Sunday
Jun062010
a wing and a prayer and a much loved dog, eh?
Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 11:03PM Maddy's great adventure begins!
Maddy is a disabled dog that Camp Cocker rescued in February 2009 from the West Los Angeles animal shelter. She was brought into the shelter by some people whom claimed she was a stray dog. Funny thing is, she couldn't walk! How the heck did she escape and become a stray dog? Hmmm . . . well, that's odd.
Anyway, by the time Camp Cocker rescued Maddy, we had no idea how much time had passed since she actually had injured herself and became unable to walk. Our orthopedic surgeon suspected it was a slipped disc but without an mri there was no way of knowing for sure. We didn't have the funds that day to get the mri right away and the vet told us that for every day that passes, the chances for a successful surgery are lowered. So we opted to take her to physical therapy instead where Maddy was most helped by the swim portion of the therapy.
In August of 2009, for the very first time, she was able to stand herself up into a standing position all by herself. By January of 2010, she was able to walk completely around the block (yes, she walks slow and looks like a little drunk person, but she can do it). Camp Cocker volunteer, Elaine, has generously offered to take Maddy for the summer to her home up in Washington State for some more one-on-one time (thank you Elaine!). There is a local swim therapy place where Maddy will be able to get swim sessions once she arrives. This is really going to help Maddy to get stronger. Maddy had started up a few swim therapy sessions here in Los Angeles (thank you to volunteer Kim who so generously took Maddy) and we noticed the difference right away in how much stronger Maddy would get the days following a swim session.
Camp Cocker volunteer Tracey has found two private pilots, Linda and Mickey, who are donating their time and plane to fly Maddy up to Washington (and Tracey will accompany her). We just need to raise the funds to reimburse them for their fuel (a guess is around $650). Thank you Tracey, Linda and Mickey for making it possible for Maddy to fly in comfort! We also want to start raising funds for Maddy's swim therapy, the more we raise, the more frequently she can go this summer.
Oh and if you haven't been following Maddy's story from the beginning, you will want to grab a box of kleenex and sit down to watch all of her videos. You will be crying happy tears when you see her determination and spirit. Nobody is going to tell Maddy that she can't do something when she decides she is going to do it. We are going to miss you Maddy and Elaine is going to take really good care of you. You are going to love your big adventure. Don't forget to write and send postcards from summer camp!
say a little prayer for me
Ssshh, don't tell anyone that Penny is not a cocker spaniel! (it will be our little secret) How did Penny the uh, cocker spaniel, end up in Camp Cocker? We were at the East Valley Shelter in Los Angeles in January of 2009 to get a senior blind cocker out named Fily. Well, when we walked up to Fily's kennel we noticed an old beagle in there with her. The kennel cards said in big letters "BFF". It turns out the owners turned them in together. And we thought to ourselves . . . oh geez, how are we going to take the one oldie and leave her best friend behind? Fily went to live with Camp Cocker volunteer, Susan and Penny came to live with Cathy.
On Saturday, Penny started throwing up blood and then we rushed her to the animal hospital and when we arrived, she starting having blood come out the other end all over their floor. It was really frightening and they did x-rays on her to rule out any sort of mass or tumor. Blood work revealed that things are not all that abnormal, the pancreatitis test came back negative. They put her on immediate supportive care, iv fluids and she is hospitalized right now. The vet has a hunch that it might be HGE because all of the symptoms match. Tomorrow the internal medicine vet works and they are going to see if he can do an ultrasound on her liver. Poor Penny, she looked SO sad and depressed today when we visited her! Please send some positive and healing wishes her way?
Toby becomes a Canadian!
After Camp Cocker rescued Toby from the Downey Shelter in Los Angeles County (June 2009), he immediately had to have bladder stone surgery. Once he recovered, Angels Under Our Wings Cocker Rescue, our rescue partner in Victoria, B.C. found Toby the home of his dreams. It is so rewarding to see a dog go from not being wanted by anybody, to be very much wanted and loved like every dog deserves. Thank you to Lisa Atterby for making it possible for Toby to find his people and thank you to The Hogan Foundation for helping us out at the last minute with Toby's urgent surgery. We love you Toby!
