Meet Barnie... He's a cute little munchkin of about 4 pounds... Just as cute as cute can be... Isn't he just darling?
That's what we thought too when we pulled him out of Camarillo about 10 days ago...
Barnie looked like he needed to gain a few ounces, was a tad bit grumpy, but otherwise a highly adoptable little Chi that folks go for... Probably a purebred from his conformation and picked up as a stray from Oxnard, he was just not reclaimed by his owners...
Holding him, we knew we'd need to get him neutered, micro-chipped, etc... Just part of what we do normally as a rescue... Back at the rescue shop, he arrived and promptly threw-up... Then trying to poop, we noticed a huge mass underneath his skin at his bum while he strained and strained to no avail...
One of volunteer vet techs came in and looked at him... "Linda, this dog has to be seen by a vet - NOW".... So off to Conejo Valley Animal Hospital we went and they were gracious enough to get Barnie in as an emergency case...
Upon being examined, blood tests, the vet thought we were looking at immediate surgery, but for the night, she got him comfortable... $356.70 ... Three hours later, Barnie leaves with us halfway stoned out of his mind (the pain in his rear end was that severe)...
And off to another volunteer's home (Nurse Kathryn) who agreed to overnight him, then off to see our vet at Caring Hands the next morning...
Unable to do a lot with Barnie awake and in such great pain, Dr. Betty did the best she could until he was given a sedative... The decision was then reached to do anesthesia and exploratory examination... She felt that we were dealing with compacted fecal matter in his lower intestine... In the meantime, Barnie lost his very bad teeth in the mouth - it is all nice and healthy now and comes with a cute pink tongue that hangs to one side for the camera (free of charge!)... $325.01 ...
Final diagnosis was that Bernie's hernie needed to be repaired... A long surgery, Dr. Koss undertook it on Tuesday, September 23rd... Five days after getting his mouth squared away from all of the rotten teeth... Now his mouth is still sore, he can't strain to poop and his bum is just as sore as sore can be... $613.12...
Poor little guy...
He's probably had this condition all of his life and Nurse Kathryn has been diligently taking him back and forth to Caring Hands as needed during his recovery period of time...
But because of the stitches and repairing the intestine (plus being neutered), this little guy should be as grumpy as grumpy can be - he's not, surprisingly so... His recovery period will be two weeks and he is making great progress...
And that hair will grow back in and the bum will not be nearly as swollen as it was right after surgery... Facts are, Barnie's tail was facing one way and his bum was facing another... Can you imagine how much pain this little one has been in probably all his life?
But just as important is that we don't walk away from the medically hard case, even if we don't know them going on... You don't see that in an adoption donation when you adopt... We don't put a price tag on the dog because of what we have invested in them...
Barnie's vet bills and after care is just about over $1,500 now and it has bought him a healthy life and vet care he should have had LONG ago that the previous owner did not give him... The $200 tax deductible adoption donation won't even come close to what was needed to get him healthy and ready to be adopted... But that is what we do, and where your donations go...
He will be coming up shortly for adoption, and we want to make sure the right person adopts Barnie 'cause he's extra special and very much loved... Are you the right person to adopt Barnie? If so, please fill out an adoption application at our website!
If you would like to donate towards Barnie's medical bills, you can do that on our website as well HERE... We can always use donations and they go right out on the next dog's life we are trying to save!
Barnie sends you his love and thanks the TLC volunteers and nurses who have seen him through this difficult part of his life!
No comments:
Post a Comment