Paws Along The River

We are Paws Along The River Humane Society located in Warren, Pennsylvania, and we are asking for your help with vet bills for little Winnie. Winnie came to Paws a couple of months ago with 5 other Yorkies that were dumped off in a cage on a back road with little chance of survival. Thank God for concerned citizens, our staff, and members of our community who set out to rescue them all and get them safely to Paws. All 5 of the other little ones got their vet care, spays, and neuters and were all adopted into wonderful loving homes. And there stood Winnie, her prognosis grim and even somewhat of a mystery. During Winnie's first trip to the vet, a strange mass was discovered in her abdomen. An x-ray was performed, but that seemed to leave us with more questions than answers. Was it cancer? Was it life-threatening? Could it be removed? And the answer was no one really knew. The vet would have to perform surgery on her to find out what the mystery mass really was. So, Monday, September 16th, Winnie was dropped off at the vet, and we waited...

Now I will give you the best account of the story possible by letting you read what the vet's comments were on our paperwork we got from them.

Winnie has a suspicious mass palpated in her abdomen prior to surgery that turned out to be a fetus...sort of. Sometime in the past 6 months, she apparently had become pregnant and was unable to give birth. Her uterus ruptured, and she developed peritonitis that she somehow survived. There were fetal bones and fur throughout her abdomen. The only portion of her reproductive tract that was intact was the uterine body near the cervix. The resulting inflammation created a mass of adhesions to the fetus, colon, small intestines, spleen, pancreas, and liver. There was very little normal anatomy inside of her abdomen. In the process of reducing adhesions and trying to identify the different abdominal organs, the decision was made to continue and try to remove as much of the fetal material as possible along with the remnants of the reproductive tract. After all the adhesions had been reduced, there were 2 large holes in the mesentery—the thin, clear tissue that connects the underside of the entire intestinal tract and provides blood supply. Assessment of the intestinal tract at this time does not suggest vascular compromise. Her abdomen was lavaged with 1 liter of sterile saline, and her abdominal incision was closed in 2 layers.

After staying overnight with the vet, Winnie is now back in the care of Paws and is at home with a staff member where she can be monitored closely and rest where it is quiet. Although right now we are unsure of the cost of what Winnie's surgery bill will be, we do know it will be costly. We are a non-profit organization who relies on the donations of the public to be able to continue our work here. If we happen to raise more than Winnie's bill alone, then we will put the rest of the money towards our account at the vet's office. Veterinary care is our biggest expense here, and we could always use the help on that! On behalf of the staff at Paws, we thank you.