The “Tropical Stay-Cation” Bichons Of Summer, 2020. (They All Need Our Help.)

Wednesday Morning, July 15, 2020

(If you are able and ONLY if you are able, please scroll down to see how to help with our vet bills. We are needing to approve some pretty large vet bills. I’m here. (Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?) and I will issue matching challenge donations IF and only if you are able to help.

Quote of the Day: This is for all of you. The heroes of Small Paws Rescue. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

~ Christopher Reeves ~

Dear Small Paws Family,

Who would have ever dreamed this would have happened to us? In our lifetimes?

While I don’t know what the future may hold, I do know the One Who holds the future.

Without that, I just don’t know how or what we would even do.

But I’ll tell you one thing. When it comes to these little precious dogs, Bonnie Ferguson, our Director of Adoptions and I are doin’ it with all the joy we can find in our hearts!

If you are new to our newsletter, normally we have lots of Bichons and Bichon mixes for adoption.

Since March, things have been slow with rescues all across the country.

Many shelters across the country aren’t even open to the public yet, so we aren’t seeing Bichons and Bichon Mixes in the shelters, and yes, we are looking. (If you don’t believe me, ask our Il. and IN. Team Leader, Sara Rhodes! I think she spends every waking hour that she’s not trying to save a human person’s life as a Nurse Practitioner, trying to find Bichons in any shelter, anywhere across the country!)

But in the last few days we HAVE gotten in some doggies! That’s the good news!

The bad news is that they are all mostly busted!

If you ask my husband Dale what I do, he will tell you, “She works with this amazing group that fixes busted Bichons.” I think that must be engineer talk. And when it comes right down to it, I guess we do.

Will you join me for a 100% completely safe trip, to the Islands? Get your sun hats and beach wear. I’ll be your personal tour guide. Here we go!

Meet the “Tropical Stay-Cation Bichons of Summer, 2020!”

 

First stop. Tahiti!

Meet little “Tahiti”. Tahiti was an owner surrender here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s around five years old and he has tested as STRONG HEAVY for Heartworms. (Of course he has).

The first Bichon we get in Tulsa in months and he’s busted. And his heartworms are advanced so this is going to be expensive and it will take some time to get him clear for adoption.

And, he’s got allergies. His back was a bloody mess. And he’s not neutered. And he needs his teeth cleaned.

He won’t be ready for adoption for at least 90 days due to heartworm treatment.

But at least he’s fixable! Medicated baths and cool Island breezes feel so nice to his back. That had to have hurt. We have authorized the first $500.00 for his treatments.

Next, what’s that? Do you hear that Island music!? Listen closely. It’s Calypso!

Meet one year old “Calypso” from a shelter near Chicago! He looks perfect, doesn’t he! Nope! He’s broken too. The bad news is that he has a grade 3-4 out of 6 heart murmur.

The GREAT news is that it is probably a PDA heart murmur and one that I know how to REPAIR! (Well, not me personally. THAT would not be good, but we DO know the guy who does repair them! This is the YouTube video about one of the episodes that Animal Planet did on Small Paws, and it’s still showing in reruns, today! Dogs 101!

It’s about little “Bindhi” who also had a PDA heart murmur and she had the same procedure by the same Cardiologist who literally wrote the book and invented the little tool that repairs these heart murmurs, so that the dog is able to live a normal life with a normal lifespan.

It’s Dr. Thaibinh Nguyenba, DVM, DACVIM. ( Pronounced Ty-Bin Win-baw) at Medvet in Worthington, Ohio and he’s just the best.

“Thaibinh Nguyenba, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (cardiology), of MedVet Medical and Cancer Centers for Pets in Columbus, Ohio, was one of the technique’s lead researchers. He calls the Amplatz Canine Duct Occulder, or ACDO, a significant advancement in veterinary interventional cardiology.

“[It] infuses novel biotechnology into a cardiovascular device designed specifically for dogs,” Dr. Nguyenba said. “With this device and procedure, patent ductus arteriosus occlusion success rates in dogs match those seen in similar procedures for people with the same disease.

“Within a decade of its development, this minimally invasive procedure has become the treatment of choice for correcting patent ductus arteriosus in dogs,” he added.” 

If we can get the procedure for this little one, he will join over 100 others with PDA heart murmurs that we have repaired over the past 22 years, with your help! These are congenital and not the same as age related heart murmurs. These can be fixed!

Team leaders Sara Rhodes, and Sharon King of Ohio, are working on transportation to get this little guy driven down from Chicago to around Columbus, Ohio.

First there will be testing that we will do up front for around $1500.00. I’m praying we can fix this little guy’s broken heart!

Ok! Let’s stop for a refreshing smoothie! Hmm..Mango!’

Meet 1-2 year old “Mango”! Isn’t he just delicious?! He’s mostly Bichon with a little Shih Tzu in there just to give him a little soft silver on his head.

And the best part is that he’s not broken!

Even so, he needs a heartworm test, fecal tests, vaccinations, neutering, and ten days of quarantine to protect his foster home from any shelter borne diseases. His vetting will be around $800.00.

Our next stop is Kauai! Aloha! Ancient island history tells us of Hawaiian Kings and Princesses.

“Princess” was an owner surrender to a shelter near Dallas, Texas. She is half Bichon and half English Bulldog. (Yup. That’s what they said.) She is around 5 years old and has severe ear infections that are antibiotic resistant right now, but we are getting her fixed up. She also has a cyst on her neck.

