wow wow WOW is all we can say! Click here to see: Archie the miracle doggie. The shelter nearly did not release him to us and he was in such an advanced stage of anemia that he needed a blood transfusion to save his life. If you scroll down to the bottom of his page, you will see video clips that document his journey. Archie now needs to find a home that is worthy of him, he has the most amazing and resilient temperament. Someone very very lucky is going to end up with him as their special forever doggie!
Does anyone remember Archie, the dog we rescued a few weeks ago that needed the blood transfusion to save his life? He was severely anemic and it took him several weeks before his red blood cell count came back up to normal. Well, he finally was in the clear last week for neutering and he was neutered eight days ago. Today, his neuter incision developed a huge infection and he had to be rushed to the nearest hospital. It burst in the car on the way there and they had to flush him out, do baytril injection, morphine injection and send him home with oral baytril. But if he doesn't start feeling better by tomorrow, he may need to be officially hospitalized, on fluids, have surgery to flush out the entire infection and have drains put in. Either way, we did not have any funds to be prepared for this last minute emergency (isn't animal rescue fun?). We also still need to pay our bill from this morning for another new dog we rescued that is pregnant and she had an ultrasound and x-rays today that we owe our vet for. So we need help getting some donations raised asap. Please share this message by going below and clicking on the "share" button to send it to facebook or email it around to everyone you know. If everyone donates just a little bit, it will all add up? Thank you so much! (you can follow his journey in the video clips below)
Five years to the day, how it all began . . . is it all about to end? How can we continue on at this pace? Or is this just another week in animal rescue and we will somehow, some way find our way through this?
MONDAY 8/23/10: our vet debt at Community Vet is $2299.18, we still owe Brentwood Pet Clinic for Gabriella's old bill a balance of $469.97. We will be owing our bill for general boarding on 8/31/10 of $3,000. If we had another twenty foster homes we would be able to save all that money being spent on boarding. But we don't and it is either put dogs in boarding or scaling back the number of cockers we can save on a monthly basis. So we started out our week with being in the red $5,769.15. Then we received two large donations, one for $5,000 and another for $1,000. So we thought, oh great! We can go and get some new dogs now!
So on WEDNESDAY 8/25/10 we got two oldies, Stevie the blind senior cocker that was at the North Central Shelter. She is currently staying at Community Vet at $25 a day until this coming Saturday (so figure in her medical boarding will be $250 plus incidentals, ear flushing, ear meds). She sees Dr. Chang the doggie eye doctor this Friday (exam $148 plus any eye drops if it is determined she has glaucoma). Then on Saturday, she goes out to the general boarding place we use which is only $10 a day. Here is a video that another rescuer made of Stevie while she was in the shelter. You will see why our hearts went out for her. This is a video clip of Stevie after our volunteer, Tracey, took her to the groomer after she got her out of the shelter.
Then we also pulled a fourteen year old cocker from the Downey Shelter. Her shelter records said her name is Princess. We got her to our vet for an exam and discovered many things wrong with her. She has some mammary lumps (this is common with female dogs whom have not been spayed at a young enough age, she is unspayed). She has a deep cough, deep in her chest, sounds like it is turning into pneumonia. Bloodwork revealed her white blood cell count is high from infection. They did chest x-rays to see if there is any fluid in the lungs and also to check for any cancer from the mammary lumps. Her chest looks somewhat normal but her lungs look like old dog lungs, not in the best condition. She is blind in her left eye and it appears to be a cataract but we will need to get her seen by a doggie eye doctor to check the pressure to be sure there is no glaucoma pain. Her teeth are in quite bad shape, the gums infected, she needs some extractions. The worst medical condition she has is her ears which are nearly closed up with lumps from years of untreated infections. Whomever owned this gal really neglected her. She smells bad and has matted hair but that is the least of her worries. Immediately, the vet started her on antibiotic injections aimed to work on the cough. All other medical things are on hold until she can get rid of that deep cough. She was coughing very badly in the car on the way from the shelter. When we rescued Princess on Wednesday, she was allowing us all to handle her and touch her. By Thursday, she started biting and growling. I went to visit her and sat down on the floor in front of her cage and opened the door to talk to her and she raised her lip and growled at me. She may not necessarily be an aggressive dog, but based on all of the medical issues she has going on all at once, she may be a dog that is in pain and doesn't feel like being handled. If we bring her through the cough, then start doing other things on her, surgeries, etc. . at what point do we stop and say enough is enough? We never know, it is a tight rope we walk with each dog we rescue. For one thing, the a double ear ablation surgery on her to get her ears out of pain, the post-op pain on that type of major surgery is quite tremendous. We just did this with Teddy back in April and he was on extreme pain meds for a month. But Teddy was a younger dog as well, his body was able to recover quicker. And where will Princess go to live out her days? If we keep her on pain meds every day for all of what ails her, where will she go live? What a dilemma, Princess, what a dilemma. If only she could tell us what she wants.
