Posted 7th January 2024
So it is our second 3 month update, and a lot has been happening. We now have 472 members which is great as we want the word out that we are here to help. We are so thankful and grateful for the help our members have given to those who need it as this wouldn't work without your generosity.
Carina Goncalves said Jessy is much better, but we were still providing the €80 every month for the medication she needs for Addison's and also blood tests on top of that. All help with this as a monthly payment was appreciated. But there were efforts made to raise funds for Jessy, and currently, starting in 2024, we no longer have to pay for her medication. But Carina knows we are here so if she needs further help we will start providing it again.
Then along came poor Camoes, who is owned by a low income elderly couple. They couldn't afford to treat his Leishmaniasis, so it continued to get worse. We provided the treatments for him, and he improved so much he didn't need the operation we were concerned about. So he came forward to thank us and let us see the improvement in his ear. As you can see it is so much better.
The very kind offer of 10% of the donations made at a Cacela Dog Haven Fundraiser was given to Buddy's Legacy which boosted our funds by €100, so we are very grateful for that generous gift.
Then, as an Admin and Creator of the group, when we hit the 300 members stage, I decided to donate €1 for every member over 300 that we get from then until Christmas, so my donation of €125 has been paid, and gave a much needed boost to our finances.
Along came Tigre who needed to be sterilised to be ready to go to a home with a female, and nobody wanted any incidents as we asked again for donations, but Tigre's foster Mum had lots of very kind friends who rallied and managed to raise the required amount, so Tigre is very lucky to have so much support. Good luck Tigre in your new home!
Then we had Bob, who also has 2 other dogs and 3 cats as part of his family. They all needed food, which we don't supply, but some kind people met with Bob's mum and gave food, so that was great news. Poor Bob though, is 11 years of age, and during the winter months his joints are stiff and painful, so he needs medication to ease that, as he lives up 4 flights of stairs, so that is a lot of effort on his poor legs. So the vet prescribed 6 months medication to keep Bob more comfortable during winter and also gave him his vaccinations, all paid for by Buddy's Legacy. Bob thanked everybody and shared a picture of himself getting ready for Christmas with his family. And also Bob got a nice new coat paid for privately, so he is going to be more comfortable in the winter.
Another very kind gift was given to us, as Leanne Byrom auctioned a Gift Certificate for her amazing artwork and gave us the €55 she made from that, so again we are very grateful.
We then had a very sad situation, and a first for us. Pip, who was 14 years old and despite being on medication for a heart and lung issue, suddenly became very unwell. He was rushed to a vet, put on a drip and given medication to help his condition, which was considered to be possibly accidental poisoning from eating something he had found somewhere. But poor Pip wasn't able to fight the effects of this and he died, leaving his family heartbroken. I believe Pip is laid to rest in a favourite space of his at the family home.
We found ourselves in The Portugal News on November 25, issue number 1759, so hopefully more people now know about us and the work we do, and our members increased a little at that time.
Then the Sister of Lili asked for our help. She is called Molly, and she has a cough, so she needed to see a vet for that. She needed blood tests and a cell count test, and also a heartworm test, as she is elderly and her lungs were affected, this was considered possible. She went home with antibiotics and Cortisone and fingers crossed that she will feel better soon.
Then she needed an X-ray and more medication, so we managed to help her again by paying for this to try to work out what is wrong with her. She had a chest infection, and is much better now.
And we also found ourselves in the December issue of Snapshot!, so again that is good for people to know about us and what we do.
Then there was Colt, who lives in the same family as Bob who needed all his vaccinations, to keep him safe from all the horrible diseases, and his chip so he is officially owned and his 3 month de-wormer, so we paid for those for him.
Then poor Dudda asked for help as he hadn't eaten for a few days, and wasn't drinking or moving, so the vet was booked and his person paid for it, but we are on standby to find out if any interventions are needed. We found out that Dudda had herniated discs and he is on medication, which had been paid for, but the vet appointment was still outstanding so we paid for it. We hope Dudda improves on the medication.
There is Mel, who is not a young girl, but much loved by her Human, and looked after by her human's friend, as her human has some physical issues herself. Mel saw the vet and her human was struggling a little, and finally the vet managed to get Mel onto the correct medication, and Mel seems much better.
Then poor Dudda asked again for help as he hadn't eaten for a few days, and wasn't drinking or moving, so the vet was booked but the money wasn't there to pay for it, so we settled that. Then we discovered that poor Dudda was not responding to the medication treatment, and the vet has suggested a CT scan to see what may be the problem, but the family need some time to decide what to do, money is a concern for them and of course the scan would lead to an operation which would be costly, so we can just hope for the best for Dudda and his family.
Poor little puppy Kira was born with certain deformities, meaning she couldn't remove waste from her body. This was only discovered after she had pushed so hard that she had pushed through into a different exit and the waste was coming out from there. She has damaged her hips and pelvic area from all the build up and all the pushing, so she went to the vets for a life or death operation. This really was a serious situation, and the vet didn't know what would happen until he opened her up. Luckily for Kira all her inside structures were ok and everything was there and in the correct places, so he made the space at the back for her to poop. The bill for this was €600, we paid €250 towards that and for some post operation costs, as some support had already been raised. Kira was very happy and much more comfortable after her operation.
Then we saw Molly's and Lily's brother was asking for help as he had injured his leg, so we authorised a visit to the vet and an xray if needed, and the bill for that was €226, and asked for a quote for any further interventions.
After Christmas we heard Pluto was bleeding from the nose, and we are told he has Leishmaniasis so €200 was authorised in advance to find out what is wrong and to try to treat him, and when he saw the vet he was diagnosed with tick fever and given some medication to help him feel more comfortable. His bill was €192.50 which we covered.
Then just before New Year a beautiful, nearly 9 year old girl called K broke her leg quite badly, and needed it to be realigned to make her more comfortable, and then she would need an operation to fuse the bones together. So this was a very expensive situation, and we couldn't manage to pay for all of it, so we settled the first vets debt which was €174, and then the vet bill will hopefully be covered by donations K's owner managed to raise! She will have her operation as soon as the initial wounds are healed, and she will come back and let us know if she needs further help from us. Get well soon K and we are happy you have so many people supporting you.
On New Years Eve a cat named Riscas became seriously unwell and needed an operation urgently, and she was discharged with a bill if €139, so I asked the group if they agreed we could pay this, as we have helped some cats a little before, although we are mainly here for dogs. Get well soon Riscas.
Then Colt needed an X-ray as the vet had noticed an issue with him she wanted to explore further, so we paid for this investigation. Poor Colt has hip dysplasia in both hips, and elbow dysplasia, he isn't fully grown yet, and the prognosis doesn't look good for him in adulthood.