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Before coming into GRINinc's program |
After a few weeks in the program and that's not all! |
Remember our "All I want for Christmas Gal? She's the one that we just knew had the really bad hips, horrible skin, no recent vet care and whimpered whenever she got up or down. Well...it was a LOT worse than we thought. When we got her in to the vet we discovered that not only did she have bilateral hip dysplasia, she had horrible spondylosis of the spine and...she was heartworm positive to boot! What a mess.
First things first and that was to treat the heartworms, work on her skin and above all, eliminate her pain. As you can see from the photo, Mickey is feeling good for the first time in a long time. As a matter of fact it's been a chore to keep her from jumping all over the place and just enjoying life. She's supposed to stay "calm" during the heartworm treatment!
She's now on Rimydil for the pain, Adequan injections to help build cartilage and lubricate (I never thought I could ever stick a dog with a needle!) and Cephalexin to bring her skin infection under control. The pictures tell the story. It's all working and it's all because of you guys!
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It Takes A Village To rescue a dog. It really does. Especially one with the needs of Mickey. Here's her story. One of our volunteers received a phone call from a man wanting to turn in his dog because she was suffering from medical problems that he couldn't afford to treat. He had gotten the number from PetsMart (which graciously passes out "rescue" contact information to people who call). After visiting Mickey and assessing her Now she is picked up and it's off to one of our vets that discounts his
services to us. cont... |
Mickey doing "mandatory" crate rest after heartworm
treatment |
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That's when we got the bad
news about the spondylosis and the heartworms. It also
meant that we would have to put off having Mickey spayed until she had
completed her heartworm treatment. Mickey's x-rays were horrible. Both hips and her spine were affected. Fortunately we have an ortho surgeon in Tampa that is willing to look at the x-rays and give us a discount on whatever surgery she might need. Be sure to check out Mickey's "Updates" page for the latest. Where is the money going to come from? Mickey is going to be expensive to
treat. |
That's when some more volunteers stepped up to the plate. We sent out a mass email explaining Mickey's plight and asking for donations. Our webmaster put a plea on the website. Our newsletter editor did the same. Another volunteer made posters.
An then...you guys responded. The generosity shown by our supporters has been nothing short of a miracle. We don't have all of Mickey's medical bills covered yet but we are on our way. Is it worth it? All this money to save one dog? We think so. If you could see Mickey NOW! Running, jumping and nary a whimper. She really must feel like she's gone to heaven. There really is a Santa Claus and he brought Mickey what she wanted. To live pain free.
So you see, it wasn't one person who "saved" Mickey. It wasn't even a couple. It was many people concerned enough about this poor dog's welfare to see her get a second chance.
GRINinc thanks each and every one of you who have sent donations. Mickey thanks you too!
Be sure to read Mickey's Q and A
page.
This page created for Mickey on 1/22/2006
