Liza

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"Canine distemper is a viral disease that affects dogs worldwide. The disease is most common in young, unvaccinated dogs. Initially, fever and ocular and nasal discharge will be seen, but this will progress to include clinical signs involving the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract and central nervous system. The mortality rate can reach 50 percent."

--Petside.com

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Meet Liza. She has been diagnosed with canine distemper. Dr. Marian has been treating her in Romania. Liza's guardian, 80-year-old Mr. Tanase, carries the dog to the vet every day in a bag for the expensive treatment. The cost of treatment is 100 Lei, about US$40, which is being funded by Romania Animal Rescue.

It has been two weeks since treatment started. Liza has one more week to go. She is starting to eat well, gaining a little weight, but she is not out of the woods yet. She has lost the sight in one eye. If the disease makes its way to her nervous system, the chances of her survival are greatly reduced. Let's hope Mr. Tanase and Liza help each other through this ordeal. They have no one else in which to find comfort.

Billy's Wheels

Hi Nancy,

Thank you so much for your help. The wheelchair arrived today. Billy ran all day long with his great wheelchair. First he got me tired, then he got my mum! Both of us were so tired from so much running, but for Billy no problem:)

I took photos to show you the happiness here today! Billy's friend, Angelica, when seeing Billy so happy, start to be jealous of his wheelchair:)

Thank you for all of your help and support! Today you make a dog SO SO HAPPY.

Wish you a great day,
Billy and Cristina

Thank you, Eddie's Wheels, for donating the wheelchair.

Turtle Dove

Her name was given by Ms. Craciun on spot, and describes the dog features. On April 25th, a Saturday, I spotted her in a place where I knew a dog lover was watching over. One rear leg was broken, and swollen, and was hanging. The dog lover was glad to hear we could afford the surgery costs, thanks to the help from RAR. On the same day the woman managed to catch the dog, which she was not very familiar with. The dog was in pain and not very friendly. Though Ms. Craciun was very determined, and took her to vet and sheltered her. This is an insurmountable problem here, for cases that need long recovery period: A place for the dogs to stay. So the dog was lucky with Nancy and Ms Craciun. Ms. Craciun has a lot of cats in her apartment, she feeds dogs whenever finds them, at her work place, and she’s a vegetarian, too. The doc said the dog, a young female, was resistant at anesthetics, and she needed a stronger dose for surgery. He charged us a very moderate price for labor costs, though the anesthetic was an extra dose. The doc put together the ends of the broken femur through a plate, that will be removed after one month. It’s hard to say how that bone would have healed without surgery. Many dogs are victims of car accidents here. Nancy always reads our reports, spots the things that can be improved, and insists that the dogs we treat to receive painkillers, which we suppose all vet know, though sometimes they might forget. So, we insisted for the dog to receive painkillers. As regards the sponsor, it gives you confidence to know that you can approach such a case, without the fear you cannot afford the procedures and costs. Once the dog fully recovers, she will be spayed, and will remain under her protector’s eyes. This is a nice example of people helping animals in need, and reminded me of a rescue case I saw on Animal Planet, where somebody was concluding, "We, the dog lovers, must show the dogs that good people also exist."

Patrocle

Patrocle stood a couple of days in a ditch, with the left front leg broken, and the soft tissue at sight. I had no time to go with him to vet, and I was expecting for his owner to search for him, and look after his dog. He had a collar mark on neck, and I didn’t see him before roaming on street, that’s why I was hoping his owner would not let him suffer in the street, but take him to clinic. Though his owner never appeared. It’s likely that he or she abandoned the dog, seeing that the bad condition was calling for trips to vet and medical intervention and costs.

The doctor saw the X-rays, and said the elbow was too damaged to be repaired. Also there was a bone fracture even below the shoulder, and the paw bones were not entire, either. We decided that leg cannot be saved. I attended the surgery, on a Saturday. Once the skin and muscle tissue were sectioned, the bone broken detached from the upper part, without using any saw. The blood vessels had been so damaged, and the blood accumulated in tissue, that no major bleeding occurred while detaching the damaged leg. There were bone chips among the soft tissues. RAR paid all the medical costs.

The dog laid low for a few days, he had no strength, so that I wondered if the other leg is in one piece, or he had other internal probs . He had suffered a shock, of the accident, of being abandoned, of losing one leg. After bandage and stitches were removed, Patrocle remained at our home. He is very agile for a 3 legged dog. I don’t think he would try to get back to his former home, even if he’s able to move now. He is the 2nd 3 legged dog in my yard, both were victims of car accidents, and for both it was RAR who paid the medical costs. Both of them have a sort of playful temper, though I don’t think this was the cause of their accidents, those could have been avoided, with more care from people. They behave this way since they are grateful and happy that they are alive, and it’s not the 3 legs but their attitude that keeps reminding you of the accident.