04.25.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:10 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
What the heck is going on in the pet dog world? In the past few weeks, since just April 1, we have been asked to take in a HUGE number of puppies and breeder dogs!! What does that mean?
The first week of April, we took in four breeder dogs – all females – Connie, Flora, Annamarie and Aliana.
Connie had a shrunken eye and was severely underweight at 5.6 pounds – she should be at least 8.
Aliana also had a shrunken eye, most likely from a dog fight, and a HUGE hernia.
Say hello to Flora Baton.
This is Aliana and here….
is her hernia – big enough to be an entity in itself.
This one is Connie.
And finally…..
this is Annamarie!
They were all a total mess – but with about three weeks of good food and supplement and lots of love…meet the new dogs…
This is Flora – at first glance, she seemed to be in good health.
As did Connie. Other than her shrunken eye.
Annamarie seemed in fairly good health. Here she is with Aliana after Aliana’s surgery.
Ok, so they all look great and once their immunizations were done, we started getting them ready for adoptions. But, we immediately sent Aliana to our vet for surgery to correct the hernia. Our vet is very conservative when it comes to hernias that are NOT umbilical hernias – other hernias could actually be the intestines pushing out through a tear in the stomach wall and can easily turn and become necrotic. His philosophy in this saved Aliana’s life – not because the hernia was her intestines, but because as he did her spay along with the hernia repair, he found a massively infected uterus. It was the size of a large hot dog and full of pus. She could have easily died of this horrible infection.
Then, the adventure this week. We sent the other three for their spay this week. Bloodwork was good so the vet went forward – we always screen for kidney and liver disease (I know, it’s not a critical rescue expense, but is absolutely worth while). Both Flora and Annamarie’s spay went fine, but 10 minutes after they were closed up, they started bleeding heavily into their abdomen. After redoing the internal stitches twice more, the vet was finally able to get them to stop bleeding. Turns out their uterus had been used so much, the blood vessels were extremely large and difficult to keep sewed together. The vet said they looked like the uterus of a boxer, not a nine pound shih tzu – Thankfully, both were repaired and are back with us.
Then, almost tragedy. Connie started crashing under anesthesia. She started breathing in a very labored manner so the vet opted to pull her out of anesthesia. Thankfully, he was able to pull her out of the crash and saved her life. He x-rayed her abdomen and chest and found….drum roll please…. a collapsed lung. Or missing lung, or something. Just not a lung full of oxygen.
See above, the dark area is a lung full of air – there is nothing on the other side. They believe it is collapsed and/or may be full of fluid.
As you all know, we try to raise funds from our newsletter supporters only for the unusual, extraordinary vetting. We do lots of other fundraisers – photoshoots, etc. But, our veterinarians have had to raise their prices this year – this is the first time in 4-5 years since the prices have gone up, and he does need to make a living. But, this is going to cause us to have to do one of two things – either cut back on the number of little fluffers we take in or ask you all for a tiny bit more per dog. We’re going to start by asking for a little bit more in donations – I know you all are hit hard by the economy too, but these dogs are being dumped left and right – so I just have to try!
We’ve just about figured out that the breeders are having trouble selling their “merchandise” so are now dumping the dogs so as not to have any more expenses. I’ll be telling you soon about a few more.
But, back to the Baton Sisters. For their vetting, they need the following…
Aliana Baton – $700 for the hernia repair, removal of her shrunken, damaged eye and her pyometria. If you can help this little puppymill survivor, CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL, or to send a check, let me know HERE. Or, to use a credit card, DOWNLOAD the FORM HERE and fax it to me at 713-583-7816 or 281-754-4851.
Connie Baton – $400 for the ICU, X-rays and the consult with the Gulf Coast Radiologist. Another $400 for the ultrasound and consult with the internal medicine specialist at GC which is scheduled for TOMORROW. I may need to ask for a lot more if she needs speciality surgery. But for now, she needs a total of $800. If you can help this little puppymill survivor, CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL, or to send a check, let me know HERE. Or, to use a credit card, DOWNLOAD the FORM HERE and fax it to me at 713-583-7816 or 281-754-4851.
