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Help Chance Walk (FernDog Rescue)

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On 4/7/15 FernDog got a call about a 4 week old puppy whose mother ran away leaving a litter of puppies to fend for themselves. Sadly all the puppies died but only 1 survived but could not walk. Even sadder, this puppy and his missing mom and deceased littler mates didn’t come from the city streets, they came from a home of a very irresponsible and cruel person. Immediately one of our volunteers went to pick up the surviving puppy from the owner. When she laid eyes on this poodle/bichon mix, she knew something was not right. At only 1.5 pounds, he was laying in his own urine, unable to be steady on his little feet and looking quite depressed. Despite what his life had been like for his first 4 weeks of life, he was loving and quickly realized he was in good hands.
He was taken to The Verona Animal Hospital right away and Dr Scriffignano’s examination revealed extreme atrophy (wasting away) of both rear legs most likely due to either a congenital defect or hopefully caused by his prior living conditions and poor nutrition that would respond to the TLC that FernDog could give him. One concern was the fact that his siblings had all died from some unknown cause and he may have been a survivor but at some point, would follow in their footsteps. Extensive laboratory testing and full body X rays did not reveal any obvious abnormalities.
We immediately began the TLC therapy with a great foster treating him with all the love and care he deserved. He was living with other dogs and this stimulated him to become active and playful. He did not realize that he had a problem and just wanted to have fun.
Initially he improved dramatically but after 2 weeks, Dr. Scriffignano realized that he had reached a plateau and needed the opinion of a veterinary physical therapist.

Chance was then taken to Oradell Animal Hospital and examined by a physical therapist and he was discharged with in-home PT exercises. His foster mom and dad went above and beyond performing his PT daily and then started agility and enrichment exercises in their home to encourage Chance to use his legs the best he could.

Initially it seemed as though he was making some progress but not enough so off to Red Bank Veterinary Hospital he went today to meet with the neurologist Dr. Glass and his team. Of course Chance stole their hearts and made their exam super easy but Dr. Glass said something is wrong and we have done all we could at home but now its time to get a true diagnosis. What does this mean? It means an MRI must be done and must be done now since not knowing what is causing Chance’s inability to walk could get worse the longer it goes on untreated and undiagnosed. Dr. Glass was optimistic that he could have a treatable and very possible curable neurological condition that if resolved now could allow him to have a normal life.

MRI’s are not cheap but it is his ONLY hope at a diagnosis that will hopefully be treatable. Why spend $3500 on one dog? Can you look into those warm loving eyes and say no? We can’t. The day we picked up Chance from his neglected and horrific life, we promised him the chance to have a real life. This is the goal of all pets rescued by FernDog and he just needs more care to achieve this.



















Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $25
    • 10 yrs

Organizer

Donna Rasulo Buccellato
Organizer
West Caldwell, NJ

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