UPDATE:  5/2/2012

FINALLY, Repo and Sugar Plum are HOME!  Repo spent 11 days in ICU and is still sick, but on the mend.  He is no longer oxygen-dependent.  And his seizures seem to be under control.  Fingers crossed, folks.

Now, his total bill was…….are you sitting down…….$11,100.  HUGE bill.  But oh so worth it with him.  There was one point last week that we almost called it.  But, thankfully, we decided to give it one more day and with a change in antibiotics, Repo rebounded.

As of 5/2/2012, we’ve raised $5110 for Mr. Repo.  We have another $5990 to go.   We can do this people.  We have to keep working toward raising funds for him so that the NEXT time we have a critical patient, we can save his/her life too.

Perhaps you each could do a little fundraiser at your workplace or neighborhood.  It’s amazing how many friends might kick in $10 when shown the need. 

Somehow, we can get there.  We’ve always had faith and we’ve always been able to come through for the dogs.

HERE IS REPO’S PAYPAL.  If it doesn’t work in the email, try going to the blog page:  www.shihtzu-rescue.org.  If THAT doesn’t work, try logging into your own paypal account and "send money" to donations@shihtzu-rescue.com.

If you want to make a donation straight to GCVS, the number is 713-693-1144.  The account is "Teresa Osborn" and, of course, the dog is "Repo."

If you want to send Repo a check,

Repo
c/o LSSTLAR
PO Box 218075
Houston, TX 77218-8075

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE 5/1/2012

SUGAR PLUM

I have some good news, and I have some bad news.   First the good news.  Both Sugar Plum and Repo are coming home tomorrow.

Sugar Plum came into our rescue a few months ago with a horrible stomach full of mammary tumors.  She also  had a grade III/VI heart murmur.  We did a cardiac workup and found that her heart could withstand the surgery.

We did the surgery in two stages.  First the right side came off.  She had a ton of tumors and the scar was 14" long from her underarm to her vulva. 

After that healed for several weeks, we removed the other side.

She had a tight little tummy after that surgery. 

She was doing very well, had totally healed, was in good spirits and starting to live life.

On Friday, I came home at lunch time and found her going into respiratory distress.  Of course, I rushed her to the cardiologist at GCVS who admitted her into the hospital.  She was put immediately into oxygen and started on meds.

They found that she had an acute tear in one of the "cords" that keep the mitral valve under control and the blood was not pushing through her heart correctly. 

She got better slowly and finally today, she was well enough to wean off the injectable meds.   So now, I get to bring her home tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr Repo – this is now our gold-plated dog.  Mr. Repo not only has had two-three orthopedic surgeries, he has just spent 11 days in ICU.  He struggled with the pneumonia for many days, with the doctors changing the meds and treating him with oxygen.  Finally, late last week, he started to improve and has now made significant improvement.  He also recently started having seizures, so the vets had to get those meds stabilized also.  Finally this afternoon, I got the call that he would likely be released tomorrow! 

Do you remember what Repo looked like when we took him in?

This is his "jail" picture – the day he came into the shelter.  What a mess.  Many people thought we should have just put him down then.  What do you think?

NOW THE BAD NEWS…..

We have had so many ICU emergencies this year, it’s ridiculous.  Seven just in the first quarter and now THREE MORE in the past week.   I know I ask for it – taking in all of these pitiful dogs – hey, but we all love the feeling of making them better don’t we?

Right now, Sugar Plum’s bill is estimated to be $2700 AFTER our huge discount and Repo, well, can you imagine how expensive it is to spend 11 days in ICU – well, his bill is estimated to be $10,700.  Honestly, at one point last week, we almost threw in the towel for him.  He just wasn’t getting any better and I started having an anxiety attack about all of the money we were spending.  It took several discussions with the vets and a long talk with Repo before I decided to keep going just one more day.  Thank goodness, that was the day he finally started to improve.  I am just so thankful we didn’t decide to put him to sleep at that point.  I was just sure you all would want us to save him.   Was he worth it?  Every cent.  We’ve already raised $1275 for Ms Sugar Plum and $3,650 for Repo so obviously, we need a lot more to be even.

So, the bad news is that when I pick them up tomorrow, guess what?  Yep, we have to pay the bill.

