|
American Boston Terrier Rescue |
 Photo of the Month! |
Our new Message Board!
Lady Bug went missing in May, 2010 in Easton, MA. More info here.
Please adopt me, I'm ready to go to my new home
Please help A Chance for Bliss win this contest as they help very old horses, dogs, etc to have a loving place to live out their lives and they can use the money as feeding and caring for these animals is expensive as we all know. As they are a sanctuary only they depend upon donations so winning this Grant would help them tremendously.
Place your vote here for this wonderful animal sanctuary to receive a $50k grant from Pepsi. Remember once you sign-in, you need to click on the "vote for thisidea" button again or your vote won't get counted.
Nicky finally found his forever home!
ABTR's annual calendars are now available for purchase, and they make really wonderful holiday gifts, so be sure to stockup.
Don't forget to enter the contest!
You have until the 28th of each month to send in entries for the next month.
Follow us on Twitter.
Critical Care - Vet Bill
American Boston Terrier Rescue has just taken custody of two
critically ill four-month-old Boston Terrier puppies. This brother and sister pair are named
Martini and Rossi. They've got a *bad* case of parvo. Add to that a raging case of Demodex, and
these poor little babies are suffering and they need our help.
Won't you please consider pledging just $10 to help these neglected little puppies get well? ABTR
is committed to doing all we can for them, but our resources have been stretched enormously over
the past year and we really need some help to give these little puppies the chance they deserve.
It is almost certain that their vetting will exceed $1300, so we're grateful for each and every
contribution. Thank you.
ABTR is a 501c3 charitable organization and every penny you donate is tax-deductible.
1-5-09 AM - We are starting our new year out with a bang! Dr. S just called me. She got a call
from a woman that has 2 Boston pups around 4 months old with bloody dying rears (diarrhea) and
they have had NO PUPPY SHOTS AT ALL!!! ARGGHHHHH by now they should have had 3 sets of shots and
been immune to stuff. The woman is wanting Dr. Shelly to treat them for free cause she can't
afford vet care (why the hell does she have puppies in the first place if she can't afford to vet
them?).
Dr. S is gonna work on getting this lady to relinquish the puppies to her so we can get them
treated and hopefully save their lives. Don't know how far gone they are with Parvo or if it is
just coccidia or an over abundance of worms because she probalby hasn't wormed them either, but
with no parvo shots, I betcha it is parvo. Although both of the others untreated can kill puppies
as well. Dr. S wasn't sure if we would take parvo pups, but I assured her that we would take
responsibility for the care of these babies and for her to start treating them immediately if/when
she gets them because there is no telling how long the little babies have been sick since the
idiot woman didn't get them any shots. So I may be hollering for help as the costs mount up as
this is a vet clinic that I pay them as services are rendered.
I don't know anything about the pups other than they are about 4 months old and Bostons.
Everything else is not important other than getting them the treatment they need soonest. I Hope
that this lady brings them into the clinic and Dr. S can get the pups signed over to her. Poor
puppies having to pay for an owner's ignorance/callousness.
1-05-09 PM - Praise the Lord, the lady brought the puppies to Dr. S. They are now signed over to her and hopefully she can get them stabilized as the pups are in bad shape from what she told me. Dr. S says they are both positive for parvo just as we had feared. They are pooping pure blood and the parvo is taking its toll. These babies will be at the vet hospital under their care probably for a week or more.
The little male is in worse shape than the female. On top of the parvo, the pups also have DEMODEX that will have to be addressed if they survive the parvo. Poor little babies! Can you imagine the pain and suffering these little ones have gone through because some IDIOT who should NEVER have gotten puppies they couldn't afford didn't take them to the vet like they should have. These babies have had NO VETTING WHATSOEVER!!! Sometimes I am really ashamed to be a human.
I had Dr. S give me a quick estimate of what we might expect in vet bills. She gave me worse case scenario since we don't know what all is gonna be needed to get these babies fixed up on the road to wellness. The bill could run as much as $900-1000 per pup depending on sub-q fluids and other medicine and stuff for the parvo, demodex and whatever else they may find wrong with them needing to be addressed once they get them stabilized. Dr. Shelly said that it may be cheaper if they don't need everything she quoted, but she was trying to give me worse case scenario, just in case. Better to be expecting it, than to be blindsided by a big bill. I just told her to do what the puppies needed as I trust her and we would fund raise and get the money needed to pay the bill.
