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Tuesday August 3, 2021

Gem of the Day: “Dogs teach us a very important lesson in life: The mail man is not to be trusted.”

~ Sian Fiord~

Dear Small Pawsers,

Bracco says “THANK YOU for savin’ me again!”

Bracco is home after surgery for an obstructed urethra and just doing wonderfully, thanks to all of you who helped him!

His surgeon feels all but certain that the stones were struvite stones as opposed to calcium oxalate stones.

These stones came up so suddenly.

In May, he was x-rayed for his 6 week check up after pelvic surgery, and they weren’t there then.

Many of you have asked what causes these bladder stones. Tufts Veterinary School says, “struvite stones are usually caused by infection in dogs.”

Bracco’s surgeon thinks he had a low grade urinary tract infection since he was catheterized after being smooshed by a car and during recovery from surgery which repaired busted places.

So pending stone analysis, we will know more about going forward with a special diet.

But he’s home and everything that is supposed to come out of him is coming out of him!

Many thanks to Val Chang, his extraordinary Foster Mom, for all of the veterinary trips, the meds given in the middle of the night, and next, he will be starting heartworm treatment, so she will be going through that with him, as well. Kudos to Val Chang!

Next, do you remember little precious little Bichon named  Bamboo from July 15, 2021?

He was found as a stray, dragging his back, broken in two places, leg.

We first thought it was a recent injury, but after a trip to the surgeon, it was discovered that he was probably HBC (hit by a car) and that it was an old injury and he was not in any pain.

BUT, this poor baby was dragging that leg behind him like a wooden club!

Amputation was recommended and that’s what we did.

Long time Small Paws® volunteer, Elizabeth French, is fostering and rehabbing him.

Here Bamboo is standing one three good legs, smiling and wagging tail!

Way to go Elizabeth and Bamboo! Ok. Wanna see him Go for the Gold?! (Give it a minute to load)

Look at him GOOOOOO!

This is what we do. We fix them up and put them back together so that they can live their best life, and in the meantime, we see the miracles that God does for these little dogs. Not just once or twice, but over and over and over! His miracles just keep on blessing us!

And if He loves a little dog that much, think about how much he loves each one of you.

No matter what you may have done in the past, he is a forgiving God. And He wants YOU to live YOUR best life in Him.  

Thanks to each one of you who prayed and or donated for these two precious dogs, Bracco and Bamboo.

The best is yet to come! All My Love, Robin

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Dear Small Pawsers,

Thanks to all of you, Bracco, out little Bichon-a-doodle, made it through surgery for a complete obstruction of his urinary tract, by multiple, fast growing, bladder stones. Some were large and some were like sand.

His surgeon said that being catheterized from his pelvic surgery may have given him a low grade UTI which may have caused this.

It doesn’t necessarily mean he will be prone to bladder stones. They are sending the stones off for analysis to see what the deal was and what he needs in the future as far as monitoring.

 

Dr. Laura Hinton of  BluePearl Pet Hospital Spring, Texas  did the surgery today around noon, and he is recovering well!

Last night, I forgot to tell you all that we are registered as a 501C3 with all of the big veterinarians, nationally,  like VCA, Medvet, and BluePearl. They all give us a 20% rescue discount.

The estimate for $4500-$5500 was for the surgery only. That didn’t include each night in ICU which is about $1000.00. His first night was $1309.00.

Also, his omentum had adhered to his bladder as scar tissue, and she had to separate it. That’s why a great surgeon is such a gift!

He will stay at least one more night in ICU and possible two, but then he can go back home with his foster Mama, Val Chang.

Many thanks to all of you who came together in the night to be able to save his life yet again. He’s such a great dog with a great personality.

After he finished his heartworm treatment, he will be up for adoption.

Thanks everyone and have a wonderful weekend. All My love, Robin

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We have a true emergency situation going on tonight in South Texas at the BluePearl Pet Hospital Spring, Texas  with Bracco Small Paws.

The first time you heard about Bracco was in this newsletter dated May 25, 2021.

You may remember he was hit by a car on the border of Texas and Mexico and had a broken rib and a broken pelvis. We raised the funds to have surgery for him, by Dr. Laura Hinton.

He is also heartworm positive. Small Pawser, Val Chang, has been rehabbing him, taking him for heartworm treatments, and giving him his meds, daily, for over two months now.

A better Foster Mom he could not have had.

Yesterday, she noticed he was straining to urinate and today, she took him to our great vet, The Well Pet Center. in Katy, Texas. 

There it was determined through X-ray that he has a bladder full of stones. Normally, that would be a surgery that most vets do often.

But Bracco has what is known as a “complete obstruction”.

“The urinary bladder may rupture and spill urine into the dog’s abdomen with complete obstruction. Dogs with total urethral obstruction will die within days if the obstruction is not relieved. Your pet should be seen by a veterinarian immediately if he/she is unable to urinate.”

Bracco needed to be seen by an emergency hospital and a Board Certified Surgeon, so we took him back to BluePearl Pet Hospital Spring, Texas  tonight.

Dr. Laura Hinton, DVM, DACVS Surgery, the same surgeon who operated on his pelvis, will remove this obstruction and the bladder stones causing it, sometime in the morning.

They couldn’t pass a catheter tonight, so they placed something like a pikk line directly into his bladder. This is a minor procedure to get him through until morning.

The obstruction surgery is going to run $4500-5500.00. It can’t wait. Toxins will build up. They are concerned about a sharp stone tearing the urethra. They have to do this surgery. He needs help. 

Bracco was Jody Ferraro’s first real emergency as our new South Texas Team Leader, and she enlisted so so many people to step into help.

Back in May, we needed a name for him, so in honor of Jody, I named him “Bracco.”

From Jody Ferraro:

On Jul 30, 2021, at 8:55 PM, jlaferr <jlaferr@aol.com> wrote: “My first dog was a Bichon named Bracco. I adopted him from a local shelter in 1998. I immediately fell in love with him and the breed. Bracco made such an impact that I became a volunteer for SPR and quit my corporate job to own a dog walking business. When I met my late husband Steve, when we decided to get married, Bracco had to be there on the big day so he became our ring bearer. Bracco passed in 2008 and we were so distraught that Steve felt he needed to work with animals. Steve then decided to change careers and became a dog groomer and also a volunteer for SPR. Bracco was my “heart dog”. Jody Ferraro”

We need to raise these funds for our Brocco and soon.

We didn’t raise enough for the last six dogs from this past week, and now this has happened.

I don’t think we have time for matching challenges. And it’s a weekend. One day from August.

If you can help, help is needed. Robin

We have also now added Text-to-Donate feature! It’s simple and secure. You can use any major credit card as well as Google Pay and PAYPAL! Text the number 44321 (how easy is THAT number to remember?!) and type the letters SPR ( all capitals) in the message area. A secure link will come up with simple instructions. After that, you can text a donation of any amount to Small Paws anytime without filling out your information again! We hope you enjoy the ease and security of Text-to-Donate, to help the Bichons!

 

 

 

Humphrey Sisco