Miss Jamila!
Month: September 2021
My last post of my night!
Well, these pictures sum up a good part of my day!
With it being so glorious, I took some time off from school (my day off from work), and Sean & I worked to get some pictures of BHRR’s Miss Jamila(going to be August Calendar Girl thanks to Carol Bruck‘s generosity!), BHRR’s Mr. Rocket & BHRR’s Mr. Romeo -so they could make their special announcements……
Yet, Mr. Rocket (deaf/visually impaired) had his own plans for today.
What a hoot he is!
I just wanted him to be still and ‘pose’ nicely for one….well, I wanted three great pics, yet, I would have settled for one good pic! LOL
I so love that goober head! Never a dull moment! JUST stay still and stop making faces for just…..one….bloody…..moment….PLEASE!
From our home to all of our friends, family, and supporters, the best of good night wishes are being sent!
Mr. Brutus was at the Vet today for a recheck.
He weighed 49 kgs(107.8 pounds). He is eating three meals a day – fish-based food due to his allergies. Still quite thin.
The Vet did a tear test on his right eye, and he does have dry eye. He changed up his eye medication to Maxitrol. It contains a steroid, dexamethasone plus two antibiotics, neomycin sulphate, and polymyxin B sulphate. The Tobramycin he came with sadly, was not working.
He is also now on an eye lubricant. Lubrithal Eye Gel.
The medication will be used on both eyes.
His right eye has more entropion than the left, and we will revisit once the inflammation goes down plus when the cloudiness clears up re: if he requires surgery.
We did an ear cytology plus thoroughly cleaned his ears. He has yeast plus bacteria in both ears, and KT treatment was used.
The antibiotics for his skin – Cephalexin 500 mg BID will be extended another week for his hot spots, especially on his neck.
He was such a GREAT patient!!! So many admirers he had today! So many amazing compliments on his fantastic temperament.
Despite, him looked like a ‘hot mess’, everyone could see just how gorgeous this boy is!
We are working on his flaky, dandruff-filled dull coat too…..he is beginning to have some tiny areas of new hair growth coming in, so progress!
He will also remain on 2 tablets of the Apoquel 16 mg daily and re-visit once this round is finished.
The shelter had given him Cytopoint injections and that is good for a month.
He was so sad in this picture – a bit blurry, I know! – as we left all of his newfound friends behind! He liked being the centre of attention, AND he is super nosey! LOL Wherever there was action, he wanted to know what it was all about. He has such a delightful personality.
Quiet and calm yet a bull in a china shop with those lack of leash manners! That is a work in progress!
We are STILL ISO: a foster for this outstanding senior.
BHRR’s Miss Jamila. A VIDEO…..night-time snack.
Gwennie Novel coming up!
She arrived in our care on August 22nd and it was not until the night of September 9th that she FINALLY began to eat better.
During that time, I had spent my nights with minimal sleep, made multiple Vet visits including with specialists, given her round the clock care at work/home, placed her on IV fluids/meds, tried what felt like a hundred different types of food, hand-fed her, put drops into her eyes(we still do!), treated her ears(we still are!), skin infections(we still are!), her bronchitis, her early stages of pneumonia(we still are!), bathed her, loved her, comforted her, was exposed to negativity from others, de-wormed her, did smears, cytologies, and UA, cultures, FNA biopsies, and more including x-rays and ultrasound……
Due to her poor health – her mature spay(may she not develop Pyo), her lump removals to go to pathology(praying that they are not MCT’s), her bilateral eye enucleation (may she not develop glaucoma) – had to be moved to December 8th – An all-day surgery that yes, I am going to be her surgery tech……I committed to her, and 100% I am going to be right by her side from start to finish.
The negativity that has come our way re: her, our continued zero-tolerance re: anyone not making this about Miss Jamila is unfortunate yet if Miss Jamila could talk, I know that she would be so appreciative that people cared enough to work on giving her the best quality filled of fabu+ lives that she should have always had.
She did not ask to be born deaf/blind, she did not ask to be bred and bred over and over again for greedy profit, she did not ask to be tied up and abandoned along with her brother when she could no longer have puppies – her brother died, strangled in what he had been tied with, she did not ask to have cataracts, struvite crystals, suspicious squamous cells, eye, ear and skin infections etc, she did not ask to be abused, neglected, and to only have felt hurting hands over loving, kind, gentle caring ones……
AND, I wanted to share one of the best things that has ever happened on the night of September 9th – she began to eat…as we got her healthier, as we figured out each medical issue/concern and addressed it, as we continued to do what we are experts in….we got Miss Jamila healthier, we got her happier, we got her to eat plus drink more normally – still not 100% as to what a Dane should but we are getting there!