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04.19.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:18 pm by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Hello! My name is Ashley and I am one sweet guy. I am a Southerner so I am also quite debonair even though I don’t look like it! Actually, my picture makes me look a bit pathetic, but you should have seen me just a few months ago!!! I am one of the Hairless North Carolina Shih Tzus rescued last summer from horrible living conditions. When I came to Lone Star I had worms, no hair, mange, and really bad skin. I hadn’t had a bath, proper nutrition, or even routine medical care in my first home. I am VERY lucky to be here! My brothers and sisters and I are now ready for adoption. You can tell who we are on our Petfinder pages by our movie names! We were named after the characters in “Gone with the Wind” because we are survivors!!!!
As you can see, my hair is starting to grow back. It seems to grow really fast around my neck so it looks like I am wearing a feather boa. That’s not very manly but it is HAIR!! My head is a little bald now, but hopefully that will grow soon. I know I will never have a beautiful long Shih Tzu coat, but I do have hair now and that’s what counts!!! I am about 6-7 years old and I weigh 10 pounds. I am a little shy, but once I get to know you I am very friendly and loving. My foster mom says that I am sweet-tempered. I get along well with by foster brothers and sisters too.
I would love to find my forever home. I need to know that I am special and that I am loved. Now that I know what the good life is – I want more! I am very lucky to be here, but I would be luckier to find my very own family to love. If you think I might fit into your home, please contact my foster mom at AdoptionInquiries@yahoogroups.com. She’ll tell you what a special guy I am. Also, please check out my very own Petfinder page.
I am altered, up-to-date on all my shots and heartworm negative.
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04.18.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:42 pm by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Benjamin Ranger, otherwise known as the one-eyed wonder dog, was adopted today by Tracey Aleman and her family of San Antonio, TX. Benjamin will be the newest member of the Aleman family, joining their 7 year old cocker spaniel. The Alemans are repeat adopters. Seven years ago they adopted Buddy, who recently passed away of old age. Attached are a few snap shots of a very happy Benjamin and the Aleman’s son, Nicholi. I’m so excited for Benjamin and am glad he was able to find his “furever” home.
CLICK HERE to read Benjamin’s original story. It’s quite remarkable.
This is what he looked like when we first got him into Lone Star.
We can only do this because of our wonderful supporters.
Please consider a small donation to our LSSTLAR Veterinary fund!
To help us continue our mission to save those that others have passed by, please use THIS LINK for paypal, or THIS LINK to send a check. Download the credit card form HERE and fax it to 713-583-7816. You guys are the GREATEST!!
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04.11.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:23 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
I’m sure you remember Princess Pei Pei. She came into our rescue severely underweight, heart worm positive, sick with kennel cough, and with a cherry eye. She was a mess! It took us over a month to get her over the cold and some weight on her before we were ready to spay her and have her cherry eye surgery when she came down sick again with kennel cough! It appears to have been a relapse. She finally got well and had her spay and cherry eye surgery. We had thought this poor little underweight girl was pregnant when we got her, but it was luckily determined to be a false pregnancy. After the spay and her hormones going crazy, she developed a full blown false pregnancy! Her belly swelled and she had lots of milk. It took a few weeks for her to dry up! She has been through so much and now she faces having to undergo heart worm treatment. She seems to be healthy now and although still on the slender side, she is eating well and at a much healthier weight now. She needs your help to raise the funds for her final treatment so she can finally find her forever home.
If you can donate, please use Paypal HERE or send a check HERE or use a credit card HERE.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:22 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
With all the overwhelming load of dogs we have, of course, we get yet another email about a few breeder dogs that need somewhere to go. An independent rescuer in Baton Rouge, LA, took several little dogs from a local breeder (one breeding “toys” and “imperial shih tzu,” etc so obviously one of the worst kind). Four of the little females were in HORRIBLE shape. She took them to the vet for basic shots and a quick exam. I must say the vet’s notes were amazing. “terribly emaciated,” “3-4 pounds underweight,” “punctured eye,” etc.
Cute little Aliana had a HUGE hernia on her belly and if there’s one thing our vet worries about, it’s large hernias in puppymill survivors. So she went to see him immedidately after arriving.
Lucky thing she did, too. When he went in to fix the hernia and spay her, he found that she had a huge pyometria. He said her uterus looked like a yellow hot dog – completely full of pus.
She also had a punctured eye that he removed while she was under.
Her total bill was just over $450.
If you can help, please use PAYPAL HERE or send a check HERE or use a credit card HERE.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 7:21 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Well, her problem is not a fungal infection. Cultures show three types of bacteria. Hmmm. They are now analyzing to see what type of antibiotics these bacteria might be sensitive to. Keep your fingers crossed that we can figure this out!
