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How You Can Help Nevada County Animals |
Thanks to Dr. Avery at For the Love of Pets, Angel pulled through and is doing quite well. She is soon to be spayed.
Dion is a very big kitty who came to the shelter with a very badly infected eye. After several different kinds of antibiotics, his eye was still not well. It was discovered that he had a worm in his eye, and is now being treated with gentamicin. These worms come from gnats around the eyes. The worms are removed by pulling them out and then putting the cat on antibiotics. Hopefully this time his eye will heal. Update:
After a stay in the Nevada County Animal Shelter, Dion has been adopted!
Milo will need a femoral head ostectomy when his pelvis has healed. He will also be neutered when he has recovered, and will make an excellent pet for someone. Update: Milo has been adopted.
Quinton is a kitty who came to the shelter sick with an upper respiratory infection and an eye that was shriveled up and non-functional. The eye was oozing and infected. Quinton has had his eye removed and is recovering from his URI and his infected eye. He is in a foster home and doing well. Update:
Quinton has been adopted.
Max was nearly killed by another dog. He was so ripped up, you could hardly tell he was alive. Dr. Dekker performed a miracle and put Max back together again. He had so many stitches in him that he looked like a patchwork quilt. In spite of his trials and tribulations, Max is a happy, friendly little dog and grateful to be alive. Update:
Max has been adopted.
This little guy (also
named Max) had a lump on his hindquarters and was doing a lot of licking and
chewing. He was put on some antibiotics and his condition
improved. Max was one of the few that had a not-very-serious
problem, therefore not costing a great deal to remedy.
Tonga has fairly good use of one back leg, but was never able to regain the function of the right hind leg. He dragged the leg until it was very infected and had edema, and the only alternative was to amputate the leg. Fortunately, Dr. Strolle of Best Friends was able to perform this surgery at a discount to Sammie's Friends. The owner had spent all the money he had to help his dog. We are glad Sammie's Friends was here to help.
It is
illegal to tie your dog up for more than three hours in a row. It is
also incredibly dangerous, because your dog cannot get away if it is
attacked. Please don't have your dog end up like this poor dear
little puppy did.
Sadly,
this one isn't a "Happy Tail." Kitty was a cat who
belonged to an old man who wasn't taking very good care of him.
Thanks to a neighbor, he got to a vet. Sammie's Friends helped
this kitty, but he had such progressed kidney failure that he didn't
make it. This one was sad, because the family had the money but
wouldn't spend it on the cat and neglected him. Had he been helped
sooner, he would have made it. The nice neighbor was in tears, as
were all of us. Bless you, Kitty. We love you.
Luna is a three-year-old Great Dane. She and her sister were left behind by their owner. A kind person was willing to take them in.
Luna
needed to be spayed and had a hard time with that. Her recovery has
been slow, but she will be fine.
Nicki
had somehow severely injured her right lower eyelid, and it was swollen,
infected, and oozing. It did not respond to topical treatment, and
surgery had to be performed. Nicki belongs to an older person on
Social Security. Sammie's Friends was able to help Nicki, and she is
doing well.
This cat possibly has the best personality of any cat I've ever met. Anyone who meets him falls so in love. He's funny, he's loving, he's engaging. In the old days before Sammie's Friends, this cat would have been immediately euthanized because there would have been no money to fix his leg. That would have been a great loss to us all. When I meet a guy like Allistair, I am reminded of why Sammie's Friends was begun in the first place - to save these precious, precious lives.
This is a real financial strain on the family. Sometimes it's a choice between feeding the children or medicating the dog. Any donations that anyone can make would be so appreciated. No donation is too small or too big.
Dear Abby is now in a foster home where she is being well cared for. Hopefully, her medical conditions, due to long-term neglect, will be resolved and she will make a very nice doggie for someone. Postscript: Poor Abby had to be euthanized in August, 2009. She was simply not able to overcome all of the medical problems caused by being neglected for so long.
Pee Wee had severe pancreatitis, as well as bad teeth. She came to
the vet vomiting and with high liver enzymes. The good vet tried
to help Pee Wee, but sadly Pee Wee didn't make it. Her condition
was too far advanced. Pets need regular vet care, not just when
there is a crisis. Maybe Pee Wee would still be with us had she
had proper vet care throughout her life.
