Perfectly Imperfect Pups: Emergency Medical Grant Report

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

Gerard came to our rescue as a seemingly healthy and robust dog. Very shortly after arriving in our care, his health took a nosedive and he became gravely ill, requiring round-the-clock care in the ICU at NC State Veterinary Hospital.

Our rescue does not shy away from medical cases, and where many others may have not been able to support Gerard, we stuck by him. The Emergency Medical Grant awarded to us went towards the tens of thousands of dollars worth of care he received in the ICU and during his follow-up care.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

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

This grant was used towards the care of Gerard, a sweet and handsome dog who got very sick with prostate and bladder issues very shortly after arriving in the care of our rescue in July of 2023.

Because we are a rescue focused on special-needs and medical-needs dogs, sweet Gerard had luckily landed with the right people.

When he became sick with what initially presented as a urinary tract infection (UTI), his foster family took him to the vet. From there, he deteriorated further and he was rushed to the emergency vet, with his humans not even sure he would survive the drive, and immediately admitted to the ICU, where he stayed for days being stabilized.

He was diagnosed with an abscess on his prostate so large (it was the same size as his stomach) that his bladder was unable to empty. This led to a related case of sepsis. Poor Gerard was exceptionally sick already and then developed pneumonia, too.

After a brief break back in his foster home, Gerard headed back to the hospital for surgery on the abscess and, with lots of love and care (and medical bills), he made a full recovery.

Gerard has now been adopted and is living his best life with his new family.