September 2004: My name is Precious. I am about 5 years old. My brother Mikey and I have been together all our lives. Our original owners couldnt keep us anymore and gave us to someone else. That person kept us for a few weeks and then brought us to the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter. It was scary being moved around to so many new places.

Two days later, on Saturday, August 21st, Carol and Jay Hechtman, along with their 4 children, Jeremy, Benjy, Gabrielle, and Miriam, came into the shelter. They saw how cute Mikey and I were and thought they might like to adopt one of us. The shelter employees told them our story and said it would be best if we were kept together. So, after a lot of begging, especially by the children, the Hechtmans decided to do what was best for us and adopted both of us. After all the paperwork was finished, we all jumped into the van to take a ride. Mikey and I were very happy since we both love car rides. When we got to our new home we were excited but also very nervous at being in another new place. We were both quiet and didnt really do too much. After a few days, we both relaxed and started to feel at home. Mikey is definitely more playful than me. Hell chase a ball or a toy and roughhouse with Dad. I cant be bothered with that stuff. What I like to do is give kisses. Those humans sure have great tasting skin. I especially like to lick their feet, even between their toes. For some reason the children always laugh when I do this to them. What Mikey and I both like to do is chase squirrels. Well never catch one, but it is sure fun barking at them as they climb up a tree.

Two days after we were adopted we were both taken to the vet who said we seemed to be well. Mikey needed to be neutered which was done a week later. After two weeks, I began bleeding when I urinated. My new family thought I was in heat since they dont know whether or not Ive been spayed. However, the veterinarian said that there was too much urine mixed with the blood for that to be the case. I continued to bleed and urinate uncontrollably. After doing x-rays and urinalysis tests, the vet told my new family that I have an infection in my bladder which was caused by a bladder stone. They put me on antibiotics for several weeks which cured the infection. However, I need to have expensive surgery in order to remove the stone. I will also need to eat special dog food for the rest of my life so more stones dont form.

My new family was overwhelmed by this news and the cost involved. They didnt know what to do so they spoke with Kandy Merrick of Liberty Westie Rescue. She suggested that they contact WestieMed for help. They did that and were thrilled when WestieMed graciously agreed to pay for a majority of the cost of the surgery. My new family, my brother Mikey and I are very grateful to the kind people of WestieMed for helping us so that I can get better and we can all stay happily together.