When our rescue heard about Phoebe and saw her picture,
her story broke our hearts. We had been told she was elderly
(her hips seemed to be weak & painful), and we knew she was blind.
We were hoping to make her comfortable and to give her the love -
and the comfy bed to sleep on - that she deserved during her last Golden Years.
So, being the softies that we are,
we rescued Phoebe and brought her back to Wisconsin,
where she was recently seen by our veterinarian.
What we learned surprised us:
Phoebe may not be as old as we thought
(she may just have had a really hard life);
many of her medical problems can be successfully addressed.
So, now we find ourselves a position to be able to give Phoebe
more than "a few" good Golden years.
Phoebe must have been loved by someone at one time,
because she has been spayed. But she is badly in need of a dental.
(She has several broken and painful teeth that look like they
have been worn down from chewing on something hard -
maybe a metal cage or a heavy chain?)
And the reason her ears look "kinky" is that she appears
to have had several untreated ear hematomas in her life -
painful blood blisters that eventually broke open, drained,
and left her ears looking like they were "bent".
Phoebe's most urgent problem is a huge tumor inside her right ear.
This tumor is most likely benign, but it definitely needs to be removed
because it will eventually rupture and the infected material
will drain down into her ear canal,
posing a possible life-threatening situation.
Since only the top part of the tumor can be seen
(it is attached deeper down in the ear),
our veterinarian has suggested that, before surgery,
we have a CT scan done to determine the nature of the tumor,
how it is attached, etc. She tells us that a CT scan would
minimize the trauma and give Phoebe the best chance
for a successful ear surgery. Unfortunately, a CT scan -
followed by the surgical removal of the tumor -
will cost between $4000 & $5000 at the Vet School.
Here is a picture of Phoebe's (normal) left ear:
And here is a picture of her right ear, with the tumor clearly visible:
In addition to discovering Phoebe's ear tumor,
we have also learned that her blindness is due to cataracts.
This is good news, because cataracts can be surgically removed,
which would miraculously restore her sight!
However, if we leave this problem on the back burner for too long,
her eye problems will progress and make the surgery more difficult, even impossible.
So, this is another problem that can be addressed,
if only we can find the financial resources to make her whole again.
This is why we are once again we are turning to you.
Phoebe's problems can be fixed,
but we can't do this without your help.
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