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04.07.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:38 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Little Mae may have caught a lucky break. Our vet suspected a nasal tumor because of the resistance her infection showed to all antibiotics. We sent her to Gulf Coast to see what the situation was.
Dr. Heidi Hottinger, probably the best soft tissue surgeon in the state, took her case since we thought we would have to remove a tumor.
We went forward with the CT scan because of the urgency of her condition. I told everyone that all of you would not want us to wait and that we would find a way to pay for her scan.
Dr. Hottinger found a place in her nasal cavity that looked bad, but not necessarily a tumor. She obtained several samples and sent them off to the lab for biopsy and we’ll know for certain on Wednesday or Thursday.
In the mean time, we still need funds to pay for her procedure. As a matter of fact, the bill was quite a bit higher than anticipated since they took all the tissue samples and sent them for biopsy. The total was $2130.
To date, Tuesday 5:30 am CST, we have raised $305 for her. Mae sends thanks to Pat Heitman, Valerie Newman (HI!!), Janet Bello, Anna Dee Lastick, Tom Propst in memory of Little Bear, Anon in honor of Catharine Harper.
If you can possibly help little Mae, please GO HERE to use paypal, or send a check HERE or use a credit card HERE.
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04.05.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:50 pm by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Yes, that’s right, little Mae Davis has yet another problem we need to diagnose. And, right now is NOT a good time. We’re still way behind on Darden’s fundraising and have more and more and more requests to take in dogs. Just this weekend, I got requests to take in six dogs, three shih tzu and three lhasas, all from different unrelated people. These dogs are strays that the finders suspect were dumped. In fact, the three lhasas were dumped – they have tags on and the owners don’t want them back.
So, I’m freaking right now, but all else in on the back burner for Mae right now. Darden can hold tight until we have the funds for his second surgery.
On to Mae’s problem….
As you probably recall (and if you don’t CLICK HERE), Mae came to us from the Houston SPCA and has been featured on Animal Planet’s series Animal Cops Houston.
Mae came from a horrible shih tzu breeder north of Houston. She was very ill with heartworms and her eyes had severe kerojunctivitius, otherwise commonly known as dry eye. She started with a horrible case of kennel cough and had green snot coming out of her nose for months. After a LOT of antibiotics and many, many immune-boosting supplements, she pulled herself out of it and then we started heartworm treatment. She did poorly through the treatment and had to be on prednisone the entire time to keep the worms from scaring her lungs.
Once she got through her heartworm treatment, we found several tumors, one black in color, on her rump and front leg. Those had to be removed and thankfully, were found to be benign.
Soon after that, her left eye began to swell and her glaucoma got out of control. After many, many months and several visits to the opthalmology clinic, we had to remove her eye. That was done last February.
Then, last summer, we thought she was getting healthy when Hurricane Ike hit. Although it didn’t affect Mae, other than make her walk through the house in the dark for 17 days, it did affect me personally and the rescue because of all that happened.
Once we got things back on track, we realized that Mae’s right eye was now swelling. We tried to control the swelling aggressively with timolol and methazolamide, two meds prescribed for glaucoma, but the nasty disease won the battle and early this year, we had a procedure done to Mae to kill the tissue causing the swelling. She is now completely 100% blind.
Early this year, Mae came down with an upper respiratory infection – kennel cough. It was not a worry to me because dogs get kennel cough all the time and typically get over it within three weeks. We put Mae on antibiotics but after a few weeks, she wasn’t getting better so we switched to a different spectrum antibiotic. We did this yet again a few weeks later. Nothing was working and now our vet was getting concerned. An infection should not last this long with antibiotics.
So he recommended that we contact a specialist to see what could possibly be happening to her. We took her to Dr. Heidi Hottinger at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Hottinger saved the life of another of our Lone Star dogs, Amigo, when he developed a chronic oozing infection after surgery to remove a leg.
Dr. Hottinger suggested that our first step is a CT scan of her head to see if there is anything abnormal. The cost for that is $1500-$1800. We need to do this asap now and it is tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 7, 2009.
Please help us help little Mae. We’re certain that once we get all of her medical problems under control, we can find someone who will nurture and love her like she should be loved.
If you can possibly help little Mae, please GO HERE to use paypal, or send a check HERE or use a credit card HERE..
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