CASEY

January 2003: Terese from Missouri.

Casey was purchased as a pup in St. Louis, MO.

A mother with a sick 10 year old daughter thought a puppy might help her daughter get well faster. As the daughter got better, the mother realized that she really didn't want a dog in her house, and also thought that some of the family may be allergic to Casey, so she moved him outside permanently.

Casey learned to play with a soccer ball, and empty 2 liter bottles in the back yard all by himself. When he was bored, he would grind his teeth on the lava rocks in the garden until his canines were all completely flat. This continued in the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter for the next 6 years. In that time, Casey developed problems with his eyes, ears and skin from being exposed to such severe weather, and from having very little attention paid to him by anyone. He was rarely groomed, and no one seemed to have the time for him.

One day, a very muddy and matted Westie came into the kennel/daycamp, where I worked, to be groomed. It was Casey. I never saw him or his owner, but she had decided that they were not able to take care of him any more and left a yellow stickie on the bulletin board. "Free 6 year old Westie, owner allergic."

I went home with the note that day and my husband and I took a ride to the house. The owner came out of the house and said that the dog was kept in the back yard and that she could not come with us, as if she went near him, she would have to shower again. We opened the gate and the friendliest, biggest Westie we ever saw came running up and wanted us to play with him so very badly. The woman told us his name was Casey and we had to discuss him through the kitchen screen window. I told her that Casey had a sore above his eye and she said she couldn't touch him, so I asked for some peroxide and some cortisone cream. I fixed him up and then started to take a good hard look at him. We were both shocked at the black elephant skin on his belly and his nose, and the inside of his ears were black and smelled terrible. When we looked into Casey's beautiful golden eyes, we saw green goop, and could tell his eyes weren't as clear as they should be. It was just so awful to see such a sweet and loving dog in such terrible condition. We just looked at each other and knew we would take him with us immediately. We asked if we could take him overnight to see if he would get along with our Cairn and our Poodle-mix puppy. They fell in love when we brought him home, as we already had. The next day we took him to the vet and knew it would take lots of love, time and money for the next few months to get Casey into good shape.

For months, we had to put steroid drops in his eyes, use several medications for his skin condition called Malasszia, and clean and apply medicine to his ears. As the months passed by, and we were the happiest of families, Casey began to throw up in the middle of the night. Then he got diarrhea. We noticed a tiny seizure one morning and brought him in for blood tests. We knew something was terribly wrong, but hoped for the best. Casey's albumin level in his blood was a 1.9 when it should have been a 2.4, and we were told to change his diet immediately and to watch him carefully because his poor body could just shut down at any time. He was most likely suffering from something called PLE or protein-losing enteropathy. He was put on steroids and anti-diarrhea medication in an attempt to o get some of his symptoms to lessen, or go away. I actually started to make his food, since this disease can be caused by a food allergy. To confirm the diagnosis, Casey would have to have a stomach lining biopsy and internal organ xray, which were very costly, and we knew we couldn't afford them.

I started looking on the Internet for help, and through WestieRescueMO we found the wonderful people at WestieMed. Casey goes in tomorrow for a follow up blood test, and we will be talking to the Dr. about the biopsy and xray, now that WestieMed is there to help us with the bill. All we can say is thank you, thank you, thank you ... and God bless the fine and generous people at WestieMed who care so very much! We would also like to thank the people of WestieResueMO for all of their caring and support. Casey had to learn how to sleep through the night and to sleep with us and not in a pet taxi, and he had to learn to play with us and not just by himself. He is Mama's lap dog now too! We just love the little fella and are glad he was put in our path.

Terese and Steven Ward and Casey, Rocky and Tugger

Sincerely,
Terese