Then we got a third dog that same day and we did this based on the new donations getting us caught up. We got a younger dog, a little petite four year old girl and we named her Lay-Lay. We knew she had double cherry eye when we saw her at the shelter and thought, hey, that's not so bad, only $350 to fix and she is young and cute, we'll get her adopted soon enough. Then when we got her to our vet, we discovered both of her knee caps are completely out, not going in and out, they are both out. It is amazing she is walking on them. So first things first, she gets spayed and her cherry eye surgery this week (spay is $140, cherry eye is $350). Then she will need to start on the first knee surgery in say a month, then rehab on the first knee (for two to three months) and then get the second knee surgery done. Hopefully we can find her an adopter sooner than later so she doesn't have to do all of her post-op rehab in a boarding facility. Alvin is at my house post-op on his first knee, he gets his second knee done in about another seven weeks. We not only need more foster homes, we need foster homes who can handle post-op care. Here are some video clips of Lay-Lay at the vet: Lay-Lay #1 and Lay-Lay #2.
THURSDAY 8/26/10 - we had been monitoring a situation with Los Angeles County whom had removed 300 animals from the property of an animal hoarder in Aqua Dulce. We had spent two full days in a row driving around to all six of the LA County Animal Shelters to photograph the animals and take video footage. There were a couple of cockers in really bad shape that we put our name on. The county did not know when the animals would be released as evidence so we were waiting and calling every day to check. Thursday at around 3:30pm, we got a call from the Baldwin Park shelter that the two cockers could leave, as well as a third dog, a senior Yorkie with no teeth and an ear tumor. So we got in the car and drove over there to get the dogs out before the shelter closed. The Yorkie went to one of our rescue partners (thank you to Chris for taking Trixie!) and the two cockers went to our vet. They both are getting an eye doctor visit on Friday. One has an eye missing, the other is totally blind, both eyes bulging out. They also both need dental and extractions (the one eyed cocker has a young face until you see her teeth, she is already missing quite a few teeth). We named these two girls Betty and Veronica and would like to keep them together as a bonded pair, especially after the suffering and horrors they have been through with an animal hoarder. But they are going to cost money to rehab. And finding someone to adopt a pair of ten plus old doggies, well that is going to be our biggest challenge ahead of us for these two gals. Here are some video clips of Betty and Veronica: clip #1, clip #2, clip #3
SATURDAY 8/28/10: we got another cocker out of the Baldwin Park Shelter that was in very rough medical shape. We named him Archie and he had to be rushed to the animal emergency hospital on Saturday at 5pm (right from the shelter). His gums were white, he had blood and infection oozing out of a wound on his throat, he smelled of rotted flesh and he had matts so severe that we had no idea what else was going on underneath all the hair. Archie needed a blood transfusion to save his life on Saturday night. By Sunday, he was like a different dog, wagging his tail, perky. When the vet shaved off all of the mats, they discovered tiny bites all over his legs, in addition to the spot on his throat. It looked like the bite marks of a very small animal, not a dog. Archie had been found by animal control, tied up at the side of the road. They thought he was dead. We are wondering how long he had been laying there? Had some small animals come along to chew on him? We shudder at the thought of what this poor dog has been through. Not only from a lifetime of neglect, but then to have his life nearly end in such a horrific way? His first twenty four hours at the emergency room, well, you better sit down before you look at this estimate. Here are two video clips of us at the emergency hospital with Archie. clip #1clip #2
But here's something happy! Goldie on the day before she gets adopted! Look at that wagging tail and smiling face! In the middle of such a bad week, it is a bright spot like Goldie that reminds us to hang in there . . . we've been in tight spots like this before and we will be there again. Goldie would not have had a chance at the Bakersfield Shelter had we not rescued her. At six years of age, she was just waiting out her time before the inevitable trip to the back room to be put to sleep. She is a dog that we rescued because she licked our hand when we passed by her kennel to say hi. So even though she is not a cocker, we thought oh what the heck, c'mon Goldie, let's get you outta here! She ended up needing a dental cleaning because her teeth had not been well cared for. But her temperament is so lovely and she now has adopters waiting for her (they had their home safety check three weeks ago and have been waiting and waiting with anticipation). Good for you Goldie! Now go out there and have the life you always dreamed of and don't forget to write! We love you Goldie!