One day a lady called me and told me her son had run over their kitten with an ATV. I later found out the son was 4 years old. (What on earth is a 4-year-old doing driving a vehicle?) Nevertheless, the family had no money and the kitty was badly injured. Pine Creek tried mightily to save his life. He was on a feeding tube and other medications and hospitalized, but ultimately little Simba did not make it. Please, people, take better care of your pets.
Colie is a year-old Rott/Lab mix. He has a growth the size of a marble under his left eye. It is a tumor of some sort, and has been sent for a biopsy. We are worried about Colie.
Timber
is a retired Guide Dog now living with his family in Grass Valley.
He
worked with a blind man in the Bay Area for four years until his chronic
ear infections forced him into early retirement. He had a very drastic
surgery that removed the ear canals and ear drums on both sides of his
head, leaving him with a partial hearing loss. Unfortunately,
this surgery was not the end of Timber's troubles. Timber has been plagued with unexplained infections in and around the site of the surgery that was done two and a half years ago. His veterinarians have decided that they need an MRI to help diagnose Timber before performing any further surgeries. Timber is an amazing dog. He is warm, loving and a very important part of his family. UPDATE: Thankfully, Timber had his needed surgery paid for by Guide Dogs for the Blind.
UPDATE ON SOPHIE: Sophie recently had to have more surgery, this time to remove a tumor. Luckily, she is recovering from that and doing fine. This gal is a real trooper! UPDATE, PART II: Sam and Sophie happily have been adopted. Sophie has recovered from her surgeries.
Back to Happy Endings |
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Angel
is the most precious little chihuahua mix you'd ever want to meet.
She is quite young. Her teenage owner got her at an auction in
Auburn, and within two days she was sick with parvo. Parvovirus
is a viral disease of dogs, mostly affecting puppies. The intestinal
lining has the biggest concentration of rapidly dividing cells in a
puppy's body. The virus attacks and kills these cells, causing
diarrhea (often bloody), depression and suppression of white blood
cells. Without treatment, the puppy will nearly always die. A
simple vaccination and keeping your puppy off the ground until fully
immunized (3 shots required) prevents this awful and expensive-to-treat
condition.
Milo
was picked up by Animal Control after being hit by a car. Milo's
pelvis was broken (more than one break), and that presented other
complications of swelling and edema. He is required to be
absolutely stationary for six weeks, and must be picked up even to go
outside for potty breaks. Fortunately, we were able to find a
great foster mom to care for him during this difficult time. She
reports he's a real love and is gaining weight. He
was very emaciated when we first got him.
This
poor doggie has been through a lot. Fortunately, he is owned by a
very nice man who has been with him through thick and thin. About
nine months ago, Tonga was shot and a pellet lodged in his spinal
cord. He was given surgery by Dr. Kortz in Sacramento, and his
owner paid around $4,000 for that surgery. Tonga's owner continues
to have to catheterize him to urinate, as he has never regained that
function.
This
four-month-old puppy was tied up in her back yard. Another dog
attacked her while she was tied up and nearly killed her. She is
recovering thanks to the kind folks at Best Friends.
Spunky
is a spunky little rabbit who was purchased as a friend for another
bunny. Lo and behold, he and the other bunny turned out to be
opposite-sex bunnies, and before you know it, there were six new
bunnies. Sammie's Friends paid to have Spunky neutered before
there were even more bunnies. Mama Bunny will be spayed as soon as
the babies are weaned. No more bunnies for this family.
Bunnies multiply very rapidly, so without neutering and spaying, an
impending nightmare was in the making. Sammie came to the
rescue. Yeah!
This
precious kitty came to the shelter with a broken leg. Dr. Strolle
at Best Friends put Allistair back together again. He then
went to a foster home for awhile and now he is doing pretty well, just
waiting to have his pins pulled out.
Lupin
is a service dog for a person who is permanently disabled with a traumatic
brain injury and a seizure disorder. With the help of Lupin her
owner has a close-to-normal life. Lupin is also an important member
of the family. She is invaluable. As luck would have it, Lupin
has severe skin allergies requiring special food and several medications
daily.
Abby
is a lovely 5-year-old Labrador Retriever who was left (along with
several other dogs) to try to make it on her own when her owner
died. Eventually a kind-hearted neighbor was able to catch the
dogs and bring them to the shelter. Abby had not been well cared
for and has several medical conditions that are now being treated.
She is hypothyroid (low thyroid) and has a very bad skin condition that
is being treated. She also has a heart problem.
