Lone Star Shih Tzu & Lhasa Apso Rescue and Adoption

I took Mae Mae in to GCVS for a check up.  Remember that her surgical incision site in the roof of her mouth opened up two weeks ago and she had to go in for emergency surgery to close it back up. 

She has to eat softened kibble right now.  No canned food, no mushy food, no dry kibble, no raw, etc.  Only partially softened kibble.  I have to soak it for exactly 20 minutes to make it the right texture.  Too little and the kibble will be too hard and might break through the opening again.  Too long and the food will be too mushy and she might break through the opening by putting pressure with her tongue to get the food down her throat.  AHHH.

Her check up yesterday went well.  She's here with Brenda, one of the wonderful surgical techs.

I also had my own Ginger there for an oncology check up - and the oncologist, Dr. Carreras couldn't put Mae down either.  Mae loves to be held and was seriously soaking up the attention!!

Posted by teresa at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just cannot tell you how great I feel now that Mae is recovering from her many, many procedures.  This little dog feels better today than I've seen her feel in a year!!

She got a new haircut today - our groomer does great work - and is ready for her post-op check up tomorrow morning.  Wish her luck!

Thanks for all each of you did to make this little girl healthy again.

Posted by teresa at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Mae is recovering well from her surgery to remove the infected tissue from her sinus cavities. 

She developed a lot of green discharge from her sinuses earlier in the week, but when the cultures came back, we discovered that she needed a different antibiotic.  After three days, her discharge is resolving quite well. 

She seems to have a lot of energy (well, a lot for someone who has just had a significant surgery) and is eating very well.

We did get some disturbing news - the tissue removed from her sinuses were biopsied and the report came back that there were some low grade cancer cells within the tissues.  There is some discussion about whether the chronic infection caused the cells to become overly reactive or if, in fact, a tumor started all of the inflamation and infection.

I have an appointment with the oncologist (the one treating my Ginger) next week to see what the next step might be for Mae.

Thanks to all of you for concern and love you've sent to this sweet little girl. 

Help is still needed for Mae's surgical bill. 

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

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.

She sends hugs and kisses for all that you've done for her already!

Posted by teresa at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, little Miss Mae certainly does have an appetite this morning.  She was resting very comfortably yesterday but not too hungry.

This morning as soon as I walked into the room she was up and anxious for breakfast.  She has to stay on crate rest for two weeks then, if she's healed well, she can resume normal activities.

She has an incision site in the roof of her mouth.  This makes eating "interesting."  She cannot have really wet food because they tend to "smush" the food up into the roof of their mouths and that would cause food to possibly enter the incision.  She can't eat dry kibble because it would HURT as she chewed.  So, she has to have lightly softened dry kibble. 

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

I got a good-news call early this morning from Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists - Mae was being released today.  They asked when I wanted to come get her and I responded "How early can I come?"

I rushed down there and waited in the lobby for about a half hour - yes I was that early.

While I was there, a young lady came in with a relatively unconscious golden retriever who went right into the Intensive Care group in the Internal Medicine department.  Another lady sat waiting to pick up her dachshund who had back surgery that week.  Also in the waiting room, sat a lady with her bird - GC also has an avian division.  I must say, it gives me comfort to know that there is such a wealth of veterinary knowledge just a few miles from my house.  This is one of the premier veterinary specialty facilities in the country and it's just a short drive from me!!  We are very lucky to have availability to these surgeons!!

Here's Miss Mae with Dr. Lockwood, one of the vets that watched over her while she was in recovery.  Mae has a lot of nasal discharge and sounds like she has a huge cold, but it's just the effects of the surgery.

Gulf Coast is very thorough with discharge instructions.  And, they send you home with quite a bit of information on how to deal with different situations. 

Of course, this was the unpleasant part of the day.  Ahhh.  Mae's bill was a page and a half long and totaled $2900.  Right now, Mae has received just under $1300 for this surgery, so we made that payment, but we still need another $1300 to pay off the bill!!

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

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM if you want to donate via credit card.  And fax it to me at 713-583-7816 - this is my personal internet fax so it comes directly to my email - no cover sheet is necessary.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately. 

Thanks to the following for their donations to date.  If I've missed someone, please email me at teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com.

Deborah Bettes, Diane Perry, Marilyn Radler, Barbara Grabell, Mike and Joyce Tate, Anna Dee Lastick, Doug Cameron, Wendy Barnum, Michael Oyaski, Lisa Schwartz, Joan Samara, Christine Hutchinson, Janet Bello, Rosemary Cody, Jeanette Flexer, Margaret Lubke, Mary & Davis Arnette, Rick Brezik, Kathy Brooks, Martha Kendall Holmes, Denise Castles, Kim Williams, Jeff Helton, Rosemary Cody.