SUNDAY 8/29/10: okay . . . so you probably thought we were done with taking in any more new dogs, right? Well, we had an adoption application come in from someone whom specifically wanted a fourteen year old female cocker at the Carson Shelter. Of course we didn't know what to expect as far as medical conditions. The adopter still has not even had a home check yet (they live out of state). But based on faith, we knew this dog was going to be put to sleep and we were her only hope. So we went to the shelter today to get her and she has gotten so sick in the last few days that they had to carry her to our car. She has a deep cough, nasal discharge, lethargic. A week ago we saw her at the shelter and she appeared to be okay. But then again, one week in an animal shelter, most dogs do wind up getting sick and the older the dog the lower their immune system is to fight it off. Her shelter name was Prince but we re-named her Maisy (in honor of one of our past adopters who suggested it as a name). Video clip of Maisy leaving the shelter.
And while we are at the shelter, another cocker that had been running out of time, a younger dog, he was still there. In fact, someone else had made a commitment to come and adopt him yesterday and then they never showed up. This little guy had the name Lucky and we thought for sure, that is a name that has cursed many animals. So we decided to get him out of the shelter as well, and changed his name slightly to call him Ducky. He doesn't appear to be in such bad shape, other than having matts and smelling really badly. He is sneezing but that is not unusual for a shelter dog. So we are crossing our fingers and paws and hoping that Ducky does not turn into an expensive medical dog. video clip #1 and clip #2
Since it is Sunday and all the general vets are closed, we had no choice but to go to the emergency animal hospital with both Maisy and Ducky. So right up front, we knew we are paying a premium price for medical boarding and any medical care for them. But this is how it goes, animals still need rescuing on Sundays, we just have to accept that it can't always be the best timing for us when we rescue a dog or two on a Sunday.
So Maisy . . . oh boy. This little girl has a lot going on. The vet took her in the back and they first started to shave off some of the mats where the urine soaked fur had been harshly eating at her skin. They found on both of her elbows, raw open wounds with maggots. They cleaned those up and bandaged them. She has nasal discharge, is coughing, is lethargic, we knew that already. The vet is recommending iv fluids, blood work, anti-biotic injections and chest x-rays. Okay, ka-ching ka-ching . . . that is going to add up fast. Before I was about to say okay, the vet then told me there is more potentially going on. There is fur loss and some wounds on her skin. They want to do a cushing's test and if she has cushing's, that is a trip to the endocrinologist for an ultrasound on her pituitary gland and then cushing's meds (which can be costly) and ongoing monitoring of the disease (if that is indeed what she has). Then her left eye looks like it may be glaucoma (although it didn't look that badly to me, we would need to get an eye pressure check on it to rule out glaucoma). So glaucoma, that by itself is not so bad, treatable, eye drops can cost up to $165 a month. Okay, that is more monthly expenses. So, we can't put this little sick gal on a plane so there goes our prospective adopter. Do we keep her alive and move forward? First treating the chest infection and upper respiratory infection? This will mean fluids, hospitalization, the x-rays, blood work, the cushing's test. I was ready to weep when I began to think of it all and wondering where would we get the funds to pay for yet one more elderly sick dog? I sat with her for awhile, she was wrapped up in a blanket and she was shivering. I already have the charges piling up for Archie that I don't even know how I am going to raise the donations for. Maisy is senior dog number six for the week. We generally can't even take in more than one senior dog a month. It was not something on Monday, that we had set out to do. But here it is, now Sunday and we are in financial trouble once again. I made the decision to put Maisy to sleep. I told the vet to get her ready, they put in a catheter and then I asked if I could sit and hold her for awhile. I was holding her, wrapped in her blanket, on my lap. I kissed her and told her I loved her. Then when it was time to put her to sleep, I couldn't go through with it. That last time I was faced with putting a dog to sleep over not having funds for medical, I came to regret it when the next day a donor had come forward to say they would have paid for everything.
