Archive

1. Barney

   March 10, 2016 5:55 pm Comments Off on Barney

   

   The last week January 2010, I was working at home and I saw what I thought was our beagle Zoie running through the neighbor’s yard.  I immediately sprinted out the door barefoot and saw her run into our neighbor’s garage.  What I found was a friendly, scared, male beagle.  I brought him home and gave him food and water and he immediately was friendly with Zoie and Parker (golden retriever). He was missing teeth and was malnourished.  I called the county shelter, and the nearby vet, and put the word out in the area.  After a week, no one came looking for him.  We named him Barney after my childhood book “Barney the Beagle”.

   July 11, 2014 – Throughout the night he had some labored breathing which continued after we got up.  He skipped breakfast.  We called our vet thinking he had a bug or something small.  During our appointment the vet noted that his belly was bloated.  She did an x-ray and then an ultrasound.  They did not like what they saw, the spleen was four times its normal size.  Emergency surgery.  I was told that they might find something really bad and we might have to discuss putting him down depending on what was found.  Shock, he was perfectly fine one day earlier.  I drove to pick up my wife and bring her back to say goodbye right before they started surgery.  After about 20 minutes, a vet tech and came out and said the spleen had ruptured and he had lost a lot of blood.  They were not sure why there was a rupture.  Because of the blood loss, a transfusion might be necessary – just four hours after surgery we drove 45 minutes to VRCC for the transfusion, weekend critical care and observation.  We felt very lucky.  Barney would not have survived the day without the judgment and expertise of a team of regional vets.

   July 17, 2014 – Our vet called – the biopsy of the spleen showed lymphoma.  As tears ran down our faces, Dr. Waite at The Oncology Service at Dogwood Vet Hospital was recommended.  Barney is now into his fourth week of chemo treatment.  It is going good, he is playful, and Dr. Waite is happy with his progress.  He has gained back the weight he lost due to the surgery/recovery plus two pounds.  Over the weekend someone in area was setting off fireworks – Barney gave a very animated and booming bay, it was a great night.

   Update: Sadly, Barney lost his battle to cancer in August of 2015. His owner wrote that they were so grateful to have 13 extra months with him and that throughout that whole time he only had 5 or 6 bad days, with four of those being in the last week of his life.

    

2. Abby Calkins

   5:52 pm Comments Off on Abby Calkins

   

   Abby came into our family 12 years ago, as our son had saved all his birthday, Christmas money for 3 years. He, at the tender age of 6, paid for her all by himself. As a military family moving every couple of years, she was a built-in, always-there friend for him. Not only did she help him transition from place to place, but she has been very good at helping me with my MS. She can sense when I need a break even before I do. She is our therapy dog. She keeps us grounded and level. Our son is away at college this year and it breaks my heart to tell him or Abby’s recent diagnosis. He is just getting settled at school. I want to tell him, “Abby is doing great and she can’t wait to see you at Christmas.” But, without treatment, she may not be here by then.

   Abby is such a good girl. Her sister passed 2 years ago. (Also a Basset named “Ears”) Abby was devastated. I was afraid we’d lose her then, due to a broken heart. We rescued another Basset Hound, Roscoe, to help ease her broken heart. Roscoe suffers terribly with separation anxiety. Abby had never learned to howl until she met Roscoe. How they howl in unison. I fear, with our recent move to VA (we have only been here a few weeks due to my husband’s recent transfer), and the reality that we will lose Abby very soon without treatment, for Roscoe’s well-being since he has finally settled in with us and his anxiety has significantly subsided in recent months. Abby has been such a good friend and teacher. She is teaching Roscoe how to be confident in our home and taught him that we do not pee in the house. He only did that one time, the first day we had him. She is teaching him how to play Hide and Seek and how to use his nose to “find” what we ask them to.

   My husband always said Abby would have been a great mother. She is known as the “NFL”, the “No Fun Lady.” She doesn’t like to see kids pretending to fight. (with swords, or pool noodles, or anything like that) If there are dogs at the dog park playing too rough, she will totally bark and break up the “fight.”

   She protects us as she would do with other dogs in her pack, I am guessing. If one of us has a nightmare, she wakes us gently, as a momma would her child. She truly is one of the sweetest, most attentive dogs I have ever run across. It breaks our hearts to know she may be in pain, even though she’d never let on.

