SAVANNAH, GA........It seems like when it rains, it pours when it comes to medical conditions the animals have when we take them in. What you see initially is a desperate animal that has endured years of suffering. When they get to us, we soon discover the years of abuse has caused them to be so medically unstable that it takes a fortune and lots of training to get them healthy again.
Sweet Caleb came to us from Waycross, GA when we got a plea to help some dogs from a dog fighting ring. We stepped up because no one else would. Caleb is a six-year-old Pitbull that was only supposed to have a heartworm problem and needed some training. What we got was an animal that had endured years of suffering from fighting. He was so covered with fleas that he was terribly anemic and had an overload of heartworms that needed to be treated immediately. His teeth had been filed down years ago and were so infected, he had to have dental surgery to remove all of the ones that were now threatening his Life because of infection. All during this process, we are working with Trainers to get Caleb comfortable with people and other animals. After months of working with Caleb and his medical issues, we finally got to a point where we thought his medical issues were all resolved, and he could go to the Trainer. Well, that changed quickly this weekend, when this sweet dog began to show signs of bloating. His Vets got him stable, and then he was rushed to CVRC in Charleston where he immediately went into ICU. A multitude of tests and scans were done, and it was discovered Caleb had developed a stricture in his esophagus. Over the next couple of days, Caleb could not keep any food down. The surgeons did several procedures to open up the stricture, but it kept closing down further right after the procedure. Our dear boy was going down hill fast.
Dr. Heather Graham was desperate to save Caleb. After extensive research, Dr. Graham found a new device that could save thousands of animals each year that die from this condition. It's a new product presented at ACVIM this year that was designed at AMC in New York. It is an Esophageal Balloon-Dilation Feeding Tube (EBDFT). It enables the physician to break up the scar tissue several times a day, so the tissue does not reform with a manual balloon that has been inserted. Once the device is surgically installed, no more surgery is required. The device also enables the practitioner to feed the animal through the tube. The device is a medical break-through in the Veterinary Field. Thousands of animals can be saved because of this valuable invention. The only downside is that the device costs thousands of dollars and then you have surgery on top of that.
We immediately ordered the device and had it surgically inserted. The procedure was just done but as of this morning, Caleb is improving. He is still in Critical Care and will be for the next week. Caleb's bills went over $10,000. over the weekend and are still rising.
For the last ten years, I have given my all to these animals financially and emotionally. I can no longer keep this up without a lot of financial support from the community. Caleb is one of 28 dogs we have in hospitals still receiving medical care. The costs are astronomical. We have two others that went into ICU this weekend along with Caleb. I am begging for everyone to give as much as you can to put funds back into ALL of these animals accounts because my ability to do this financially and mentally is coming to an END. Noah's Arks Rescue is run by Volunteers. We need your help, and we need it NOW to keep helping the animals we have and any future Abused Animals. PLEASE, DONATE as much as you can to keep Noah's Arks Rescue going. There has to be reserve funds to take care of the animals still being treated. I can no longer take on this financial burden.
