February 19th
WE COULD USE YOUR HELP!
From sweet man Bruno’s condition on arrival, he has obviously had it rough. We were hoping for good news when we took him to the vet but then quickly discovered he has more issues than first appeared.
He needs to gain at least 15-20lbs so he is on a high protein/puppy diet along with oils added to his diet to get his weight up. We make this into a mush to help him eat without further causing more irritation. His gums are so swollen and prominent and the hope is that the antibiotics used to treat the other issues will also help to calm down some of the inflammation and discomfort.
What is most concerning is what we originally thought was a busted blood vessel in his eye
raised the most concern with our vet than the slew of other issues. He is worried that it more mimics a tumor within the eye and that it warrants a deeper investigation with a ophthalmologist to confirm whether this is a closer and more accurate diagnosis. If this is the case, he may potentially need the eye removed before causing any additional, yet serious, problems.
He has an appointment set up in a couple of weeks to have a specialist evaluate and depending on the prognosis, we will determine wether both his eye and mouth surgeries will be done at the same time to prevent complications from putting him under twice.
He tested positive for both Ehrlichia & Lyme disease, both tick born viruses that can cause lethargy, anemia, lameness, joint pain and much more. He is on a 30 day course of antibiotics to try and help with both-that is the simplest of his problems to treat.
The pressure sores he endured most likely from being left in a extremely small crate day in and day are being treated with lots of creams and ointments and we have seen some healing already, but there is several spots of scar tissue that we were advised may never heal. Keeping him off of these and on soft/thick bedding will make the most difference in helping make progress on these sores.
Bruno likely has a long road ahead of him to feel like himself again. While we hope for the best, the course of treatment for his additional veterinarian care is likely to be pretty pricey especially if he needs his eye removed, as we are already at $280 for this initial diagnosis. The ophthalmologist BEGINS at $125 just for the base consult-not including diagnostic tests.
He may have been failed by his human “owners” but that doesn’t mean that he has to continue to be.
EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL WE SAVE IS BECAUSE OF YOU…the support from our followers, our community, our friends. YOU are the reason animals like Bruno get the love & care they deserve and we can’t do it without you!
If you’d like to help Bruno on his journey every single dollar helps us continue to make a difference!
Venmo:@FHAHscottsville
Update 3/11 - 9AM
We have raised $614 for Bruno’s surgery’s at this point!
Thank you to all who have donated so far and continue to keep sharing! You all are amazing!
Cashapp: $finallyhomehaven
Venmo: @FHAHscottsville
Check: PO Box 930 Scottsville, Va 24590
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Update for Bruno
Poor Bruno has been hit with one thing after another and we are just taking it one day at a time!
When he got diagnosed with Ehrlichia & Lyme and put on 30 days of antibiotics the vet was hopeful that they would also help with the inflammation in his mouth. First and foremost he needed his eye checked out and the earliest he could get in anywhere with a specialist was 3 weeks away (today). The veterinarian worried that with all the issues he had, if his eye did need to be removed that it would be best to operate on both the mouth and eye at the same time-reducing the risks of putting him under twice.
Well, while in waiting…Bruno loves to wag his tail, he loves people & and usually when he sees them he’s a uncontrollable wiggler!!
He ended up using his tail to open up a soft scar spot on his tail and it started bleeding. Every day he messed with it more and more until we had to put a cone on him just for him to leave it alone. Despite all the triple antibiotic ointments, wrapping and keeping it clean that we constantly did, he still managed to continually open it up and get it infected from his constant licking (although we will save you from those pictures) and no matter what we do, the vet says its just not going to heal. We are saddened to say that even though we originally were over the moon that he was a boxer with an actual tail, fate says it was never meant to be. The vet says the most humane thing to do is amputate his tail.
And…If it’s not one thing it’s another! After the ophthalmology visit today we were enlightened to hear he does not in fact need his entire eye removed but the third eyelid with the mass. The doctor believes it is hemangioma or hemangiosarcoma but is very confident he can remove it all without removing his eye. It has grown somewhat in the couple of weeks that we had to wait for his appointment and drains constantly because it’s a very vascular area.
Between his eye surgery, his tail amputation and his inflamed mouth…he has quite a road ahead! However both specialists are convinced that we will get this boy feeling better in no time.
We just don’t want him to be in pain anymore.
His surgeries will have to be separate at this point because it’s too much of a risk to do them all at the same time. Between all of his issues, it is estimated to be around $1,500 but just because life failed him, doesn’t mean we have to!
This boy deserves to be happy, healthy & pain-free. He’s counting on us!
Please consider donating to this boy today! We don’t receive money from the government and are complete run off of donations. Donating does save lives!
March 30th
Update on Bruno:
10 days in of healing from his first surgery and things are looking up currently!
The swelling in his mouth since prior to the procedure has gone down and his teeth are now visible! His tail is healing nicely without bandaging and is open to air. He is also able to have his cone off while continuously being monitored. He has been having bouts of energy, has started trying to play, run laps and even chase balls! It’s clear he’s feeling so much better!
Monday is his second (and hopefully final) surgery to remove the mass from his eye. Keep sending positive energy his way that he continues to heal quickly through this journey in his life!
April 4th
Update
3 days after his eye surgery with the fantastic staff at Animal Eye Care of Richmond and Bruno’s eyes are looking clear with no more bleeding! He will continue to wear his cone to prevent pawing and scratching for the next 11 days while getting antibiotics in both eyes and pain meds. They actually ended up removing masses from both eyes-the large potential cancerous one in his left and two smaller benign tumors in his right that they haden’t seen prior.
His tail looks great and continues to heal. He still has some scabbing so wearing the cone is a great additional precaution to make sure he doesn’t open up anything!
We were $300 short from raising funds for his total bill but we did not hesitate to get this boy the care he needed! Thank you to EACH and every single one of you who donated-there were so many who had a hand in helping this boy get better! Up & up from here on out Bruno!