We really need to get these kids over the hump soon.  I know we can do it.

HERE IS REPO’S PAYPAL.

and HERE IS SUGAR PLUM’S PAYPAL.

If these links do not work, and they often do not, thank you paypal, try going directly to the blog entry by CLICKING HERE.

Or, simply log into your paypal account and send money to donations@shihtzu-rescue.com.

Our mailing address is:

LSSTLAR
PO Box  218075
Houston, TX  77218-8075

Thank you for allowing and helping us save these two deserving dogs. 

I KNOW you remember Repo – adorable little tzu mix puppy eaten up with mange and mangled legs. We fixed the mange then fixed his legs. He had multiple surgeries and it beat up on his immune system so badly, the mange came back. Got his skin back on track and he started having little seizures. Last week, he had an episode of having trouble wheezing. Dr. Moore found he had a minor collapsing trachea. Tonight, FM Elaine found him again having trouble breathing and with very light gums. We just rushed him to GCVS Critical Care and ICU.

Good grief!  He has pneumonia!

You know we’ve tapped out all of our funds for the past seven sick dogs. We desperately need donations to care for REPO!!

Please help us with Repo.  No contribution is too small.  For the best chance of recovery, he will have to stay hospitalized for several days.  GCVS pulled Bunting and Daisy May through.  I think they can pull Repo through. 

We’ve set up a paypal for him.  But, paypal is acting up right now.  Try THIS LINK for this adorable little man to survive.

If that does not work, try copying the following into your browser.  https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=bmU7LxSv65WS-VeciBbllRWAgyBFd_5eJC5PJijfGA_qI6-ptSo-jXpaVvS&dispatch=50a222a57771920b6a3d7b606239e4d529b525e0b7e69bf0224adecfb0124e9b61f737ba21b081989d37bd8af37ad9708d2162cdad4a70df

If that doesn’t work, try going to Repo’s CHIPIN at:  http://lsstlar.chipin.com/repo-barker-emergency

And let me know which of these work.  I was on the phone with Paypal this morning and even the agent on the phone couldn’t get some links to work. UGH.

Worst case, log into your paypal account and go through “send money” to donations@shihtzu-rescue.com.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to email me:  teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com.

You can follow his progess on our facebook page:  www.facebook.com/lsstlar.

Thank you for what you allow us to do!

I KNOW you remember Repo – adorable little tzu mix puppy eaten up with mange and mangled legs. We fixed the mange then fixed his legs. He had multiple surgeries and it beat up on his immune system so badly, the mange came back. Got his skin back on track and he started having little seizures. Last week, he had an episode of having trouble wheezing. Dr. Moore found he had a minor collapsing trachea. Tonight, FM Elaine found him again having trouble breathing and with very light gums. We just rushed him to GCVS Critical Care and ICU.

Good grief!  He has pneumonia!

You know we’ve tapped out all of our funds for the past seven sick dogs. We desperately need donations to care for REPO!!

Please help us with Repo.  No contribution is too small.  For the best chance of recovery, he will have to stay hospitalized for several days.  GCVS pulled Bunting and Daisy May through.  I think they can pull Repo through. 

We’ve set up a paypal for him.  But, paypal is acting up right now.  Try THIS LINK for this adorable little man to survive.

If that does not work, try copying the following into your browser.  https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=bmU7LxSv65WS-VeciBbllRWAgyBFd_5eJC5PJijfGA_qI6-ptSo-jXpaVvS&dispatch=50a222a57771920b6a3d7b606239e4d529b525e0b7e69bf0224adecfb0124e9b61f737ba21b081989d37bd8af37ad9708d2162cdad4a70df

If that doesn’t work, try going to Repo’s CHIPIN at:  http://lsstlar.chipin.com/repo-barker-emergency

And let me know which of these work.  I was on the phone with Paypal this morning and even the agent on the phone couldn’t get some links to work. UGH.

Worst case, log into your paypal account and go through “send money” to donations@shihtzu-rescue.com.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to email me:  teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com.

You can follow his progess on our facebook page:  www.facebook.com/lsstlar.

Thank you for what you allow us to do!