   Abby has done so much for us; she deserves a chance to live her life without cancer. She deserves the chance to live to be an old lady who chooses to go out in her own way with dignity and grace. My husband is a strong man, but when it comes to Abby he is mush. Abby’s diagnosis has broken his heart. Seeing that breaks mine. Abby deserves a chance. Help us give that to her, please.

   Her diagnosis came as a shock to us. We took her in to have her teeth cleaned at the end of August, figuring she’s just need an extraction, but were stunned to find out she had an oral melanoma. The doctors are saying they’d never seen one growing as fast as hers and surgery is a must, but without the vaccine also the tumor will most certainly return quickly. The doctors would like to do chemo also, but we aren’t sure if we should do that with my compromised immune system. We’ve been here in VA for such a short time, I haven’t even established a doctor of my own yet to be able to get consent.

    

   Update: Sadly, Abby lost her battle with cancer in June of 2015. Her owners were so grateful to have a little extra time with her.

3. Trapper

   February 29, 2016 8:13 pm Comments Off on Trapper

   We picked up Trapper from the Tractor Supply Store, through the Caring for Creature Organization. My husband had talked to a woman from the foundation who said she had “just the one for us…a sweet family dog.” Little did I know that he would someday take up a huge space in the hearts of his “forever family.”

   When I saw him in his cage, I couldn’t help but notice his big, lonely eyes that melted my heart. We left that day in 2004 from Tractor Supply together, and he has been with us every since. He has been a faithful family friend to our whole family, but especially to me. I had read information about the Rhodesian Ridgeback breed, and how they tend to bond closely with one member of the “pack.” Maybe it was because I was the one who rescued him that day, or maybe is it because I’m the one who serves the dog meals daily. In any case, Trapper is my constant companion. He watches my every move, and follows me from room to room. Constantly at my heels and underfoot when I’m cooking, there he is like a 90 pound rug ornament. When I retire for the evening, so does he.

   He has done some unusual things, like many dogs do. The very first time we put him in a crate for a few hours while we went out, we came home to find that “Houdini the Great” had escaped by somehow prying the steel bars of his cage open wide enough for him to slip his large body out.

   Trapper’s best act though, was when he brought me his first “present.” He dropped it at my feet on the living-room rug while I was watching TV. I didn’t notice it at first, but I did notice he was panting and “amped up”, with that doggie smile on his face that seemed to say that he was extremely satisfied with himself. When I glanced toward the floor, I then knew the reason for his satisfaction….he had plopped a huge, immobilized opossum on the rug!

   Needless to say, we were saddened to hear that Trapper had a cancerous Mast-cell tumor for the first time. Our vet recommended that we remove it surgically, and we did so immediately. Several months later, another bump appeared on his stomach, and we took him to the vet to have an aspiration done. It was another tumor, which was surgically removed again. We were feeling bad for the poor guy, but had hoped that this would be the last of it.

   Almost a year later this past September, I felt something unusual in his armpit area as well as a small bump on his neck. I took him to the vet with a dismal feeling in my gut, something that said this was not going to be good news. Unfortunately, it was another Mast Cell rumor for which chemotherapy was recommended. Having just had to put another pet to sleep one month earlier, I was not ready to give up the fight until we had done more to help Trapper fight this beast called “Mast Cell Tumors.”

   In December, Trapper received a round of Vinblastine chemotherapy and did well. After that, he received CCNU, and all was going well until this past Saturday, when Trapper developed a dinner plate sized discolored area on his side that did not look normal. After having him checked at the vet just yesterday, this mass was confirmed as another mast cell area.

   Dr. Waite recommended trying the chemotherapy drug Palladia, as it is made especially for the treatment of Mast cell tumors, as well as another potential surgery. However, Palladia is very expensive and seems to be just out of our reach financially. We have tried all of the other options besides the one drug that could potentially work the best for him.

   While I know that no dog lasts forever, and every good thing must someday end, I feel that I want to do everything in my power to give Trapper the best chance at life that he can have, until the end of his dogs years and the Lord all him home. He was a strong will to live, and is a very happy, well adjusted, much loved guy despite his cancer diagnosis.