These are some cute little puppies. Hopefully we can get past the parvo and get past the demodex's sore pink skin, hair-loss, the medical neglect and get their little immune systems into shape. Then we can concentrate on finding them a great home who will ALWAYS take good care of them MEDICALLY and physically as well as give them lots of love.
3709 E. Hwy 82
Gainesville, 76240
(940) 668-8282
As always, we at ABTR appreciate your continued support of our rescue efforts. Without your generosity and support, we could not have helped as many dogs as we have over the years. :) Thank you so very much. Wanda
American Boston Terrier Rescue
P O Box 525
Sanger, TX 76266
Thank you for your support.
We at American Boston Terrier Rescue have no ongoing sponsers, subsidies, grants or other steady supporter paying for the vetting care of the rescue dogs. All vet bills, dog food and anything else the dogs need are paid for from donations, adoption donations and my own pocketbook. Any Donations are always appreciated.
If you would like to contribute to Martini and Rossi's care and vet bill, please feel free to use
paypal for your payment or you can mail the payment to our vet with the notation
"American Boston Terrier Rescue - Parvo Puppies" to:
822 N. Grand Ave.
Gainesville, TX 76240
UPDATE 1-6-09 - Just got off the phone with the vets office. THE PUPPIES ARE STILL ALIVE!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHH!!! Marilyn says they look better this morning. I am thinking that means not so dehydrated. (They have IVs in em.) She said one of them even lifted their head when she went back to look at them. So they are slowly improving. I am very happy about that. I hate it when puppies die.
Anyway, I wanted to thank all of you for your wonderful support. THANK YOU!! I try not to ask too often as that is Heidi's job to fundraise for the normal expenses that the adoption fees don't cover. But sometimes I have to ask cause it is something in a situation that says Wanda ask for help. So I do. I don't do it to step on Heidi's toes, but to get help asap for a baby that needs it.
We won't know what the total expenses are for these babies will be yet, but if it is worse case scenario of $1000 per puppy, then we have enough to cover over half of one of the puppies raised. Isn't that wonderful? I am hoping that we will raise at least $1500 so that no matter what the bill is, we have the funds to pay it.
I thank you all for helping us to help these babies.
UPDATE 1-7-09 - I talked to Christine today. She said
that the little girl is doing well and was a bit more alert today, but the little boy is not so
good. BUT he is still hanging in there. So I am happy about that!!! They gave them plasma and
something else I can't remember (I was driving 15 dogs to the vet) as the puppies needed it. So I
am assuming they are still on IV's and such. Our bill as of today is $1013 for these babies and
they are not out of the woods yet, but they are alive and that gives me hope.
Hopefully with Heidi doing her fundraising on these babies, we will get enough to pay their bill
by the time I get them either on Saturday or next week some time depending on when the vet says
they are ready to come home.
UPDATE 1-8-09 - For all you who are following along in
the parvo pup saga, I just got off the phone with Dr. Shelly.
Martini is doing well and has been taken off IVs. She was offered 2 teaspoons of canned food. They
said when she smelled the food she got all excited and really wanted to eat. IF she is able to
keep that down Then I might be able to bring her home on Saturday if she keeps her food down
without vomiting all day today and tomorrow. That is GOOD NEWS!!! I am very happy about that.
Rossi is the not so good news. HE is still not doing well and vomiting like mad. The parvo is
doing a number on him. He is still on IV. She had him on metacropromide or something like that
and it was NOT working. So she has changed his medication yesterday over to cerenia which they
have had luck with older puppies, but not young ones. She is hoping it will kick in and help
him.
In a last ditch effort to save him, Dr. Shelly is in the process of giving him a blood transfusion
from her own dog. His red blood cells are way down. She is hoping that will bring up his rbc. She
says he will get some white blood cells and that will help him fight the parvo. This is an
experiment as this is not something that is normally done for parvo puppies. BUT... she is very
worried about him and is trying to do everything she can to help him. I agree. If it works for
the little fellow, then in the future, she will use a transfusion for those pups that are so sick
with parvo. But if this doesn't work and he doesn't stop vomiting in the next day or so, then she
said we would have to make the hard decision and let him go. That is the bad news.
