Live Love Animal Rescue: Emergency Medical Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The funds from this Emergency Medical Grant went toward the second of two jaw-repair surgeries required for Babycakes, a sweet 6-month-old stray dog whom we rescued from our local shelter. Sadly, her broken jaw was likely the result of an intentional kick under the chin. At the time of her rescue, Babycakes had been suffering from her injury for 2-3 months, and her jaw was rapidly deteriorating. Your support allowed us to seek emergency jaw-repair surgery. Her first surgery repaired the break, and about six weeks later she had a second surgery to remove the wires in her mouth. Her jaw is now repaired, stable, and no longer painful. With your help, Babycakes made a full recovery. She has healed emotionally and physically, and she has now been adopted!

We strive to be a reliable partner for our local shelter, rescuing dogs who have urgent medical needs that the shelter can’t address. However, funds for emergency medical care limit the number of dogs we can assist. The Petfinder Foundation Emergency Medical Grant allowed us give Babycakes the urgent help she needed. Through her entire recovery, Babycakes maintained a happy, playful, and trusting spirit. Her story really touched our local community, which rallied around our organization to cheer her on. Babycakes has been a great ambassador for animal rescue, and a number of people who met her became supporters of animal rescue for the first time. Your support made it possible for us to focus on caring for her, telling her story, and educating people about how fostering, adopting, and volunteering can save more at-risk animals. We are so grateful for your support, which makes it possible for dogs like Babycakes to heal and find their happily ever afters!

How many pets did this grant help?

1

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Babycakes was brought to our local shelter as a stray on Sept. 23, 2018. She had rubber bands around her neck that had once banded her muzzle, and her jaw was broken. At the shelter’s request, we took Babycakes into our rescue on Sept. 28 to fulfill her medical needs. X-rays revealed that her jaw was broken in several places on both sides of her mouth. Due to the nature of her injuries, our veterinarian believed that her injuries were intentional, likely from a kick below the chin. Sadly, it appeared that her injuries had occurred 2-3 months before she was found, so she had been in pain for some time.

We immediately placed Babycakes with a fantastic foster family experienced with medical cases. Less than 48 hours later, Babycakes lost a molar and her foster mom noticed that her jaw injury was rapidly worsening. Most dental specialists were booked for the next four weeks. Fortunately, Southern California Veterinary Dental Specialties & Oral Surgery was able to schedule her in for an emergency jaw-repair surgery the next afternoon. Her initial surgery repaired the jaw, and six weeks later she went for follow-up surgery to remove the wires in her mouth. The surgeries were successful, and Babycakes made a full physical recovery. Last week, Babycakes was spayed, which was the last step in her medical care. She is now cleared for adoption — and she’s got a loving family ready to make it official!

During Babycakes’ recovery from the first surgery, we were contacted by a couple interested in adopting her. They had another rescue dog and were experienced medical fosters. Linda and Jose fell in love with Babycakes, who is trusting, happy, and playful despite the abuse she experienced at such a young age. She began living with their family on a foster-to-adopt basis while her medical care was still in progress. Babycakes settled in nicely and loves playing with her parents and fur sister. Jose and Linda take Babycakes on family outings and love including her in everything. It’s a great fit, and Babycakes is so deserving of this happy forever home.

I had a chance to catch up with Linda, Babycakes’ mom, and she asked me to pass long her thanks. She wanted to share the following about their girl: “Babycakes never let you know that she was in pain during her recovery. She only looked forward. Over the last couple of months, she has really attached herself to us, and when we are out, she is always alert and scanning the scene. She is so smart, learning very well. We have enrolled her in obedience training and there is no doubt in our minds that she will be a star. We can’t wait to see how far we can take her. She is so playful and great off-leash. She jumps, runs, and loves to fetch the ball and the Frisbee. There is nothing stopping this girl.

“Even though she is missing a few teeth, you wouldn’t know. Her cute personality and demeanor with her tongue sticking out is adorable and she attracts everyone on the streets. She loves to chew her toys. We’ve recently had to upgrade her to the Super Chewer BarkBox, coming later this month. Her big sister Dolce (12 years) and Babycakes are good friends. We love that Babycakes makes Dolce act young again. We just adore her and look forward to getting past this last hurdle of her spay surgery recovery!”

We are so happy that Babycakes found such a great home, and we appreciate all that you have done to support Babycakes and dogs like her!