Help!! How much?

[Sue Bisaga]

I am a foster home for dogs (I do this on my own all care is paid out my pocket). I have 6 dogs of my own all fomer foster that couldn't be placed for what ever reasons.
My current foster is a 3 yr. old female/spayed rottie. She's been in my friends care as a foster for 6 months she just came to live with me so she can be inside not out in a kennel. We live in michigan and winters are snowy and cold.
Tess was hit by a car before we got her and never got medical care. This didn't seem to be a huge problem unless she ran a lot then she seem to favor a front leg. I took her to the vets for x-rays just to see what if anything was wrong and what could be done.
The x-rays show both kness have issues and would need surgery and both elbows have very bad athritis and one has a floating bone chip which would need to be removed. Both elbows need to be buffed out.
I can not afford any of this surgery. And both knees are awful not one over the other and both elbows are awful not one ofthe other. So it not a matter of doing the worst one and so on. Infact doing one might blow the other out, she 80lbs.
For 6 months (well as long as I have known her) she been almost normal she plays,eats,runs,love s my kids to death, plays with the other dogs and enjoys life. Too much exercise causes some stiffness but the vet tells me she can't beleive this dog even walks let alone runs.
I am keeping her as a perminate foster and my plan is to put her on some sort of medication like etogesic or metacalm and well she is comfortable and happy and some what active she stay with us but when the pain gets to be too much and she has more bad day then good I will have her put down.

Does this just sound awful not to do more?
I just can't afford more then good food and lots of love and some medicin for pain.

Sue and Tess

[Stefie C]

No Sue, I don't think it sounds awful. I think it sounds like a compassionate plan. I'm sure that for whatever time Tess has left, she'll be loved & well cared for. Your obviously doing all you can to help dogs and make a difference in this world. So stop worrying about not being able to afford the surgeries. Bless you for giving her a wonderful home. I hope she continues to be pain free and active for a very long time!

[Sheryl]

I agree.... this sounds like a very loving and compassionate plan. You are a wonderful person for giving her a great life, and then for helping her over the Bridge when the time comes so that she doesn't have to suffer any more.
One suggestion that I have that might help. I know that Metacam is really expensive. Some vets use pharmacies that will make a 'generic' form of the drug (the generic name is Meloxicam) My sister is a vet, and uses a pharmacy that will make her a beef-flavored liquid for about half the price of the brand-name Metacam. It's like buying generic flakes of corn instad of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Also, Eagle Pack makes a food for large dogs that has glucosamine in it. I had Harley on that food, and didn't have to give him any extra glucosamine, and he only needed his meloxicam on very rare occasions. Eagle is a little expensive, but I found that because it is good quality food, he didn't eat nearly as much.
Good luck, and bless your heart!

[Lesly Stevens]

There are organizations that will help financially in situations like this. I'll do a search and see if I can come up with a list for you to contact.

Also, you could enlist the aid of your local newspaper and TV stations who are often interested in a good human interest story. Donations going specifically to the vet hospital seem to work better than to an individual person.

But, bottom line, you do all you can, and when that's not enough, you accept, and do what's in the best interest of the dog.

Bless you,

Lesly

[Lesly Stevens]

Here's one resource:

www.imom.org

In Memory of Magic. Helping other people help pets. To better the lives of sick, injured, or abused companion animals. Dedicated to ensure that no comanion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged.

Read all the information there and make sure you copy the intro letter and contact your vet for them to fax their estimate to them, then click on IMOM policies at the bottom and then on the next screen at the bottom click on General Emergency Fundys and the application will come up.

Good luck to you,

Lesly

[Grace Erick]

Hi Sue,

I know the chihuahua rescues take in dogs for whatever reason, have the vet check them over and have whatever needs to be done, done. Then when the dog is able to be adopted, someone pays a small fee or if the dog is very ill, the dog stays with the foster home if it's agreed upon by the foster people who are the same as the rescue people.

So what I'm saying in a long winded way is perhaps you can give the dog up to an all rottie rescue if there is one in your state that will take care of medical costs and let you foster and/or adopt the dog after he's fixed up if there is more that they can do medically that you can't afford. I don't know if they do things like this, get a dog and necessarily give it back to you since it would be like you giving them your dog to fix, but if you explained the situation, perhaps a rescue can help????

I think you're doing a great job with your foster care. Believe me, you and I don't see it, but I'm sure people put their pets down all the time for even the most minor of problems that would not cost them much medically to fix just to not spend the money, even if they have it, because they don't think it's worth it to help their family pet.

Actually, now that I think of it, you should probably as a last resort give the dog up to a rescue to see if they will fix the dog's problems if they are fixable, but the only catch it that you may not get the dog back, because they may put the dog up for adoption where someone may want him, but I somehow think he would end up back with you. I don't think people are standing in line to adopt an older hurting rottie. Really, I think it would be the thing to do if the rescue would give him vet care and put him up for adoption where he could still live.

Bye, Grace