SPCA Eastern Shore, Inc.: Emergency Medical Grant Report

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

A dental for a blind senior poodle.

The 7-year-old blind poodle, Missy, had bad breath, gums and teeth. This grant would pay the estimated cost of a much-needed dental to remove the teeth, and hopefully prevent any future problems stemming from them.

How many pets did this grant help?

One

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

Missy was uninterested in people when she came to us. After weeks of much socializing, she began to stay still and let herself be petted. Slowly, she seemed to be really beginning to enjoy the interaction with people. After a few months here, she was adopted, shortly after this grant was applied for. Within days of being in her new home, Missy took very ill and spent 2.5 days in the hospital, fighting for her life. The doctor said it was a systemic infection and could have been caused by the infection in her mouth. After a couple of months of routine bloodwork to ensure Missy could go through a dental, it was performed on Jan. 5, 2017. Missy came through with no problems — she’d already lost 25 teeth prior to this dental, and the doctor removed the remaining 17 to leave her toothless. She wasn’t interested in food the evening following the dental, but the following morning, she ate with gusto. Next up for Missy: a visit to an eye doctor to remove cataracts in both eyes and replace one lens, with the hope of restoring her sight.