Rusty (and Rylee)
Rusty is a brave golden rescued by SEVA GRREAT in May of 2008! Rusty and Rylee were found wandering along the side of the road. Rusty had been shot and was limping around with a broken femur. SEVA GRREAT has been able to save Rusty from amputation and rehabilitate him so he will enjoy a comfortable life and loving family. Rylee is in foster care and getting stronger all the time. But SEVA GRREAT needs your help! If you would like to make a contribution to help with Rusty's medical expenses, please send a donation online through PayPal by clicking below.
Or send your donation (marked to the Rusty Fund) to:
SEVA GRREAT
PO Box 8014
Yorktown, VA 23693Please continue to check below for updates on Rusty's progress as well as information on adopting this brave boy:
Rusty (right) and Rylee (left) at the shelter. Scared and in severe pain!
Rusty's X-rays. He had been roaming along the roadside on this leg. The steel plate repair is on the far right x-ray.
Rusty in post-op recovery.
How's that for a change of attitude? Look at those smiles!!
Updates on Rusty and Rylee
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US PAY FOR THE MEDICAL CARE OF RUSTY AND RYLEE. THEIR STORY IS DETAILED BELOW:
Thursday, May 8
Today we took in two beautiful goldens that were found wandering on the side of the road by Animal Control. One male and one female. The male has been shot in the right hind leg and will require amputation or a very expensive surgery. His femur is broken and he has bullet fragments all in the surrounding tissue. It is very sad, but I am so glad we are able to help these two.
Friday, May 9
Rusty and Rylee were transported today to Cooke Veterinary Center. Dr. Feiste said the gunshot wound caused extensive damage to his rear leg and thought we may have to consider amputation (at the cost of $1500) or a very expensive orthopedic surgery (estimated at $3500) with a specialist to correct the injury. We found out today that Dr. Feiste has a colleague who is very experienced with orthopedic issues. His name is Dr. Andy Murphie. He is on the Peninsula but has offered to drive down to Cooke Vet tomorrow and complete the surgery with an enormous discount. Dr. Murphie is doing us a huge favor! This is a beautiful golden that deserves a chance. He has been on the equivalent of Tylenol until this point but is now resting much more comfortably with a morphine drip and will be hospitalized until at least Monday.
Saturday, May 10
Rusty is recovering from surgery. The plate in his leg is incredible; it has 9 screws and goes about the whole length of his leg. You can see this in the X-ray. Large pieces of shrapnel were also taken out of his leg. Dr. Murphie suspects the injury is weeks old. That is so sad to think he was running around in extraordinary pain. Rylee is very scared but she is now in a wonderful foster home. They are both very underweight. Rylee is so boney; you can count her ribs just by looking at her.
Thursday, May 15
Rusty is up and getting around. He is also eating and drinking. He is scared (not quite as bad a Rylee) and wants lots of attention. He is just beautiful! His staples will come out in a week or so. A foster home experienced in rehab will be picking him up from the hospital tomorrow.
Saturday, May 26
Rusty moved to his new foster home today. He rode in the back seat and looked petrified but did not crawl on the floor. He came right in the house, was promptly kissed in the face by their male golden, who then decided to lay down next to him. The cats also said “Hi!” but no one seemed bothered by the new member of the household. We went over all of the instructions, including the range of motion exercises and massages. He was a trooper through it all. We also went over how he should not be walked at all except on short trips (on a close leash) to go to the bathroom. He has his own bedroom downstairs where he can see all the action but not be in the middle of it, with his kennel and crate door open. He checked it out for the first hour I was there, he explored a little downstairs and then decided that laying down right outside his kennel door would be the best spot and seemed comfortable resting there.
Thursday, July 10
Rusty and Rylee are flourishing with proper socialization and medical care. They still have a long way to go, but are making progress each day. Both continue to undergo stressful and expensive heartworm treatment and Rusty is continuing the orthopedic follow ups as well.
Sunday, August 10We were shocked and very concerned when Rylee had a seizure on Friday. She was rushed to Cooke Vet where things stabilized. Rylee went home from the Emergency Vet first thing Saturday morning. She did well overnight and so far no more seizures. We hope it was a one time thing! She has been through so much medically and psychologically the last few months.
We recently had a big scare with Rusty also and thought we were going to have to go ahead and amputate his leg due to some regression in his recovery. However, Dr. Murphie is continuing a conservative approach with Rusty and his leg. He is on very strict mobility restrictions. He has had x-rays the last couple of weeks at Dr. Silverstone's office that show some new bone growth, which is great. However, one of the screws has backed out and we still have a long way to go to get him to where he needs to be. He is on antibiotics and pain medication. He will have another x-ray in 3 weeks, and at that time, we will know more. Dr. Murphie is probably going to have to, at minimum, do an additional surgery to replace the problematic screw with one with a larger head that will stabilize things. He and his staff have been extremely generous and we are very thankful to them!
Both of these dogs are now heartworm negative! Rylee will be spayed on August 18th by Dr. Feiste. We have also been very fortunate in that both foster families are planning to adopt these dogs. They are both very special for sure and have become part of the family at their respective foster homes.Monday, September 8
Well, we have continued to have some ups and downs with Rusty over the last few weeks. He has not had the bone growth that should be present on his x-rays and has not been using his injured leg and has had some de-compensation in that regard. Recently, he was put on additional pain medication and miraculously, started acting like a 2-3 year old Golden again! What complete joy for his foster family to see him so happy! They said he was bounding around the house and even tried to jump up on the bed! However, his x-rays have continued to show some regression. He is headed to Dr. Murphie's new hospital in Toano on Thursday for a full evaluation, and it sounds as if he may require additional surgery. He are still hopeful that we may be able to save his leg with a bone grafting procedure and possibly trying some different hardware in the screws, but the option of amputation has not been ruled out at this point. Poor Rusty, such a sweet, kind soul in the face of the cruelty he was subjected to and the pain he has been through... we hope for a quick and full recovery for him and hope he will be able to enjoy the pleasures of home life soon.
February 5, 2009
Rusty is doing much better, but still needs recuperation time. Here are some recent photos from his foster family.
April 27, 2009
It's announced that Rusty's foster family, who saw him through so many trying situations, has adopted him permanently. Rusty is reported to be up and about on all four legs despite a very long and difficult recovery. Rusty would not have survived if it were not for the extremely generous help of Dr. Andy Murphie of Anderson's Corner Vet Hospital and the love and patience of his volunteer foster family. Thanks to them, and others, Rusty will live out his years in the comfort of a warm and loving family.
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