Please pray REAL hard for Rossi to get better and stop vomiting.
I didn't EVEN ask how much all this was gonna cost us. I just told her to do what she can to save
him, but not to let him suffer if she thinks she can't. I know we are over $1000 as of day before
yesterday. But we will come up with the funds to pay it. Thank you all for your support,
prayers, and donations for these little babies.
UPDATE 1-8-09 - This is a very hard note for me to
write. I have tried to write it 5 times already and it just doesn't come out right and upsets me
each time so I start over. I guess i will just have to send it even though I am not happy with
it.
The sad news is in regard to Rossi. The blood transfusion helped him for a few hours and then he
turned septic and the bacteria/germs in his blood stream just overwhelmed him. He started
vomiting again after that brief respite from the transfusion. Something in his blood was at 0, I
can't remember exactly what she said it was, but it wasn't good. So rather than let him suffer
vomiting and getting slowly weaker and weaker any longer as there was nothing else she could do
for him medically as the meds she was giving him were not working, she gave him peace. Dr. Shelly
said that since he already had an IV that he just drifted off to sleep real peaceful in her arms
as she told him what a wonderful boy he was. Dr. Shelly was very upset having to do this as she
had hoped to save him just as I had hope for him to survive.
It is very upsetting when we loose one of our older dogs even when we are expecting it due to age
and illness. BUT... when we loose a sweet baby puppy to something that could have been easily
prevented just by having the baby vaccinated, it is heartbreaking.
This poor baby lost his life because the owner was too damn cheap, stupid and/or heartless to care
that she was risking that baby's life by not vaccinating him. This baby would not have had to die
if she had just spent the money to vaccinate him. And people wonder why I won't adopt them a dog
when they can't afford to pay our adoption fee to cover vet bills. THIS IS WHY!!!! IF you can't
afford to vet an animal, you shouldn't be taking on the responsibility for their care. This was a
senseless death and I am just so upset and frustrated because we couldn't save him. We tried for
as long as the vet held some hope for him, but... in the end, Rossi is dead because he didn't get
his baby shots when they were due to be given. My heart aches for that little boy. I will stop
my useless ranting now as it is not getting to the people who really need to hear it, but it did
make me feel a little better to vent.
THE GOOD NEWS IS....I met Martini last night when I had to take the new emaciated and dehydrated
OS girl Jessie I picked up in Arkansas yesterday in to the vet.
Martini is going home with Dr. Shelly for the weekend. She is skinny as a rail and has a hell of a
case of demodex and her skin is red as fire, but she was very happy to see me and get some
attention from me. She was very energetic for a very sick girl and just ready to play and love on
me. If she does well this weekend with no relapse, then she will come home with me on Monday
after I get the van's air fixed. It got too hot driving today. (remember it iced on the day I was
gonna get it fixed this week after it went out last weekend on the 75 degree weather IN JANUARY no
less ARGGGHHHH). :( Martini is gonna be a pretty girl once the demodex is addressed and her hair
grows back as she is a pretty girl even fiery pink skin with hair loss.
MARTINI WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION FOR maybe a month or 2 or 3. We have to give her time
to recover a bit more from the parvo before we start the demodex treatments and we still have to
get her spayed and anything else she needs.
Again I want to thank all of you for your prayers for these little babies and for your donations
to their care. Thank you.
UPDATE 1-18-09 - Martini is feeling her wheaties. She is
so happy to be alive and out of a cage. When we go to bed at night she dances up one side of me,
across the top of my head and down the other even when you put her under the covers she has to do
this happy to be here and be all around you dance. Then she cuddles as close to you as she can for
the night. Now if you pay attention to her she keeps dancing. I learned to not pay attention to
her and put the covers over her or she will dance for hours. She loves to sit in my computer
chair behind me like my Giggles does when I am on the computer. Martini EATS UP all the love and
attention you want to give her. She is one loving precious little girl. She will just cuddle and
let you love on her. Martini will be a great little lap dog especially for a puppy.
