Hello everyone! Meet Otis!

On Sunday, July 13 as my fiance and I were taking our evening walk, we noticed a large shadow shift behind a parked car on our busy road. When we identified the culprit behind this mysterious shadow, it turned out to be this precious baby! We could tell right away that he was not in the best condition. His skin was full of cuts, scars, breakouts and lots of blood, he was wearing a collar that was much too tight for his neck (It was still choking him even though he was malnourished, i could imagine when he was eating more regularly) and with the broken piece of rusty chain handing from it, we knew he was chained outside. Otis had a aggressive cough, and was very scared. We decided that we were going to take him home and help him all that we could.

We started by cutting the nasty collar away from his neck, gave him some water and a bite to eat, and got him a bath. After, we set up a vet appointment for him and got him tucked in for bed. We then went to the vet the following day and got a ton of helpful information about Mr Moo Cow Otis. First, he is 12 years old! Old man! he seems to be in great health organ wise, but the vet said she could tell he was very neglected, and overall a very sad boy. We got all the blood drawn needed for a heartworm test, fecal worm test, and had some quote written up for extra tests that could be ran on him aswell. At the time, i had just spent almost all of my money on bringing a litter of very sick litter of stray kittens and mom cat that i had rescued, and with the last $250 i had, i got him tested for all i could.

While we waited on the results from the test, we decided it wasnt fair to keep him locked in the back of our house anymore, and let him meet our puppy and kitty. To the delight of my fiance and i, he is the sweetest boy to other animals! He loves following my cat poppy around our house, and she has warmed up to him faster than any other dog that she has ever met. Almost instantly, she was rubbing her head on him and he was cleaning her ears. They were Best friends at first sniff!

So, now for the harder part. We recieved the results of the heartworms test last night, and he is positive. The vet told me that she would draft up some quotes for work to begin attempting to remove the heartworms, and i am going back in tomorrow to talk over my options in person. I want to help this baby as much as i can, and am willing to financially sacrifice anything that i can to help him, but i do not make very much money. I made a post on Reddit asking for advice pertaining to this sweet boy where i recieved a ton of support and kind people wishing to help Otis any way they could. While i initially and still do fully intend on providing as much financially as i possible can, i do recognize that i need help with this process. Due to his age, and condition, i do not want to skimp by on treating him just because i do not make enough. He deserves to at least love his twilight years. My fiance and i are still unsure weather or not our home will be his furever home (it may be, but im a renter and where i live its almost impossible to have a home and a pitty at the same time) but we are completely positive that no matter the final outcome, the time that he spends with us healing, and not only learning to adjust to life as a dog and not a yard ordamant, but also learning what it feels like to be loved and cared for. He already doesnt allow me to leave his site and it makes me happy knowing i can at least give him that.

Thank you for your time, i will be providing all updates for otis here, and once i receive the quotes for care from my vet, i will provide them in an attempt to provide complete transparency. Donation or not, thank you for giving your time and mind to Mr Moo Cow Otis. I cant wait to show you him when he is heartworm free <3