Companions in Crisis Feature: Macie Gray

Macie Gray is a 4-year-old Cane Corso being treated for lymphoma by Dr. Waite at The Oncology Service – Dogwood. Through FETCH a Cure’s Companions in Crisis program, her family is receiving essential veterinary financial assistance to help pay for Macie Gray’s lifesaving treatments. We are wishing this sweet family and their gorgeous girl all the best as she fights to beat this awful disease!

Macie Gray’s Arrival

Funny story and surely fitting for the manner in which our beautiful 100 pound Cane Corso ended up part of our family.  So, I awoke in the middle of the night on this September evening and noticed that my husband was up and acting somewhat suspicious.  I ventured outside for the fresh air that the end of summer beginning of fall brings to Virginia.  My husband, James, comes outside and places this puppy on the wrought iron porch table we have.  A pink and black polka dot collar with a box was securely wrapped around her fluffy, cute, puppy neck.  “Oh my”, I said, followed by a “I told you ‘no’ to a new puppy”.

You see, you would have to know that for the previous few weeks, James had been prepping me for his plan as he is well aware of my love of animals.  He had been discussing this breed of dog that I had little to no knowledge of and much less knowledge of the responsibility this breed of dog requires. We already had a handsome reddish-brown Sheppard mix named Myles whom we adopted from our local SPCA and two cats, both tabby, one orange and one gray/black named Raja and Maxwell respectively.  Our house was full. We had adopted three four-legged children and had two two-legged biological humans children ages 7 and 9.  Our home had no room for another body or mouth to feed, but this puppy…she smelled so good and was so cute that my heart immediately melted and convincing me to allow her to join our family did not take much effort.

Macie Gray was the runt of the litter.  She was not expected to live as she was significantly smaller than her siblings.  One side of Macie’s face appeared to be asymmetrical and it was thought that she experienced some sort of nerve damage during her mother’s labor.

Needless to say, all three of my boys (James, Jaethan, and Kaelib) were in on this secret.  My 7 year old told me that Macie’s collar was purchased to assist in the convincing process which apparently worked.

When Macie arrived, she maybe weighed 4 pounds and was approximately 6 weeks old.  Macie Gray grew super quickly.  She loved to wrestle and play on the floor with James.  Macie Gray chased the boys around and the boys would giggle and laugh.  She was a mess, certainly the most slobbery dog I had ever met.

Macie Gray’s birthday is July 3, 2016. She just turned 4.  Our family went away on vacation and left our babysitter/dogsitter (truly more like family) to care for our fur babies whom we were not able to bring due to rules of the condo where we stay.  As normal, I checked on our cats and dogs daily.  No issues were reported, so we returned home as anticipated on Sunday 7/20/20.

James mentioned that Macie Gray did not quite look right and was acting a little out of character, but was not showing any significant signs or symptoms of illness.  Within two days, it was apparent that Macie Gray was under the weather.  She awoke me in the middle of the night with her whining (this is normal for her) and I let her outside.  When she came back in, I was petting her and felt underneath her neck.  I was surprised to feel what appeared to be lumps.  I woke James up to confirm my concerns and began searching online for answers to what swollen lymph nodes could indicate in my young canine.  Macie Gray was taken to the vet that Thursday and confirmed to have Lymphoma the following Monday which is how we ended up connecting with FETCH a Cure [ for veterinary financial assistance ].

Macie Gray: Loyal Protector, Slobbery Sweetie, and Momma’s Girl

Macie Gray is a four year old, beautiful brindle, 100 pound Cane Corso. She is still as playful at four years of age as she was as a puppy.  Macie Gray was the runt of the litter and not expected to survive, but with our love and care, she did.

Macie Gray’s favorite toy is the Wobble Wag Giggle Ball which we have nicknamed the Wobble Bobble for short.  She knows when we talk about the Wobble Bobble as she gets super excited and perks up when it is discussed.  The Wobble Bobble never stands a chance as she destroys each one to figure out what is making the noise inside.  We are pretty sure she thinks there is some sort of animal inside with the noise the ball makes.

Macie Gray is a slobbery and messy dog, but is a loyal protector.  She follows her momma around the house and, like clockwork, wakes momma up to go outside between 3 and 4 am.  Macie Gray likes to whine to get attention and her way.  She sometimes barks in your face when she wants attention, not ideal, but that’s our Macie.

Macie Gray was diagnosed with Lymphoma on 7/27/20.  Her illness came on abruptly and progressed very quickly.  Macie is really young, it seems, to have cancer, but cancer does not discriminate. We are fighting for her because there is not a doubt in my mind that if the tables were turned, she would fight for us. Macie Gray is a special dog.  She is super smart and loving and we are grateful to have her as part of our family whether for a reason, a season, or her lifetime.

We are so grateful to provide veterinary financial assistance for sweet Macie Gray and her adoring family!