So I remembered that past dog and now looking at Maisy, I thought that perhaps I would give her one more day to perhaps find a special donor? But again, having a donor to cover all and anything medical she will need, that is one challenge but not the only challenge. The second half of it is where will she go to live out her life? Will she have six months to live? Will she have a year? All things to consider. But for tonight, Maisy is at the emergency animal hospita and we now turn this over to the universe. We give this message out there to all of you. Perhaps you might forward on Maisy's story? Perhaps someone else might forward it on? Perhaps someone will come forward to sponsor all of her medical? It could run into the thousands, there is no telling. It might only be a few days on fluids, it might be a week? It might be a couple of weeks before her respiratory infection is cleared up? Then the blood work might reveal other issues? If she has cushing's, there is that expense. If she has glaucoma, that expense. We want to save Maisy, just like we want to save every other senior dog in our shelters. But we have to be realistic about what we can and can't afford to do. In hindsight, we almost think the other fourteen year old cocker with the painful ears, she has less chance for a comfortable life based on her medical problems. But does Maisy have any prospects for a comfortable life as well? We don't know. We just don't have the answer. We wish we could know the right thing to do, for Maisy, for Princess. We want them to be comfortable, have pain free lives, have a nice home to live out whatever time they have left. But we just don't know. It seems there is no easy choice. It is all a gamble, we get a dog from the shelter and we have no idea what the medical bills are going to cost. video clip #1 and video clip #2
If there is anyone out there whom would like to commit to taking on all of Maisy's medical bills, please let Camp Cocker know asap. We need to either move forward with medical treatment for Maisy or we need to let her go with love.
So there you have it . . . a reality check that we are not happy to share with all of you, but we must reach out and ask for your help. We definitely cannot take in any more new dogs, and we definitely now need to do some serious fundraising for all of the new ones we just took in this past week. And we need to make some painful decisions about the seniors that have huge medical bills ahead of them. You can share this posting by going to the bottom and hitting on the "share" button and posting it on Facebook or Twitter or emailing it out to everyone you know. Camp Cocker is a very small rescue group, trying to rescue the kinds of dogs that many other larger and more well funded rescues are taking a pass on. Perhaps we should only rescue the younger dogs from now on? I don't know . . . knowing us, we can say we'll do that but let's just come clean now and face up to it. When we walk into a shelter and see a cocker like Archie, or Stevie or Maisy . . . well all rational thinking goes out the window and we act on our hearts. So maybe Camp Cocker isn't going to make it after all? Not if we keep rescuing these types of medical needs doggies. Or maybe we will make it, maybe there are donors out there that want to help? Maybe this will inspire more people to become monthly donors? We had started asking people to commit to donating $3 a month and our personal goal was to get one thousand people donating $3 a month, just so we could cover our general boarding bill every month and not be worrying at the end of each month. We have about forty monthly donors right now, some are donating more than $3 each month. But we know we have a long way to go if we are going to be able to keep rescuing. We know that if we just keep trying and plugging ahead and asking for more donors to get on board, we will reach our goal of one thousand monthly donors.
We thank you for listening to our call for help. We thank you from the bottom of our wiggle butt lovin' hearts!
Monday, September 27, 2010 at 10:44PM 