Her Vets – getting vet appointments are not easy during COVID, to begin with YET, she was rallied around – knew plus shared our immense worry, stress, and concern….they shared it and fell in love with her just as we had. She has a BHRR village that includes SO many that have made this video possible AND I thank you with tears in my eyes for that.
Her Vet bills are over $5,000 now and we have easily another $5,000 in upcoming surgeries and histopathology to do for her come December. NOT to mention the food – her canned food is $124 plus change for a case of 24, and she is now eating three cans a day….. a/d food.
We have worked on scent plus touch training, AND along with those that believe in what we do, why we do it, and why Miss Jamila is worth all of the nightmarish hells thrown her/our way; this is a video I took Friday night(September 17th).
I want to SHARE with all of you what you have helped make happen. We could not do what we do without her rescue angels and THANK you! Thank you! She is eating! She is gaining weight!
We shall continue to post updates and donations to her future bills – our Movie night will see all funds donated to her too! – can be made direct to Liston Animal Hospital at 613-591-0966
OR via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org
OR via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com
We are now ALL on the bed!
Now at least sitting on his bed!
We are with this handsome dude today!
His fabu foster fam is hosting us for our latest nail trim/ear cleaning fundraiser!
We are at 37 Dressler Drive in Kanata until 4 pm today!
Mr. Maxwell much preferred to snooze in the dirt over the dog bed that was readily available!
Got him!!!
We see zero Dane in his physical traits, just 100% stunning American Bully….it also always makes us giggle when people say a dog is huge and when we see them, we are like ‘what a nice wee giant!’ The weight on his paperwork is 56 kgs(123.20 pound), AND he is skinny.
We will be at the Vet for a visit ASAP, and we will post an update on his medical conditions. He is booked for September 27th. He is on Apoquel, Cephalexin and has eye drops. He was given cytopoint injections this week – 130 mg at the shelter. The shelter also generously neutered him on Tuesday, September 14th, and sent us a kind message afterward that they did so! What a lovely surprise! How unbeliveably kind is that of them to save our rescue funds from having to neuter him ourselves.
This transport was very heartwarming today!
So many wonderful souls came together to make this rescue happen….I remain humbled by the big kind caring hearts of so many!
Sean should have him in less than five minutes!
The pics sent today of the transport and the words re: how much of a gentleman and old soul he is, has been so touching.
We see American Bully ALL the way.
This pic cracks me up!
You can for sure see that he is an American Bulldog in this pic too…the shelter said he was an American Bully/DaneX.
Not much Dane noted in this pic….cannot wait to meet him!
Skinny boy….the shelter did tell us he was skinny…
Traveling great per the Volunteers!
He is proving to be an excellent companion to his fellow traveling companions – all heading to their own rescues – ferrets, newborn kittens, turtles, and a small dog.
He is on his way!!!
Mr. Brutus!
The senior 8.5-year-old special needs American Bully/DaneX.
Thank you’s being extended once more to Amanda Allen, her lovely husband along with their most adorable 7-month-old daughter Wren for hosting us today!
Wren stole my heart!!
Thanks to their kindness and the generosity of the community, a WOW $184.85 was raised which included $27.40 in Empties!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
BHRR’s Maxwell and his wonderful foster mama came out to visit, and he had a manicure/pedicure done by me!
Next weekend is our last driveway nail trim/ear cleaning events of 2021.
With your caring continued support, we plan to be back to a driveway near you again in 2022 – for our third year!
BHRR’s Jamila Update:
On September 2nd, Miss Jamila had further specialist assessments.
Her right eye has a cataract and will need to be removed. The left eye was hard to say as being a DM – double merle with those deeply recessed pupils – hard to get a good look yet, with both eyes being that typical milky white, the Vet pretty much feels it also has a cataract and will need to be removed.
Discomfort/pain is caused by the inflammation that accompanies cataracts as the protein structure of the lens changes. Inflammation of the eye, if left untreated, may also lead to glaucoma which is very painful for dogs. She is on prednisolone acetate drops every 8 hours.
We figured we would have to do a bilateral eye enucleation yet not due to cataracts. We felt that as she was a DM they would both need to be removed – recessed pupils, entropion, Microphthalmia that leads to painful chronic infections.
She is older than the 3-4 we were told she was. 6+ maybe. Does not matter to us, never does. We stepped up to assist when asked and we have been committed to all of her needs 100%.
Ears were cleaned again and more meds for eyes and ears. Her ear infections are from yeast and fungal spores. Ketoconazole was placed into both ears and we will do yet another ear cytology 2 week post-treatment.
