C.C.S.P.C.A., Inc.: Senior Pet Adoption Assistance Grant Report

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

As this was a senior pet adoption assistance grant, it was intended to help one dog, Moose, an 8-year-old Chihuahua whose owner had died suddenly. Initially his expenses were focused on his hips, as quality of life was considered to be the main goal, so our Petfinder Foundation grant application focused on this aspect, in the hopes of finding someone to adopt him. Moose went into foster care at the end of June and was adopted at the end of November 2024 thanks to the Petfinder Foundation grant. He continues to see our vet and is being well taken care of.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

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

This Petfinder Foundation Senior Pet Adoption grant was intended to help one dog, Moose, an 8-year-old Chihuahua whose owner died suddenly in May 2024. In an instant he went from being a beloved pet at home to being cared for in a shelter along with his friend Lucie, another Chihuahua. He was inconsolable, plus we discovered an array of health issues.

Moose’s hips showed congenital defects which would have been painful. He was immediately put on Librela, Metacam, and gabapentin to see if that helped to ease his discomfort. He also had a 4/6 heart murmur, a skin infection, and was overweight.

Initially our vet advised us that this was a palliative-care situation and quality of life was the main goal, so we applied for a Petfinder Foundation Senior Pet Adoption grant to help with expenses for his hips.

Moose went into foster care at the end of June 2024. Once he lost some weight, his condition improved! His hip drug regimen went from Librela monthly and Metacam and Gabapentin daily to Librela every seven to eight weeks. Then his heart murmur was checked out and he was put on Vetmedin.

Once we had a full picture of what an adopter would be facing, his foster parent became his adopter on Nov. 26, 2024, and the grant kicked in to cover his hip expenses. Moose continues to thrive in his home, along with Lucie (the third photo shows them in their forever home; Moose is on the left and Lucie is on the right). One can see the difference between the arrival pics (first and second photos) and adopted pic (third photo).