Straight Outta Rescue Society: Emergency Medical Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The grant was used to pay for Nova's veterinary bills related to her second tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery.

This grant enabled us to keep our intake open by helping us offset some of the veterinary costs associated with Nova's TPLO surgery.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Nova joined our care in March 2021. Due to a breakup between her humans, she ended up in our care, as they were no longer able to dedicate the time she needed to be the best gal that she could be. She had an ongoing issue with her back end and an x-ray done during her intake assessment confirmed that she needed a TPLO. Thanks to our generous supporters, we were able to raise nearly $3,500 of this $4,000 surgery.

Nova struggled for the first few days post-op. Then her recovery really accelerated and she was quickly cleared by our vet for controlled walks around the neighborhood and rehab. No roughhousing or running for this gal. We were looking forward to getting clearance to start socializing her again at her eight-week X-ray, but that week she walked up to her foster mom … with a limp. This time she was favoring her left hind leg.

On May 11, she had her eight-week X-ray on her right leg, and an X-ray to check out her left leg. Her vet and surgeon were thrilled with the healing of her right leg, but said that it did indeed look like she might have a tear in her left leg. It is unfortunately not uncommon for big dogs like Nova to end up needing surgery on the other leg but, I’m not going to lie, it was pretty tough news to hear. She was put back on full restricted movement, just the basic poops and pees, in hopes that the inflammation would subside and we were not facing yet another surgery.

Despite this restricted rest, it was confirmed that Nova did, again, require surgery. We had her booked for her second TPLO and were looking at a second vet bill and aftercare of $4,000+. It is not common for us to do big-ask fundraisers like this, and we would never have thought we would be asking just two months after doing so for the same pup!

While we were humbled to see the support, raising $1,225 of the $4,000 we would need for her surgery, the Petfinder Foundation grant really assisted us in closing the gap, enabling us to continue to intake some more challenging medical cases during Nova’s recovery.

She had her second surgery on June 24 and has been cleared at her eight-week x-ray, although big hikes and runs are out of scope for her and her bionic legs now.

Nova is a super-smart gal and she just likes to please. We are thrilled to see her no longer in pain and enjoying herself so much. She’s learned so many tricks and knows more than 30 commands and counting.

Nova is still looking for her perfect forever home. You can meet her here.