year all the way from Arkansas to Lexington, Kentucky all in one day. Marge and Tom who you read about in this section were so nice and helped to transport this little one and we met them in Paducah. We named her Miss Mckenzie Starbucks as our first stop when we got home was Starbucks and we found out she LOVES all coffee!!!!!

Miss Mckenzie is a joy to have around. She has a ball with her Westie sister, Jasmine, who is six years old, and her Westie brother, Baxter, a rescue who is four and half years old. Jasmine and Mckenzie play for hours and when they get too wild Baxter acts as the referee. She loves to be outside and loves to go around the fence line looking for the black Labs next door or the mixed breed on the other side next door. She is very affectionate along with being quite a character. Everyone loves her personality. She is very confident and is not afraid of anyone or anything except maybe the firecrackers she heard last night!!!! She has become the Alpha of the house taking nylabones right out of Baxter and Jasmine’s mouths. She is very sneaky and a riot to watch. She is also very intelligent and keeps us all on our toes.

Her bad hind leg does not cause her ANY problems or slow her down at all. She keeps up with the other two and you would never tell she had a problem. She is always a happy pup and has just recently become a water dog. We bought an eleven-foot pool and put milk crates upside down in the water to make a platform. She loves the water and will jump off the platform and then dog paddle to us. It is amazing to see her. She has no fear and just LOVES the water.

We want to thank Pat at Small K-9 Rescue and Westie ed for giving her the chance to live a normal life. We are so glad they did not have to amputate her leg. Thank you again for letting us give Mckenzie her forever home and for sending this precious angel to us.

Rebecca A. Rogers