One thing she does that drives me nuts is she talks to me ALL the time when I first picked her up,
but I have been working with her so she is not as barky as she was. She still talks when she gets
excited, but it is not everytime I move talking like it was before. This poor baby was just dying
for attention and is afraid that she is not gonna get it. She doesn't seem to have separation
anxiety, more of my person is moving and I am not in her arms and I am gonna tell her about it.
And you really can't get mad at her cause she is just a talking and a dancing and a waving her
little tail like a flag at you.
Martini's skin is red as fire as you can see in the photo's below. The pictures in the house just
do not capture the redness of her skin. Her hair is more like a slight fuzz all over rather than
normal hair or totally bald as you can see from the pix. It needs to thicken up and grow in
longer as the demodex mites die off from the medication we are giving her. She is currently
alternating wearing one of my poodles fido fleeces and her black sweater, so she will stay warm.
She looks good in pink flowers, don't you think? It will probalby be at least a month before we do
her next skin scrape to see how the demodex is doing so the next update may not be for a while
unless she has another issue.
>From the way Martini acts, I have a feeling that the lady that surrendered her to Dr. Shelly was a
breeder and kept her in a cage. She does like to pee on the doggie bed. I been fussing at her
about it and taking her out, but you need to be aware of it and willing to work with it, if you
are interested in adopting her. She will need lots of love and training to be the dog she should
have been from the beginning. In my opinion, Martini will be a good girl with someone who is
willing to put the time and the effort into her training and loving. Now tell me, can you honestly resist that sweet little wrinkled face? I can't.
2/16/09 UPDATE: Martini got her xrays today. Unfortunately her kennel cough progressed into pneumonia and we are giving her a double whammy of antibiotics to try and knock it out. Her lungs were so inflamed you could see the airway passages. I knew she wasn't getting any better on the other antibiotics. The vet said that this sometimes happens when their immune systems are so compromised, her having parvo, demodex etc.
Today she did not have a fever so she coudl FINALLY get her first set of puppy shots. I have been worried to death about her catching everything. Whoever I adopt her to will have to be willing to deal with any health issues that may come up in the future since she does have a weak immune system. By the time I get her fixed up, I will be as in love with her as I was Snickerdoodles and man it is gonna be hard to let my happy little love bug girl go.
She is still eating and playful, just coughing her butt off. The vet and staff said her skin was looking much better than when they saw her as she wasn't as red and some hair is fuzzing up. She still has a long way to go on the demodex hair loss issue.
3/7/09 UPDATE: WE have battled with Pneumonia with our little one for over a month and it is finally clearing up. The poor girl was just hacking away with every breath she was taking. It is so nice to be able to sleep with her without wincing from her hack hack hack with every breath. I felt for her as I have had pneumonia and it is not pleasant at all. The pneumonia constant coughing is gone and her lungs sound clear.
Her skin scrape was negative for demodex so I am gonna put her in and get her spayed next week. I went ahead and pulled blood and checked her for heartworms since I got her at 4 months old and she hadn't had any shots so I know she didn't have any heartworm preventative. I tested her as she is about 6 months old now and just wanted to be sure she wasn't infected with those as well as everything else she has been infected wih. Thank the Lord, Martini IS heart worm negative!!! WOOHOO!!!
I have a good home wanting to adopt her as soon as she is adoptable that is willing to deal with any issues that she may have in the future, so she may be going to a new home soon.
UPDATE: DEC 2009: Martini has thrived since recovering from the parvo and demodex! Her weight has leveled out at a healthy 12-13 pounds and she is just bursting with energy. She will get so excited she runs laps around the house, jumping on and off the sofa, until she is out of breath. Usually I have to grab her and hold her until she calms down so that she doesn't end up hyperventilating. It's amazing how such a small dog can seem to take up so much more space than my 70 lb lab! And she loves her clothes! It is cold up here in WA and not all of her hair grew back after the demodex. So I have been knitting her sweaters to wear on our walks. When she is wearing her "special" dresses with ruffles and such, she seems to just prance along (yes, she still prances and high steps) and show off to the other dogs we see. Update from Martini's adopter Melissa from WA.
Graphics may not be used in any form without written permission from ABTR.
If you like our new graphics, I suggest you contact LILI CHIN and
if you indicate AMERICAN BOSTON TERRIER RESCUE, she will donate a portion of her proceeds from your drawing back to ABTR.