Sophie
and her brother Sam have been together their entire life. They are
10 years old and their owner could no longer keep them. Poor
Sophie had some medical problems. Sophie had a torn anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL) in her hind leg, and she also had glaucoma in
her eye and needed to have her eye removed. When the ACL is
torn, the joint becomes unstable and the femur and tibia can move back
and forth across each other. The ACL is most commonly torn when
the dog twists on his hind leg. 
The
twisting motion puts too much tension on the ligament and it
tears. This often occurs if the dog slips on a slippery surface,
makes a sudden turn while running, or is hit by a car. Obesity can
also contribute to this problem.
Therefore,
the pressure in the eye increases. The increased pressure in the
eye actually can cause the eye to stretch and enlarge, in addition to
blinding the eye. It is very painful for the dog and must be
attended to.
Poor
Questor. He is a 4-year-old cattle dog, and an example of what
happens when you don't give your dog heartworm prevention. He came
to the veterinarian in such poor condition that he would not have lived
much longer without help. His abdominal cavity was filled with
liquid, and his heart has a murmur. He has lost so much weight he
looks emaciated with a distended belly. Questor also has badly
infected ears and eyes, and needs care for them, too.
Cisco
the pit bull and Apollo the weenie dog are both 17 years old. They
were adopted on the same day by the same person, and they have
been glued at the hip ever since. Apollo's owner called Sammie's
Friends last year for help. Apollo had lost weight from 22 pounds
down to 11 pounds and was nearly dead. It
turns out he had a pancreatic enzyme deficiency, so he was not absorbing
his food and was starving to death. He
now takes pancreazyme and has gained his weight back and is doing
well. He must take this enzyme for the rest of his life.
The
owner feels that when one of these boys dies, the other will go, too, as
they have been together forever and love each other dearly.
Cisco, the pit bull, had developed a cough and it turns out he has
developed heartworm. He is currently being treated with an
antibiotic and Heartgard. He is too old to undergo further
heartworm treatment. The Heartgard will stop the worm build-up,
and the worms will gradually die off. However, since he is already
close to 18 years old, most likely the worms will outlive him.
Poor
Nugget was taken to Grass Valley Vet, where it was determined that he
was in a ketoacidotic state. This is caused by longstanding
undiagnosed diabetes. Due to a lack of insulin, glucose cannot be
used by the body cells as an energy source. Instead, fat is broken
down to provide energy. When fat is used as an energy source,
acids known as ketones are produced. Ketones circulating in the
blood cause signs of DKA - anorexia, nausea and lethargy. This is
a very serious condition, often causing death. The local vet said
Nugget needed to be in 24-hour treatment, and it appeared the dog might
not make it. Nugget was sent to Loomis Basin, where he received
the care he needed.
Update
on Curly and Moe: A very nice woman paid a large portion of Curly's
bill. He was very ill, and we weren't sure he was going to make
it. With the great care from Pine Creek Veterinary Clinic and a very
nice donation from Tracy, these two are now happily living in San
Diego. They were flown there by Bob Hecocks on his private
airplane. Not bad for a cat from the Nevada County Animal
Shelter. We wish both Curly and Moe the best in San Diego.
This
precious Daisy Dawg had to have his (yes, Daisy Dawg is a he) leg
amputated. He struggled for a year with a very hard, swollen
leg. It turned out it was a benign growth, but no amount of
treatment seemed to alleviate the problems. Eventually poor Daisy
could not use his leg at all. His owners were hesitant to have his
leg removed, as he is a very big dog and they were afraid he wouldn't
adjust.
This
poor dog, Corkie, was bitten by a California brown spider. These
spiders are highly toxic and destroy the tissue. This spider causes
the tissue to become necrotic (dead) and it must be debrided (removed),
and the dog needs hospitalization and anesthesia and IV fluids.
So
far the bill is $1304.00.
It will be more as the dog still needs more necrotic tissue debrided and
some skin grafting. The bill ultimately will be about $2,000.
The veterinarian, Mike Reget, DVM, at Loomis Basin Veterinary Clinic, says
the prognosis is good. Without treatment this would result in
certain death. Donations will be gratefully accepted.
Raz
is a kitty who had bad teeth, abscesses and infection, and a coughing and
gagging reflex. The owner thought it was the bad teeth that was
making him do that. Raz got his teeth fixed up. Guess
what? Stuck in the back of his throat was a long and old blade of
grass, causing the gagging. Mr. Raz is quite a character and the
folks at Mother Lode Veterinary Clinic quite enjoyed having him as a
patient. Mr. Raz is doin' good now.