Heart looks ok – x-ray posted – nothing like DCM noted yet, she does have bronchitis and very early stages of pneumonia- the latter part not surprising based upon how poorly she has felt since arriving. She has been placed on Clavamox.
It is hard for a dog to eat and drink normally when they are feeling like crap. For those that are not aware, a Giant Breed dog can drink about 10L of water a day. Miss Jamila is currently drinking on her own 500 ml/daily.
She is eating some a/d and recovery wet – it costs us almost $125 a case, so if anyone wishes to be a canned food rescue angel to help us purchase this food for her; we would be incredibly indebted. She is now eating about 2 cans of food a day with some kibble mixed in.
We have 8 cans of food left. Each can is 156 g.
The x-ray also shows Arthritis in her spine – not surprising as we know she is older than stated.
This x-ray shows that she does have stool and gas and that night, she had her first normal-sized Dane poop!
Unfortunately, her mature spay and lumps removal to then be set off to pathology has been postponed. It had been scheduled for yesterday. We need to get her healthy first yet, pyo is a big concern.
We are anxious to have those lumps removed and to have them sent off. The needle biopsies that we did showed some squamous cells.
We are equally anxious to get her spayed – an overbred female of her age, also being extremely special needs, a Giant – puts her at risk and in having the big concern for pyo and mammary cancer. Yet, we will not proceed until she is stronger plus as healthy as can be.
We remain so grateful to those that have stood by her/our sides. With your generous donations including through our fundraisers, we have been able to pay off all of her bills to date. Her bills have run us into the thousands since her arrival, and if seeing her happy plus healthy means we have to spend thousands more, we will. Her life before rescue was horrible, and we will ensure that her life is now one of safety and happiness plus health.
We shall continue to post updates and donations to her future bills – our Movie night will see all funds donated to her too! – can be made direct to Liston Animal Hospital 613-591-0966
OR via PayPal to gwen@birchhaven.org
OR via email transfer to contactbhrr@gmail.com
Her mature spay/mass removal/histopathology will cost close to $1,500.
A bilateral enucleation will cost $3,500+ as this will be done by a specialist – we plan on using the same one that did our 3 deaf/blind mice(Dr. Philibert).
The next in need!
This is ‘Brutus’, an 8.5 year old DaneX, special needs that was slated for medical euthanasia as the O. cannot afford his care.
The wonderful shelter posted hoping for a rescue spot to be found for him and thought it would be a long shot….yet, Sean tagged Gwendilin Boers and we immediately stepped up!
He is said to be a sweet senior, utd on vaccines, hw and flea prevention, microchipped, heartworm/tickborne disease tested
Said to be good with dogs – lived with another dog, good with kids(children in the prior home), has been great with all shelter staff, no resource issues, housebroken.
Listed medical conditions from the shelter:
‘Skinny. Chronic skin and ear issues (ongoing for years) that had never been treated. We started him on antibiotics, Apoquel, medicated baths, and ear meds. He was also given a dose of steroids and preventatives that cover mange and we have ordered Cytopoint injections for him. No sugar coating it – his skin and ears are really an absolute disaster.’
This will be our fourth rescue for 2021, and look at that face…..precious.
We are presently working on the details of his transport.
We will post more as we can…..
Mr. Symba(Available For Adoption) is going to be so sad…..
This was his last giant stuffie and Mr. Romeo has been caught red-handed! Fast asleep after having fun doing some de-stuffing of Mr. Brown Bear.
Love that wee stinker, yet I do not think BHRR’s Symba is going to feel the same right now!!
I am now going to try and do some emergency surgery on Mr. Brown Bear to see if I can give him some quality of life…..
Mr. Maxwell!
Thank you to his wonderful perma-foster family for taking such amazing care of him!
AND no, I do not see a dog on a couch!
Mr. Maxwell, you deserve all of the best things in life!
Mr. Maxwell!
He was at the Vet for a recheck on August 28th.
He weighed 34.4 kgs(75.68 pounds).
We did a FNA on the one lump – a lipoma is what it is.
The other two growths are melanomas.
We did a repeat UA – infection is still present yet, slowly resolving – and the Vet has extended his Amoxicillin another two weeks once this round of antibiotics ends.
His head tilt is not yet explained and it has been confirmed that he does have some neuro deficits.
So, today, he went to his foster home and while our intent is to have him perma-fostered, his Vet did fall in love with him as did his daughter who is back from school. His wife is not yet ready for another dog – they have owned boxers for decades – AND that is ok!
He is such a sweetheart and having him in our own home this past while made us miss Mr. Potterman, Boxer extraordinaire!