   Having reached a crossroads with Trapper’s treatment, We, the whole Helmuth family, respectfully request that you consider endowing us with a grant to make it possible for Trapper to receive treatment with Palladia. Whatever your decision, I want to thank you for your time in considering this application. I am so thankful for the fact that Fetch-A-Cure is in existence and is helping many families receive financial assistance for their animal friends in need.

   Sincerely,

   Trapper (canine, 10.5 years old)

   Christine and Gary

   Jacob (15 years old) and Abby (8 years old)

   **Update: I am sorry to let everyone know that we lost Trapper to his cancer this week. We are extremely saddened by his and miss his presence and love. Thank you for everything you and Fetch have done to help us in our time of need.

4. Neelix

   February 26, 2016 6:23 pm Comments Off on Neelix

   

   In 2004, we moved to a new house and Neelix developed anxiety spraying and despite different tranquilizer prescriptions, Rescue Remedies and Feliway diffusers, he still sprays when he is angry, happy, anxious, victorious, or dinner is late. We have adapted by living with thrift store furniture for the past decade, throwing out and replacing it with new thrift store furniture every year or so, hanging towels on the bottom of all dresser drawers, and lining the walls with cardboard. We never considered getting rid of him, despite this destructive bad habit. We are childless and have five other cats, but they are cats. This is our almost-human baby, and the only one of the 11 cats we have taken care of during our marriage that we acquired as a kitten. And unfortunately he has been diagnosed with Nasal Adenocarcinoma.

   He puts us to bed every night by massaging our head and neck, and if either one of us gets up during the night, it wakes him up and he puts us back to bed the same way.

   He is the star of five YouTube videos with combined views of 45,970. One video of him playing on top of a printer has 36,333 views alone.

5. Myka

   6:19 pm Comments Off on Myka

   

   In June 2004, my beloved childhood dog passed away at almost thirteen years old. Montgomery was a one hundred and twenty pound lab shepherd mix and like a brother to me. He had an inoperable tumor on his spine and did not live long after diagnoses. He laid down in the sun one morning and just drifted off. It was beautiful and devastating. The only other time I had seen my father cry was at my grandmother’s funeral. I was twenty-one years old and living on my own for the first time, but without him, I truly felt alone.

   When my father and I picked up Montgomery’s ashes, the woman we had taken him to, to be cremated, said, “I have an odd, maybe inappropriate question for you, but….”

   She had a tenant who had gone to the hospital and never came back. His dog was left, alone, in a crate with no one stepping forward to care for her. She was also a lab shepherd mix and in desperate need of a home. I was very hesitant to adopt another dog so soon, but the moment I met her, I knew it was meant to be. She was scrawny, missing a lot fur and so wild she could barely be walked on a leash. She was perfect. I remember bringing her home; she sat on my lap, in the front seat of the car. I had a rough and stressful few years, but she was always there for me, knowing when I was sad, or just needed some extra love. She still does.

   Nine years later, she is still by my side, comforting me, filling my heart with love and making my life meaningful and complete. Through nurturing her, I learned how to nurture myself, and together, we have gotten to a better place. I owe her my life, I owe her the world. I love her unconditionally and I know she loves me. If my love were all she needed, she would live forever. She will live forever in my heart.

   Myka’s liver values were slightly off at her last senior wellness exam and the vet suggested we recheck in a few months. The vet did not seem too concerned, and we went about our life like nothing was wrong. She had her blood rechecked the end of April. It was only a week before her appointment that I noticed she seemed to be getting tired quicker. The day before her appointment she stopped eating her usual dry food and suddenly became finicky. Her levels came back worse than before and the vet suggested a few more tests and an abdominal x-ray; still inconclusive, time for an ultra-sound, then the recommendation she be taken to an oncologist as soon as possible. Dogwood was able to fit her in as an emergency the same day.

   Life changes so quickly….

   I was going back to school, my boyfriend and I were looking at buying a house, then it felt like everything came crashing down. Myka was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I could not stop crying for a week and dropped my summer classes.  We had money saved for a house down payment and have gone through most of that for chemo and other vet expenses. Myka is my top priority right now. I want to spend as much time with her as possible and keep her happy and healthy for as long as possible.

   Myka is truly an amazing dog. Whenever I have felt like giving up, I just look at her and can’t help but smile. She is always so happy and upbeat. Even now, though she is the one who is sick, she is still the one comforting me.