Grey Face Rescue and Retirement: Emergency Medical Grant Report

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

The Emergency Medical Grant we received from the Petfinder Foundation was put towards treatment for Casey, a senior foster with Grey Face. We used it specifically to pay for treatments through our vet clinic, VCA Feist.

It was an enormous help to cover the costs of Casey's treatment. Other then Casey's need for treatment, she was a very healthy dog who could potentially live a very happy and lengthy life. We wanted to dedicate the grant to Casey's well-being and health so she could find her forever family.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

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

Casey came to Grey Face Rescue from Texas when her previous shelter closed its doors. She came with eight other companions. Casey was intended to come to Minnesota and be a emotional-support dog for a young girl. After a few months in their home, Casey’s “leaking” and urinating became too much. Casey was then placed in a foster home, where she had a scuffle with the resident dog and was asked to be removed immediately.

Casey has a probable chronic history of pyelonephritis [kidney infection] and cystitis. It is believed that when she was in rescue down in Texas, it went undiagnosed. When Casey became part of Grey Face, she was having a lot of urinary problems and we started diagnostics to rule things out. The main diagnostics we did that helped to diagnose Casey were a urinalysis, an abdominal ultrasound and a urine culture. The urinalysis came back positive for a urinary-tract infection; the abdominal ultrasound showed no signs of a mass but showed thickening and inflammation of the urinary tract; and the urine culture came back positive for a organism that is pretty antibiotic-resistant.

There were three choices of treatment for Casey, but in speaking with multiple veterinarians, there was one option that they all recommended: an oral tablet called Chloramphenicol. It is given every eight hours. The person giving the medication needs to wear gloves. The main possible complication with this medication is causing problems with bone marrow. In order to monitor for this, a complete blood count test is recommended a certain number of days after starting the medication.

Casey has been on her treatment for two weeks and is improving daily. She is in her new foster home and LOVING her life. She is even being adopted 🙂

These days she enjoys boat rides, reading with her foster sister and receiving endless amounts of love. It’s a true Cinderella story and it is amazing to give Casey a second chance. Thank you for your support!