I KNOW you remember Repo – adorable little tzu mix puppy eaten up with mange and mangled legs. We fixed the mange then fixed his legs. He had multiple surgeries and it beat up on his immune system so badly, the mange came back. Got his skin back on track and he started having little seizures. Last week, he had an episode of having trouble wheezing. Dr. Moore found he had a minor collapsing trachea. Tonight, FM Elaine found him again having trouble breathing and with very light gums. We just rushed him to GCVS Critical Care and ICU.

Good grief!  He has pneumonia!

You know we’ve tapped out all of our funds for the past seven sick dogs. We desperately need donations to care for REPO!!

Please help us with Repo.  No contribution is too small.  For the best chance of recovery, he will have to stay hospitalized for several days.  GCVS pulled Bunting and Daisy May through.  I think they can pull Repo through. 

We’ve set up a paypal for him.  CLICK HERE to donate for this adorable little man to survive.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to email me:  teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com.

You can follow his progess on our facebook page:  www.facebook.com/lsstlar.

Thank you for what you allow us to do!

Several weeks ago, a puppymill with 78 dogs was busted in Waco Texas.  Horrible conditions, of course, pitiful looking dogs.  We spoke with the humane society and told them we would support them in whatever way they needed.

We kept  hearing stories that the dogs would be returned to the owners so basically didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Two days ago, the court awarded the dogs to the Humane Society, but the owners said they would appeal, so again, we didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Tonight, we got the call.  The owners decided not to appeal so the dogs are now owned by the Humane Society.

Tomorrow, I am driving up to Waco with another volunteer to pick up six shih tzu and likely two lhasas.

We NEED HELP!  IMMEDIATE  HELP.

We got ten

This is what it looks like now.  Hair stuck all over the eyeball.  Dr. Moore will sedate tomorrow morning and evaluate what needs to be done.

To read this message on the blog, go to www.shihtzu-rescue.org.  Sometimes it is easier to read and use the paypal links on the blog.

Wow, what is going on in the little abandoned doggie world?  We are blessed to have all of you following us and just could not handle what happens to these dogs without your support.   But, right now it is getting a bit out of control.

You know, our philosophy is that we cannot let any of them die.  Our volunteers are fabulous – often working 8-10 hours at a real job and then spending the rest of their day working to save just one more. 

But, right now, we are a tad overwhelmed.

Typically, we have one, or maybe, two URGENT or very expensive cases a quarter.  One broken leg and perhaps a case of bladderstones.  This year, 2012, we are only two months into the year, and we have already had SIX that had to go to GCVS and now a seventh, little Sleepy, a hit-by-car who had to have emergency surgery last night to remove his bleeding speen.  Yes, SEVEN.   GULP.  What in the world were we thinking, taking all of these sick dogs in?

Well, we just were not thinking with our heads, just our hearts.  So, we have a HUGE problem.  We have incurred . . . . are you ready?  Wait for it . . . . . $22,190 on these seven cases this year.   Now, we have raised some funds – thanks to all of you – about $5800.  But, we are still hung out there by over $16,000.

So, right now, we need to do some serious fundraising.

First, we are doing an online auction.  We need high end items for this auction.  Restaurant gift certificates, hotel stay certificates, artwork (shih tzu and lhasas), nice jewelry, high-end purses and other leather items, etc.   If you have anything that we can auction off to raise money, please email me at AUCTION@shihtzu-rescue.com so we can get it in the auction.  We need to get all of the auction items in by MARCH 31.

Secondly, please don’t be upset, but we will be hitting hard to get intake sponsorships for all of the dogs we have getting ready for vetting – we are tapped out so have no backstop to vet these dogs without sponsorships. 

Finally, we will have to really push to get intake sponsorships before we take in new dogs now.  I apologize for that, but I am just trying to keep our ability to help the next little dog alive.  We are willing to take in any dog that needs us, we just need to have a foster home and the ability to get him vetted!

So here is the rundown on the urgent cases of just the last two months.

First, Daisy May Montgomery.

Daisy May came to us extremely obese.  She weighed in at almost 30 pounds.  We put her on a diet, which was going well for a while and then she got pneumonia and ended up in ICU at GCVS for several days.  Ugh.

She is now recuperating  and on the mend.  She still is not eating well – insists on mighty dog – but at least she is alert, lively and engaged with the rest of the crowd.   That’s her picture at the top of this message.

