Lone Star Shih Tzu & Lhasa Apso Rescue and Adoption

Little Baylee Turner - what a story.  Here's a brief synopsis so you can understand what your extremely generous donations did for one little dog.

Flashback to June - Lady working as a vet tech in a Phoenix-area veterinary clinic wants to turn in a dog.  Communicates to us that the dog was turned over by her owners because she had hurt her back and the owners were finding it too difficult to keep her appropriately confined.  We were told that the dog had recovered and was walking. 

We even received a note from the vet herself that the dog was fine and walking - dated July 6.

Our volunteer picked up this little dog in mid July - she was handed to our volunteer wrapped in a towel.  The volunteer got all of the necessary paperwork completed, jumped in the car with the little dog and headed home.  What a shock she got when she got Baylee home - Baylee COULD NOT WALK.   The volunteer was in tears.  She knew that times were tough and we had so many, many little dogs that had been waiting for surgery - she was really distraught.

And, we were confused since the original vet said the dog was walking. 

We took Baylee to the local specialist and had an enlightening discussion - Baylee might have been doing what is called "spinal" walking - but was absolutely NOT using her legs in true "walking."  And, she had been like that for at least three months, according to him. 

Regardless, we scheduled her for surgery - the specialist thought that if we did it quickly, there might be a chance that she would walk - she still had deep pain sensation.  So, we did it.

Here is the result - two months later.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6oP567Ekhs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8EUNdy7aHo

And the ultimate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg5BXrPTmlU

As you know. we are so unbelievably thankful for you all.  There is no way on earth we could help so many little broken pups without your help.

I personally thank each and every one of you - you make my job easy.  I get the fun stuff - seeing the flower blossom!

Teresa

Posted by teresa at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Baylee's foster mom emailed me an update this afternoon.  Makes my heart sing to hear that progress is being made.

Baylee is doing very well and will be having her staples removed Thursday. She is letting me know when she needs to go potty and we have been 100% successful all week. She was a little constipated from the pain meds initially but that has resolved and she is not having any other problems.

She had a bath before I took her pictures today and that was quite a challenge. I have to be sure not to get water on her back. She enjoyed her bath and is much happier being clean. When she first came home, she was incontinent and had to be washed frequently but today it was just to make her smell fresh. One of the pictures is her snoozing in my office while I was working.

My girls are watching over her and keeping her company. She is doing very well and making excellent progress. We have finished one medication and only have five more to go. She is a very happy little girl and only getting me up once a night so we are definitely making progress.

One concern about a paralyzed dog is the incontinence.  Incontinence really makes a dog unadoptable, so to hear that she's making progress in that area is fantastic.  Now if we can only make those little legs work.

Thanks again, to all of you that supported us in giving this little gal a chance.

Posted by teresa at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Little Baylee is progressing well after her surgery. 

Even better than anticipated. She has been eating and resting comfortably in her new "house" (crate).   Though she is not very active now, as she heals this will help keep her from overdoing. She loves her little bed and can prop her chin on the edge while she catches some sleep. The exciting thing is that she now lets her foster mom know when she needs to go outside - and that is a huge improvement over her complete incontinence before the surgery.

She is out and about on the couch and bed so she can socialize. She even wagged her tail when her foster mom came home the other day. I want to thank everyone for your concern and will keep you posted of her progress.

One really cute thing - her foster "brother and sister" know she cannot get out of the crate, so they rest right up next to the crate while Baylee is sleeping.  So cute.

Funding wise, we have raised approximately $2700 for her to date.

Posted by teresa at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Little Baylee's fund is right now at $2133 (YEAH!!) and there are a few checks that have gone directly to the foster mom that we now need to add up. 

We think we only have $675 or so to raise, so little Baylee had her surgery!! 

Ok, now for the challenge status...

For Claude, the challenge was $300 and we are at $25.  Claude is really cuter than that.  I'm not sure why he's not getting any donations.

For Miss Mae, the challenge was $300 and we are at $150. 

For Little Baylee, the challenge was $300 and we are at $203.

For the general fund,  the challenge was $100 and we are at $20.

If you can donate to little Baylee, please CLICK HERE FOR A PAYPAL DONATION. 

If you can donate for sweet little Mae, please CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL.

To donate for Claude via PAYPAL GO HERE.

And HERE IS THE LINK TO DONATE TO THE GENERAL FUND. 

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM for any of the dogs.  Fax it to me at 713-583-7816.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately.

Thank you all for all of the support already.  I know I ask a lot, but I'll never be shy about asking for something needed to save the life of one of these deserving dogs!!

Posted by teresa at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WOW, all I can say is WOW.

A former LSSTLAR adopter emailed me this afternoon with a matching donation challenge to get our three sick babies the stuff they need.

She will match, dollar for dollar, all donations made for little Baylee Turner, who needs back surgery NOW, up to a total of $300.

She will match, dollar for dollar, all donations made for Mr. Claude Galvez, who just had an ear ablation at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists, up to a total of $300.

She will match, dollar for dollar, all donations made for tiny Mae Davis, who desperately needs a surgery to remove foreign material (read plant) causing a long-standing and antibiotic-resistant infection deep in her sinus cavity, up to a total of $300.

And she will match, dollar for dollar, all donations made to our LSSTLAR general vetting fund (which is used to pay the little stuff, like $700 for Murano Davis' pneumonia, $500 for Sadie McQueen's bladder stone removal, etc.), up to $100.

That is a total of $1000.  WOW, WOW, WOW.