This publicity Miss Mae has received since we've had to raise so much money for her has even resulted in quite a few offers to adopt her.  So, as soon as her little head is healthy again, she'll be able to go to a forever home.

You all are just wonderful.  With the economy in the shape that it is, you still give so very generously for these little fluffs!  Wow, that's all I can say! 

Posted by teresa at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I got to visit with Miss Mae today.  She was not a happy camper.  She was sneezing blood (to be expected) and was not having any of the "warm wet rag" cleanup.  LOL

She was very fiesty, but because she was having so much bloody discharge, they wanted to keep her one more day.  I should be able to pick her up tomorrow.

We still need quite a bit in donations for her, so if you can donate for sweet little Mae, please CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL.

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM if you want to donate via credit card.  And fax it to me at 713-583-7816 - this is my personal internet fax so it comes directly to my email - no cover sheet is necessary.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately. 

Posted by teresa at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Our little Mae Mae had surgery this morning and is now recovering nicely.  Because of the severity of the surgery, she will not come home until Saturday at the earliest.

Dr. Hottinger, the GCVS surgeon who removed the plant material, infected tissue and basically cleaned out her sinus cavitiy, said that the surgery was quite challenging.  This has been a very long-standing infection and as with any abcess, had started to erode the bone surrounding the sinus cavity.  Dr. Hottinger said Mae now has basically one big hollow area where her two sinuses were before.  The bone/tissue/membrane separating the two areas is gone. 

She said that during the surgery, she could actually see the large artery that carries blood to the brain pulsing in the open cavity. 

Mae is resting at GCVS and could not be in better hands.

I hope this is the E N D of all of her trials and tribulations and she can soon find her forever home.  It's been a long and rough road for Mae, and I doubt we could have had a good outcome if not for the specialists at the GCVS facility.

Her surgery was called a ventral rhinotomy.

I don't have the complete tally on Mae's funds yet, but I know we are at least $1000 short.

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

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM if you want to donate via credit card.  And fax it to me at 713-583-7816 - this is my personal internet fax so it comes directly to my email - no cover sheet is necessary.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately. 

Posted by teresa at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm putting this message out very quickly so you all will have an update, then I must get to work.  Mae checked in to Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists Surgery early this morning.  This is Lori, another of the absolutely wonderful techs that work with the surgeons.  She's taking care of Mae Mae this morning.

As soon as I hear how her surgery went, I'll publish another quick blog.

I know we got several hundred in donations last night but are still severely short.  I hope to tally this thing up sometime today, but I know we are very busy at Deogi today.

We still need a lot of help for Mae!!  Please pass this message around.  I know you, our constant, repetitive supporters are just about donation-fatigued out - what with Darden, Claude, all of Mae's prior expenses, etc. 

But, we have to help Mae.

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

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM if you want to donate via credit card.  And fax it to me at 713-583-7816 - this is my personal internet fax so it comes directly to my email - no cover sheet is necessary.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately. 

Posted by teresa at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I know this is late getting out.  Funny how life gets in the way of your plans!!  I meant to get this out over the weekend, but .....

Mae really really needs her surgery tomorrow - she is at risk of kidney damage now because of being on those antibiotics for almost three months. 

The surgeon will get into her sinus cavity through the roof of her mouth - and open up the areas that have abcessed.  She will remove all of the plant material and thoroughly flush and clean those sinuses.  I hope this will finally make Mae a completely adoptable adorable little pet!!

But, we desperately need help.  We have had so very many urgent and expensive medical cases that we have tapped out all of our other sources.  Mae needs this surgery and we need your help.

Right now the total in her fund for this round of procedures is $333.  That includes $225 of the matching donations and a couple that came in before the challenge.  The total estimate for her surgery is $2300-$2500. 

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

Go HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM if you want to donate via credit card.  And fax it to me at 713-583-7816 - this is my personal internet fax so it comes directly to my email - no cover sheet is necessary.   Or if you want to send a check, just go to the PLEDGEFORM  and we'll count it immediately.

I cannot tell you how much we appreciate all of your help.  You guys are what keeps me going day after day.

Thanks again

Posted by teresa at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Based on the recent urinalysis on Mae, I really wanted to get Mae's surgery done this week.  The antibiotics that are holding her infection at bay are now affecting her kidneys.  We need the surgery to go into her sinus cavity and remove all of the plant material and infected tissue asap.

I know, I know we're always asking for help with these little guys.  Right now the economy is impacting us so badly that we are not even able to cover our normal vetting bills with the typical monthly donations.  So we really have to do this fundraisig for Miss Mae and we just cannot give up on her!!

