This is Maximus (Max). An adult schipperke who lives with me in Seattle.
For background, I got Max at the beginning of September from a pound in Eastern Oregon. I’ve been part of schipperke rescue in Seattle for many years and a friend over there told me about Max and that he was not getting very good care there. So I went there to see him and when I got there I saw that she was not kidding-he looked terrible. But they insisted that he was fine except for a ‘minor’ ear infection. So I took him back home, hoping I’d nurse him back to health and see if he could be re-homed. But almost immediately his condition became *very* serious.
This ‘minor’ ear infection has turned out to be a very *major* middle ear infection that has had Max near death several times over the past four months. The basic problem is that there is an area in a dog’s skull where the ear canal, the Eustachian tube and the throat all sort of come together. In Max’s case, that infection went untreated for so long that it seems to have eaten away at several structures known as the 'eardrum' (see graphic) such that all these systems now ‘communicate’.
This is an *extremely* unusual problem. That diagram below kinda shows what I'm talking about but I think the simplest way to explain it is with a graphic description:
When Max eats, a few minutes later digested food can back up and come out of that EAR. Really. Or, if Max sneezes, the mucus comes flying out of his ear! Needless to say, when this foreign material collects in the ear canal it only makes the infection worse. A large part of our day is spent cleaning out Max’s ear. I now buy Q-Tips in the economy size.
Max has been seen by some very good doctors (WSU, Dermatology Center Seattle and Summit Veterinary Hospital Tacoma) and he’s already been through a boat load of very painful and expensive procedures just to *diagnose* his condition. His infection is now stabilized with drugs but this can’t go on too much longer. In addition to the infection, the side-effects of the medications are *rough*. These include liver damage, weakness in his rear legs, plus he’s lost almost all his undercoat.
Long story short, he needs a surgery to close the openings in his Eustachian tube and middle ear, get off the drugs and get this issue fixed once and for all. And given how well Max has responded to the drugs, I am told that Max has a very good chance at recovery.
However, he will probably likely continue to limp and have missing bits of hair. That, coupled with his age make him an unlikely candidate for adoption. So I would like to keep him with me. Unfortunately, there is no way I can afford his surgery as I live on a very small fixed income.
I live alone. Max is now my companion and even though I haven't had him all that long we’ve been through a LOT together and he means a lot to me. He’s had *more* than his share of bad luck and he’s handled it like a real trooper. In spite of everything he’s suffered he’s still a very chipper guy and I would very much like for him to have a good life from here out.
I cannot tell you what it would mean to me to be able to get him cured. He is a *wonderful* dog in every way, but every day now I live in fear because I know I can't get him the care he desperately needs.
Thanks for taking the time to learn about Max.
The surgery will be performed at
Summit Veterinary Referral Center
2505 S 80th St. Tacoma, WA 98409
(253) [phone redacted]
www.summitvets.com
There is an account already set up in our name (Maximus/JC Harris) so if you'd prefer to donate directly to them please do.