Washburn County Area Humane Society: Emergency Medical Grant Report

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

Surgery for tumor removal on a 7-year-old dog

We were able to get the tumor removed so Rufus could be put up for adoption.

How many pets did this grant help?

1

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

Rufus entered our shelter as a stray on May 18, 2018. He was a super sweet older plott-hound mix. He loved everyone. Rufus kept getting passed up because he liked marking his territory and he had a fatty tumor on his neck. The vet did some blood work on him and discovered he had Lyme disease, so he had to be on treatment for a month to get his blood levels where they should be. When we did follow-up blood work, it was still slightly off, but the vet thought it could be due to the tumor. We did do a needle slide to see if the tumor looked cancerous and it didn’t. At this time we found a foster home for Rufus on Nov. 26, 2018. They loved him even with his accident-prone habits. They did a fantastic job with his medicine and bringing him in for his appointments. The foster family was excited to adopt him once he got the all-clear from the vet. Unfortunately, after his tumor was removed, it was sent off to be tested. It ended up being a very aggressive cancer that moved to his lungs not long after. On Jan. 21, 2019, Rufus was euthanized at the vet’s office in the arms of his loving foster family. They decided it was time when he stopped eating. We were so thankful to them for being able to show him what living in a home with people who love him was like and to stay with him until the very end.