Her owners both lost their jobs due to the virus, and could no longer care for her. She has the Bichon sweetness.

This Island Princess needs the works and her vet bill will be around $800.00 as well, but she’s heartworm negative! Hallelujah!

Ok. It’s time for our last stop. And it’s Belize.

Normally, Belize is a wonderful place with luscious green islands, but our story today is a little bittersweet.

Meet 9 year old Belize. The shelter called when her owners surrendered her to the shelter. They said she had broken her leg and their vet said it needed to be amputated. Do WHAT??

So we got her to our vet and x-rays showed no fracture. She does have a dislocated hip that has been that way a long time.

We were consulting a surgeon to see if she needed surgery. It doesn’t seem to bother her, but when she’s running, she will hold it up occasionally.

That’s when we got the news yesterday that Belize is in stage 3 of 4, kidney failure. It’s definitely not time to put her to sleep. She just has so much life in her.  

We’ve decided not to put her through any surgery and to send her home to a Hospice Foster to live out her days and we hope they are many.

We are looking for another Hospice Foster Home in the Chicago area. If that sounds like something you may want to do, this is an application. It’snot for everyone, but if you have a calling for it,it can be very rewarding they tell me. It’s not my gift. Is it your’s?

You would never know she was so sick if it weren’t for her blood work and tests. We have this video of her playing like a puppy. Click Here to see the .wmv video of Belize. belizecacc

Now her back leg slips out sometimes but she doesn’t seem to be aware of it.

We don’t know how much time she may have left. We are doing all we can for her in the way of special food and meds.

Please pray that someone can open up their home to Belize. She is a sweetheart.

So there you have the “Tropical Stay-Cation Bichons of the Summer of 2020!”

Will anyone ever forget this time in which we live?

We know that some of you have lost your jobs and please know that we are praying for you.

Others of you have told us that you have been blessed to have kept your jobs and you are now working from home.

We have some pretty large vet bills aimed right at us.

If you can help, this is how to do it. 

(Remember, if you are able and ONLY IF you are able, this is how to help with our vet bills. I will issue matching challenges if any come in.) 

 
 
 
 

 

If we already have your credit card on file, please e-mail Louie and let him know the amount of your donation.

 

 

I think that’s it for today. Stay safe, and know that YOU are loved. Robin 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dear Robin,

This is your quarterly AmazonSmile donation notification. Your charity, Small Paws Rescue Inc, recently received a quarterly donation of $921.54 thanks to customers shopping at smile.amazon.com.

To date, AmazonSmile has donated a total of:

  • $15,817.74 to Small Paws Rescue Inc.
  • $156,109,909.51 to all charities

Thank you for supporting Small Paws Rescue Inc by shopping at smile.amazon.com. You can track your impact throughout the year at your My Impact page.

AmazonSmile is also available in the Amazon Shopping App on Android. See how to activate here.

How to Become a Much Needed Small Paws Rescue Foster Parent!

South Texas, North Texas, and Chicago are most in need! 

Dear New Small Pawsers,

Welcome to the Small Paws®  Rescue Online Newsletter, especially to those of you who may have seen us over the years on our guest appearances on Fox and Friends in New York City, or on Animal Planet on “Dogs 101.”, or you may have read about us in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Happiness, 101 Stories about Finding Your Purpose, Passion and Joy . You also may have seen us on “Inside Edition” with Deborah Norville! (To see backstage photos of one of our trips to NYC and Fox & Friends, click here.)

Also, Small Paws Was Featured on a “The Chicken Soup for the Soul Podcast”. It’s was an interview of how Small Paws Rescue was born, almost 21 years ago! 2019 was our 21st Anniversary! We are so happy to have you join us! Robin

 

Companies Who Match Employees Donations

 

If you are going to shop at great stores anyway, why not help SPR at the same time and use Igive.com? Join now for free and select Small Paws Rescue Inc. as your cause!

This is the link to sign up for Small Paws Rescue!

The iGive Support Team

P.S. If you want to track how your cause is doing, please visit http://www.iGive.com//html/causestats.cfm.

We have links up here to our SPR Cafe Press Store for SPR Logo Items.

Try GoodSearch.com as your search engine and as your online shopping portal!
Small Paws is signed up and each time you use it, either to search or to go to an online seller, funds are sent to Small Paws for the Bichons! You can buy those shoes at Zappos and those books at Amazon *AND* donate to Small Paws Rescue! Try it out! So far, Small Pawsers have done over 100,000 searches and have shopped to raise $$2,641.38 for Small Paws Rescue!

How to Become a Much Needed Small Paws Rescue Foster Parent!

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Humphrey Sisco

Dec 26, 1993~ Aug 30, 2006 Pet Loss Link

When I first saw this beautiful picture of Cheri Sisco’s “Humphrey”, I thought it was truly the epitome of what we do, and why we do it. I wanted to use this black and white picture of Humphrey, taken only days before his death due to congestive heart failure, to let those who may be new to Small Paws, know what we do and why we do it. Without Small Paws, Humphrey would have never known love. He would have died in a kill shelter, sick and alone. Because of Small Paws, and Cheri Sisco, he lived, he loved, and he smiled.

(All recipients of the Small Paws Rescue newsletter receive it voluntarily. Small Paws never gleans e-mail addresses from other e-mail lists. Small Paws never solicits e-mail addresses or shares them with other “lists” or organizations.)