Flounder Killeen

Poor little Flounder sat for 10 days in animal control with a badly smashed pelvis.  We were finally contacted by a rescuer in the area and made aware that he was hurting.  We made arrangements to get him and sent him to GCVS to see the amazing Dr. Brian Beale.  Flounder has had his surgery and it was a success.  I am pretty convinced that he will not even need rehab once he heals.

Joy Harris

Joy came to us from the Harris County pound.  She had a badly broken leg. 

We sent her, also, to Dr. Brian Beale who fixed the leg. 

She also has some neurological problems, but is slowly working through those.

Plymouth Barker

This adorable little young man was rescued from the BARC shelter and soon after, started having seizures.  Turns out he is in end stage kidney failure.  After all of the diagnostics, we are providing him supportive care – his wonderful foster mom is maintaining him with subq fluids daily.  We will continue this approach as long as he feels good!

Sleepy Ranger

And then, there is Sleepy Ranger.  A little pup that a good samaritan saw get hit by a car.  He started bleeding internally this weekend and our fantastic vet, Dr. Moore, had to do emergency surgery Friday night. 

Dr. Moore took him home over the weekend.

This morning, Sleepy is doing well.  Eating, drinking and much more alert.  Whew.

Bronte and Gavin

We also had extreme expenses with Bronte and Gavin, who we lost.  I am so sad at both of them because they were fantastic little dogs. 

We have a lot of expenses to make up so please consider a small contribution.  We didn’t have time to raise the entire needed funds for any of these dogs before we had to treat them, but we know we have a wonderful following so I am certain we will soon be whole again!

CLICK HERE for a paypal link set up just for these extreme expenses.

Donations can also be mailed to

LSSTLAR
PO Box  218075
Houston, TX  77218-8075

Thank you for everything.  Thank you for considering us.

Good morning.  I am trying out new software to help me more quickly create updates on the dogs for you!  It is a very neat piece of software, called Sendible, which allows me to send messages to many different participants with only one click, but I’m working through some issues.  Please bear with me!

Ok, on the Melodettes.  These cutie pies currently have $470 toward the $775 matching program.  The match donor is fantastic and always comes to the aid of these little pups and we want to be able to take advantage of her very generous offer.   This is mommy Melody, who gave birth to four adorable puppies, just hours after we rescued her from BARC.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO HELP MELODY AND THE MELODETTES.

Then there is this adorable little man, Gavin.  

Gavin went down in the back this week and is currently at GCVS awaiting treatment.  Folks, with all of the very expensive little dogs we’ve had lately – Daisy May who spent 4 days in ICU, Joy Harris – who had a broken leg fixed and then had a neuro problem, Flounder Killeen – a HBC little boy who sat at animal control for 10 days with a badly broken pelvis, Pluto Irving – who was hit by a car in Irving, TX and again, sat at animal control for days before we found out he was there – well, we are just tapped out right now.

I hate even saying this, because it’s just not like LSSTLAR, but we cannot go forward with Gavin until we have the funds to do so.  We have huge bills at these speciality clinics and we are just hurting right now because of this.  This little many NEEDS treatment, so please please help us help him.
As of Friday morning, Gavin only has $445 toward his $4500 treatment.  GULP.  Guys, I want to help this adorable little man.  He is counting on us!

HERE IS THE LINK FOR GAVIN’s FUND.

Thank you for all you do for these pupsters!!

Adorable little Gavin Starling came to us from a very small outlying local shelter.  He was not horribly nelgected, but no one came looking for him, so the shelter asked us to take him.

He went through isolation with no problems and was scheduled to get a dental and some other basic vet work when, all of a sudden, he couldn’t walk.  

We rushed him to GCVS neurology – I know from past experience, that you have about 18 hours to get an issue like this addressed to have the best chance at success.

Right now, we’re in for an MRI and possible surgery.

We are up to our ears with the expenses of Joy (Broken leg and MRI) and little Daisy May who spent many days in ICU with pneumonia.  We just cannot go forward without having the funds to help little Gavin.  

Please consider donating anything you can.  He is a very sweet and deserving little dog.

HERE IS THE LINK TO PAYPAL to donate for little Gavin!  We think we will need around $4500 to help him.  I know, I know.  How in the world do all of these broken dogs find their way here?  I don’t know, but they do.