Dolly
February 2009:
Four year old spay female. I received a request to
surrender from owner in May 2008, however, they changed their mind. I asked
them to please surrender her over to me when they called before her operation
would be more costly the longer they waited. They wanted to try other options,
changed dog food, and so forth. I tried to keep in touch, alas it was a cell
phone and the calls went unanswered. Nine months later a 4-5 yr old female
showed up in Tacoma Shelter as stray on the street. (aka the name Tacoma
Dolly) I am certain that this is the same dog as the odds of two dogs, same
age, same tumors, same sex, and same geographic location are probably
impossible. In our state the Humane Society and Shelters charge you $75 to
dump your pet. If it is found as a stray then there is no charge. Since the
people who FOUND Dolly said they had taken it to Banfield vet for an estimate,
and since I know the previous owners had taken her to Banfield vet for surgery
and that was the same vet the owners told me they went to. It is the
same dog hands down.
 As
you can see from the tumors she has a severe calcification of tumors in both
ears and which are also coming out the back of her ears. After
speaking to four Veterinarians and understanding the surgical skill of the
procedure, we have found a specialist for this operation (see description of
procedure
below). Four Vets in 2 separate clinics agreed that Dr. EB is the best to
do this operation and he ironically was the cheapest. We are also
getting a discount from the clinic.
Diagnosis: Dolly has had chronic ear
infections and underlying malassezia. The chronic ear infection was not
kept in check and this is the outcome. Otitis Externa. This disease is
mostly seen in floppy eared dogs like cockers, and such.
These are tumors that have calcified. You cannot
un-calcify tumors so no amount of antibiotics or medicine will make them go
away. Alas we are very far past the simple solution for recovery. The
middle ear has built up infection and has now burst through the inner ear canals
and is seeping pus. The calcification of the tumors are the consistency of stone.
My primary vet explained this operation in laymans terms
for me. Since she gives me a discount on surgery - I asked if she could
perform this operation. She said it is a very specialized operation and you
must have an experienced surgeon to perform this procedure. Ironically there
are only four in the Seattle area, and one who works out of both the Clinics I
use for my rescues!
Procedure: Splay/cut open the ears and work off a CT
scan or an X-ray to see how deep the tumors go (as she now has them jutting out
the back of her ears)
Remove the outer tumors (which have calcified into rocks)
and lay open the ear and remove the inner ear canals (I believe the middle and
inner are also scaled/removed) which the infection and tumors grow out of. Go
deeper into the ear drum and microscopically shear layers of the skin off the
ear drum slowly so you can make sure it forms scar tissue and nothing can grow
on it and no bacteria can ever form on it/in it? .. then they come
back out. The inner canal is now gone... which has produced all the
poison/toxin of this disease, and they sew it up. The dog has loss of hearing
but can hear muffled sounds
She will be at the vet for 3-4 more days after surgery due
to the pain of this surgery and she will be heavily medicated. She
will be released into foster care, and come back in 14 days for suture
removal and then have a 6 week recovery.
She also suffers from bad immune system, and she is being
treated for and of course malassezia and she is on antibiotics.
Dolly also needs dental care and has some bad teeth but we have rescue funds to
cover that.
I have never in my life seen anything this gruesome and
Dolly is in a lot of pain, but she is a very happy and sweet dog, is great with
kids and other dogs even in this pain. She is 15 lbs.
She is happy and cheerful and pleasant and will make someone a fabulous dog.
We are grateful to have you as our safety net and guardian angels.
Sometimes in life you are our only way out of a situation when we are pinned
against the wall for funds.
Karin Parish, Rescue Coordinator
Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue, Westies
Westie Club of America, Rescue Rep for WA/OR/ID
Westie Rescue USA Rep for OR/WA/ID
Update April 13, 2009: Dolly is doing well
after surgery. Her ears are healed and she can hear - not clearly but she
can hear! We are waiting a bit longer and then going to have her dental
work done. Then she will be ready for adoption. Karin
Parish
Update May 26, 2009:
Dear
Dolly Supporters:
Before you check out
the photos....
My question was ... are you
going to keep her? .... and the answer was "what do you think?"
WELL, she finally got adopted but my gosh
have we had more setbacks with this little girl. Our little tumor girl.
To date she has cost me at least $3700
with one trip to the ER... (However, we had the funds to cover it with the two
grants and money raised by donors) ... And she had her dental done, and her ear
on one side, never was cleared up (which we weren't too sure of).
However,
after she was adopted, her other ear became infected again and the new owners
had to take her back into the vet... Lo and behold if she didn't have estrus..
and go into heat! There is no hum-drum in the life of Westie Rescue!
Two vets
told us she was spayed. Apparently it was a c-section scar! Poor Dolly is
like the "never ending story".
She is
getting spayed in a month, and she is back on antibiotics, and the new owners
adore her. Here are their latest photos of her. Her new owners will be RV-ing
around the country and she will be a copilot. I do believe she has her drivers
permit as we speak. Since her recovery she has a stellar coat and no allergies
to speak of.
Before you check out
the photos....
My question was ... are you going
to keep her? .... and the answer was "what do you think?"
Look
at the photos.
Enjoy!
Thank
you again for all your support... hope to see you at the Westie Walk on June
27th. Karin
Parish
Westie Rescue Rep
(OR/WA/ID)
Scottie Rescue
Rep (Seattle)
Update July 14, 2009: I
am a five year old Westie named Dolly who has an ear problem. The surgery that
WestieMed paid for has been successful… However my hearing is not what it once
was. This leads me to the rest of my story.
I wanted a family like myself – older,
a little hard of hearing, with a medical background, so that they could better
understand my problem. That was when the tall handsome white haired gentleman
took me for a walk up the hill from Port Orchard, WA. My foster mom Barbara
Mitchell assured that me that he was an OK guy and we fell in love. He let me
stop whenever I wanted to pee. He came back with Susan to pick me up. They let
me take them on walks, travel with me in the RV and we eat carrots together.
 I
sing a hello howl when they come home. This causes them to reach for treats. Boy
do I have them wrapped around my paw. Their training is coming along well.
We sleep together but occasionally I
have to growl at them to recognize my boundaries. We have coffee in the morning
and I post guard at the wheel to make sure nothing is invading (see above
pictures).
I now live in Spokane, WA during the
summer and the SW desert in the winter months. I enjoy traveling very much. I
love to see people, animals, and places.
Thank you from the bottom of my Westie
heart for everything.
Dolly
Update September 22, 2009:
Dolly is doing great. She has a lot
of energy now. Evidently getting her spayed relieved a lot of infection. The vet
said that those parts did not look healthy.
Dolly is such a joy and she is
really enjoying life. She thinks that she owns the world.
Take care,
Michael & Susan
Update March 3, 2009:
 Our
"Dolly" is a real dolly! She is doing wonderful. She has adapted to
fulltime RV living very well. She has her special "lookout watch" on the
steering wheel. One time she jumped up there before Mike had the "air"
pumped out and she honked at everyone! And he jumped 2 feet in the air
because he was standing right beside the horn!
She hasn't had any more ear problems and appears to be able to hear part
time! We think it may be selective hearing as she is very smart! She
does have some skin sores/allergy itching that we keep under control with
medication twice daily. She has an appointment with the vet next Tuesday
for a little check up. Since we had her spayed last August she has had
more energy and takes us on daily walks. Everyone had thought she was
spayed but a month after getting her last spring she came into heat.
We love her and she has added a wonderful dimension to our lives.
Mike Phillips and Susan Eastman
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