We're still not whole for Claude's surgery, so we absolutely cannot schedule Mae's yet.  But, I don't want this adorable, sweet little girl to suffer and I sure don't want her kidneys to deteriorate.  We desperately need $2800 in her fund by THURSDAY, July 23.  I don't think it's safe to delay her surgery any longer.

Please help us help this sweetie!!  She has been through SOOOOOO much since she was rescued from a horrible breeding situation.  If anyone deserves to be pain free, it's Mae.

She's been on antibiotics for about a YEAR, she's had two CT Scans, an Endoscope, an eye enucleation, heartworm treatment....you get my drift, don't you. 

If you can donate, please CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL, or GO HERE TO PLEDGE TO SEND A CHECK or HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM.

Posted by teresa at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, little Mae went to visit Dr. Chris Jones, of the Internal Medicine department of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists on Friday.

The objective of the visit was to figure out why the amikacin antibiotics targeting the ecoli/staph/strep colony in her nasal cavity wasn't working as quickly as we thought it would.  He studied the CT scan done last week (thank you very generous people!!), and saw a great deal of mucous still in that left nasal cavity and also quite a bit of damage to the bones as well.  Although Mae's external symptoms are significantly better - no more constantly running green snot - they can tell from the CT that progress is not in line with a six week round of the antibiotics.

Dr. Jones suggested that we scope her nasal passage to see if there was something else up there that didn't show up on the CT scan.   So, here I am back - dare I even write it - asking for more funding for this adorable little girl.  I so hope we are on the cusp of discovering what "ails her" so we can make her better.

The scope is a camera device that they will insert into her nostril and literally "see" what is up her nose.

The cost, with a significant discount, is estimated to be from $850-$1100.  I know this sort of feels like throwing money down this bottomless pit, but I promise this little girl is worth it.

Remember her story?  She was confiscated by the Houston SPCA from a breeder in Spring, TX just about two years ago.  She and her siblings we the stars of the Animal Planet Animal Cops Houston episode.  One of the siblings was an older female in severe pain - she was humanely euthanized by the HSPCA when they got custody of the dogs.

Five of the remaining seven were discovered to have heartworms and then came down with kennel cough while at the SPCA.  So they called us in to take the five with heartworms.  We named them Julius, Augustus, Flavia and Octavius.  You all contributed toward the heartworm treatment in July/August 2007 and they all recovered and all but Mae were adopted.  Julius lives in Dallas, Octavious in New Orleans, Augustus in Austin and Flavia in the Houston Area.

We really want to get little Mae healthy enough for a home of her own!!  We need to have at least half of the above by Tuesday morning - her scope is scheduled for Tuesday - and the rest when we pick her up that evening.  If you can donate, please CLICK HERE FOR PAYPAL, or GO HERE TO PLEDGE TO SEND A CHECK or HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CREDIT CARD AUTHORIZATION FORM.

She appreciates what you have done already!

Funding Status as of June 16, 2009 4:00 pm - $430

Doug Cameron, Janet Bello, Wylene Dunbar, Christine Hutchison, Anna Dee Lastick, Lisa Schwartz, from your BF Huey, LeeAnne Wheatley, in memory of Jasper, Laura Ritchie, Marty Howard, Rosemary Cody, Valerie Newman, love Harlie and Maddie.

Posted by teresa at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

To fight this nasty MRSA, Little Mae is getting a daily injection of amikacin, the only antibiotic that her super bug seems to be sensitive to.  Unfortunately, this drug can also damage the kidneys, so to help her body deal with that, we give her fluids daily.  She actually doesn't mind much now - she just sits on a lap getting pets for about 10 minutes.  This is one of my staff from Deogi helping Mae with her fluids.

Lucky little girl, she is, to have so many of you love her!

Posted by teresa at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to all of you wonderful people, we met the wonderful matching challenge and received donations and donation pledges for what Mae needed today and actually a tiny bit more.

Here's little Mae Mae with Monica, the surgery tech, looking a little worse for the wear after her procedure - Mae, not Monica - Monica always looks very alert and happy.  Mae on the other hand, was just a bit tired.

Dr. Hottinger, of the GCVS surgical team, did her procedure.  They did a CT scan of her sinus area to see how effective the antibiotics have been.  Here is one frame from the scan.

Posted by teresa at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MATCHING CHALLENGE TO GET MAE OVER THE FINISH LINE! 

By the time Mae's appointment time came around, she had $1675 in her fund thanks to all of the people below.  That was enough to put the deposit on her procedure, so we went forward.

Now a wonderful donor has come forward to get her over the line....

She has just issued a donation matching challenge for $350.  From now until I have to pick Mae up tomorrow, she will match the donations, dollar for dollar, up to $350 total.

This is the opportunity to make your donations count double!! 

We were able to change Mae's appointment to this afternoon to give us more time to raise the funds for her CT.

Posted by teresa at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by teresa at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)