As I had guessed would be the case, this fellow, who was listed on Petfinder, does need an MRI and probably surgery. I personally feel this dog would be better brought into breed club rescue because his aftercare will be very involved over many months and will be pretty daunting for anyone not familiar with SM. It would be great if some arrangement might be made to transfer him over eventually, as I do not think they really know what they are getting into. Several of you here do, of course -- this is generally a long recovery.
(Update: he is with a breed club member now).
This is a very generous effort this small rescue is making on behalf of a dog that was abandoned by its owners when it was found it had SM and people might wish to help support in whatever way possible, *small* is as valued as large as lots of small donations significantly chip away at a large bill.
(Update: he is with a breed club member now).
This is a very generous effort this small rescue is making on behalf of a dog that was abandoned by its owners when it was found it had SM and people might wish to help support in whatever way possible, *small* is as valued as large as lots of small donations significantly chip away at a large bill.
Hi Folks.
I have tried to include all the folks that have contacted me regarding Charlie.
I have been inundated with all sorts of phone calls and e-mails regarding Charlie.
Thank you to those of you that kindly showed interest and offered suggestions.
Today I took him to see Dr. Veronique Sammut. She is at the California Animal Hospital and a neurologist that is on the list in the website below. She is great and very knowledgeable on syringomyelia, the neurological disorder that Charlie has. Tomorrow, we have scheduled the MRI. Dr. Sammut is fairly certain that Charlie will also need surgery as he currently is on a "cocktail" of the drugs used to treat this disease. The drugs are keeping it "in-check" but after meeting with Dr. Sammut today, we are fairly certain that surgery may be the best option. I have attached a link about SM, syringomyelia at the bottom of this e-mail if you'd like to read more about this unfortunate disorder.
Charlie is as cute as a button, alert, puppy-like, funny, endearing, can walk on a leash, etc (making it hard to tell anything is wrong with him). We took him to an adoption day on Sunday. He was quite the hit! But, when we told people about his condition, the cost of his MRI and his surgery, they all felt bad as they could not handle dealing with all of that.
So, we have scheduled the MRI for tomorrow and Dr. Sammut is fairly certain he will need surgery.
What can you do to help? Donate.
The cost off the MRI is quite expensive.
His surgery will be even more expensive.
We are expecting to spend several thousand dollars on Charlie....(Thank goodness for credit cards!)
If you would like to donate, you can do it one of two ways.
1. You can respond to this e-mail and I will give you an address of where to mail a donation. The check would be made out to Molly's Mutts & Meows and in the memo portion you would write "For Charlie's MRI." We can provide you with a receipt as we are a 501c3 non-profit animal rescue in Los Angeles and your donation is 100% tax-deductible Feel free to click on my blog site below to get a feel for who we are. You can also see Charlie in one of the crates at our booth where we participated in an adoption yesterday at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Our tent was right next to the Pasadena Humane Society...Charlie had a ball!
2. You can call the California Animal Hospital, located at 1736 South Sepulveda Blvd, Suite B, LA, CA 90025, (310) 479-3336. If you call tomorrow, you can let them know you would like to help pay for Charlie's MRI as he is scheduled to have it on Tuesday, October 31st through their offices. I am sure they could take a payment and apply it to Charlie's bill. It would not be tax-deductible this way, but some of you may feel more comfortable helping this way.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this plea.
I know from being involved in rescue that we all get hundreds of e-mails a day about dogs and cats in need, on death row at the shelters, etc. Charlie was dumped by his owner because of this condition. I'm hoping we can make a difference for this guy and eventually, find him the right home who is prepared to deal, monitor and treat his SM.
Please continue to make ADOPTION your first option when choosing a pet.
My best to all of you.
Molly