So, please help us take advantage of this wonderful lady and very generous offer.  Please click on the links below to see their entire story.

HERE is Baylee's story.  if you can donate to little Baylee, please CLICK HERE FOR A PAYPAL DONATION. 

HERE IS THE STORY OF MAE DAVIS.  You might recognize her from two of the Animal Cops Houston episodes.  Now, we've already spent a lot on this dog - it took several months to figure out why she had an infection that wouldn't go away.  Thank goodness for the staff at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists - especially Dr. Heidi Hottinger in Surgery and Dr. Chris Jones in Internal Medicine.  Without them, this little sweet abused dog would surely have died of this infection.

If you can donate for sweet little Mae, please CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL.

Finally Claude.  HERE IS HIS STORY - left in a field to die with his two friends, he was rescued by one of the animal shelters and we just couldn't say no to this adorable boy.  He's already had his surgery - it became an emergency two weeks ago when he started to develop a second horribly large abcess.    To donate for Claude via PAYPAL GO HERE.

And HERE IS THE LINK TO DONATE TO THE GENERAL FUND. 

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM for any of the dogs.  Fax it to me at 713-583-7816.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately.

Thank you all for all of the support already.  I know I ask a lot, but I'll never be shy about asking for something needed to save the life of one of these deserving dogs!!

Posted by teresa at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As of 5:00 pm, we have raised $1575 for Baylee's surgery!  We were unable to schedule it today, but can possibly try for tomorrow if we can raise the rest of the funds tonight.  We'll be working hard to do it, so if you can help by spreading the word, please do!!

Thanks to Mary Ellen Arbuckle, in memory of little Harry, Impulse Devices, Fur Kids, Donna Ferris, Barbara Moran, Cheryl McDonald, Sherry Wernicke, Darleen McCormick, Lesley Warrin, Cincy Ann Ruby, Lee Ann Wheatley, Driscilla Stors, Davis Arnette, in memory of Hunter, Jeanetter Flexer, Wendy Barnum, Jacquelyn Johnston.

The techs at the surgical center think she is adorable and desperately want to help her.

you can donate to little Baylee, please CLICK HERE FOR A PAYPAL DONATION. 

And, if you can help with the remaining $1200 for CLAUDE, CLICK HERE FOR CLAUDE.

For either dog,  GO HERE TO PLEDGE TO SEND A CHECK or HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM.

Posted by teresa at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dadgum,  (ok I really want to say something stronger, but....).

Here we are with so many injured and chronically ill doggies and one we took in as "safe" now needs surgery QUICKLY.

We're in such a world of hurt.  We've already delayed Darden's FHOs and Chalupa's jaw surgery, but absolutely had to do Claude Galvez's ear ablation and really need to do Mae's surgery this week, and now this.....

You just will not believe this story.

This cute little girl, we're calling Baylee.

We received a plea in June to take this girl in.  The story goes that she had sustained a back injury in April, and the owners wanted her euthanized.  They had not been successful keeping her restrained and by May, she had become entirely paralyzed.  Their veterinary clinic did an exam in May and determined that she had some deep pain response at that time.  An employee of the clinic took her in. 

This veterinary employee supposedly took her to physical therapy, accupuncture and did water therapy with her so that she was walking and "fine."  In fact, the vet wrote us a letter on July 6 that the dog was walking and "fine."  There was a comment that she might need surgery IN THE FUTURE if another injury occurred.

Well, our volunteer went to pick the dog up, she was handed Baylee wrapped in a towel.  The veterinary employee gave her a few bottles of meds and left.

When our volunteer, Pat, got home with Baylee, she discovered, to her horror, that Baylee absolutely could not walk and was incontinent!!!  Pat cried all night.  She knew that we were in a world of hurt with all of our other doggies, but how could we not help this sweet little thrown away dog??

We scheduled an emergency consult with a surgeon and what he had to say was alarming.

Evidently, Baylee had been DOWN (paralyzed) for two-three months.  She has very little deep pain response and has no idea how to make her legs work.  She does, at times, what is called "spinal walking" which means somehow she uses her back muscles to sling her legs forward, but this is NOT considered normal walking.

Had her surgery been done right after the injury, she probably would have been fine.  Now, at this late date, it is unlikely that she will regain complete function of her legs, but MIGHT be able to at least walk.  And become continent again.  Right now, she is completely incontinent.   That makes her unadoptable.

Now, I have to be honest with you, the vet said we need to do the surgery ASAP and even kept her at the clinic so that his professional people could handle her.  And, then he's only giving her a 50/50 chance at walking again.

While talking to him, I told him we were up to our necks in expensive surgery and HELLO, the economy stinks right now.  I told him we just did one expensive surgery (CLAUDE) and still needed to raise 50% of his fee AND we desperately need to do Mae's surgery before her kidneys die.  He took pity on us and said he would like to help the little girl out so would give us a 50% discount on the surgery.  I just about fell over.  Normally, these surgeries are $6000 or even more.  He will do it for $2800 plus the initial exam and x-rays, which were $380.

But, he wants to do the surgery asap, now, immediately, as in TOMORROW!!

Do we want to help this baby?  He can schedule the surgery for tomorrow afternoon.

If you can donate to little Baylee, please CLICK HERE FOR A PAYPAL DONATION. 

And, if you can help with the remaining $1200 for CLAUDE, CLICK HERE FOR CLAUDE.

For either dog,  GO HERE TO PLEDGE TO SEND A CHECK or HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM.

Posted by teresa at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)