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7-22-10 I just took a look at that video I took of of Peter and Lovie. I had both of those boys in foster care last summer and they both helped each other overcome some serious behavior issues. Healthwise, Peter came in with Lyme disease with some rage aggression and Lovie was deaf and had Rocky Mountain spotted fever and was completely scatterbrained and unfocused. Both were treated successfully and adopted to loving pet homes. Lovie went to a hearing imparied couple on the east coast. Peter and his foster sister Hillary and new BFF (Best Forever Friend) went to a pet/hunting home near Peoria soon after his old best friend Lovie was adopted. He actually went hunting last fall and his new dad reported he had 3 pheasant finds his first time out and retrieved to hand. Due to our research into Lyme disease, we know it does affect a birddog's scenting abilities and Peter was most likely dumped into a high kill shelter in Tennessee because he was not pointing upland birds any longer. Please help us continue our good work with a donation.
SUMMER UPDATE: WOW what a few crazy busy months! We are all caught up with our heartworm treatments for Brandon/Setter/Lyme disease and RMSF (adopted), Sassy/Pointer/ Lyme disease, RMSF and mastitis, Rosey/Pointer/ Ehrlichia, Lyme disease & RMSF (adopted), Mandilyn/Pointer/neg mammary cancer, Ladybird/ Pointer/Lyme disease & RMSF (adopted), Ollie/Setter/ Lyme disease & RMSF (very scary health scare in June) and Praline/Pointer/ RMSF.
Our research into tick borne illnesses TBI's continues and because of these I have raised your target donation. We are still in the vetting hole by about $15,000 especially with all the mandatory TBI testing we require for all our incoming dogs and puppies. After 10 years running this rescue, we know that undiangosed and treated TBI's will eventually cause terrible pain and suffering in our adoptables. Retesting older adopted dogs also shows that they are infected and have been for many years. We have lost too many Pointers to cancer --many not reaching the age of 8.
We have a long road ahead of us to help educate the vetting and pet loving community about these diseases and the importance of using flea and tick prevention on their pets. What we are learning will help the human population as well especially since we diagnose a lot of these dogs based on their behavior.
Please help us continue on this important journey while helping us rescue and rehab some amazing dogs with a donation!! THANK YOU to all that have helped us since last June when Dempsey almost died and this site was created.
February 2010: Oh my gosh, we've had a few amazing donations come thru and now Ollie has a sponsor and a potential adopter! Just when I don't know how we are going to hang on--caring, loving surprises show up in the IBR PO Box. We've got a long way to go--but I am hopeful again. --Lisa
11-25-09 Ophelia has her partial mastectomy on 11-23 and although the surgery area is hard to look at, as of January 2010 she is getting ready for the second part of her mastectomy. Ophelia is the 4th birddog we have had this procedure done on in the last 2 years. Cost of this procedure will be over $1,000; we welcome any dontions to help off set the vetting bills.
7-26-09 Puppies do tend to make you smile. Check out Penne and the kids --who are now 4 weeks old and thankfully healthy.
7/07/09 After a courageous battle over Parvo and Pnemonia- our little fighter- Jack Dempsey is finally home!! Thanks to Dr. Libby for saving his life!
6-30-09 from Dr. Libby- our hero!!!
To put it simply, the little miracle is FINALLY eating. I don't know why or how, but I do believe he is trying to brush off death. It has been a week since this poor pup has taken anything by mouth and he is currently chowing down on dry low residue puppy. Two days ago, we started IV doxycycline and baytril twice a day in a last stitch effort to reach the pneumonia, and it appears it is working. We are certainly not out of the woods yet, but this is truly his first indication to me that he wants to live. He will still be on fluids & injectables for a few more days and will remain contagious for parvo for at least another 10days, probably more like 14days. And I would strongly recommend he be kept quarantined from other animals and minimally handled for another 3 weeks due to my suspicion of his having sarcoptic mange. I don't know what your plans are for him, but thought you'd like to know where we are at this point.
FYI - this parvo case was not your 'run of the mill.' Had Dempsey's caretaker between the shelter and Keely's transport to me last week paid any attention to his hourly deteriorating state, he would have had a much better chance of a smoother recovery and may not have succumbed to the kennel couch pneumonia at all. IV doxy runs, at cost, $40 per injection. I am not asking to be reimbursed for this, nor would I accept it, but thought you should know that I did not short change him in any way.
More updates to come
Libby
06-28-09
Little Jack is still fighting at this point, but the pneumonia is really bad. He is not keeping any medications or food down. Dr. Kinsel bless her because she is working so hard to help him get through this. I will be going to the vet's office tomorrow and I will get another update then. Keep praying it has given him strength for 5 days so far.
Keep Believing,
Keely
"There is always one special 'love' child that touches us in ways we never imagine would.
Forever missed. Always in our hearts.
Please consider making a donation, so his life has a meaning for others to benefit from.
Hug your pet today. Let them know just how much you cherish them for what they've given you."
Pat
Thank you for visiting the Illinois Birddog Rescue fundraising page. It's been a rough year for us. One after another-- the sick, neglected and abused dogs and puppies arrived into our care. Most recently on 6/23/09-- Baby Jack Dempsey came into our rescue.. He was taken to the vet immediately after he was pulled from the shelter and upon further examination it was discovered he has Parvovirus.
Since January of this year- we have taken in 62 dogs and puppies. GiGi needed a mastectomy to the tune of $1600, and we are still in the process of trying to pay off her bill. Duckie is next in line for her mastectomy but first she needed to be treated for Lyme Disease, Ehrlichia and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever (tick borne fatal illnesses). If that isn't bad enough- Duckie also had heartworm disease. Thankfully- she went through treatment and is recovering slowly and building her strength for her next surgery. Her vet bills are over $600 already and we expect her mastectomy to be at least as high as GiGi's.
Besides our special girls- we have also needed to treat 8 other dogs for heartworm disease. Average cost of treating a HW+ dog runs on average $400. We take our time with our HW+ dogs and do pretreatment bloodwork to rule out tick borne illnesses which could cause complications in the dog's recovery. In severe cases- we also need to do X-rays and spread the treatment injections from 1-2 days to 1 and then repeat to a 2 day injection a month later. Most of our dogs still tend to struggle for a few weeks before they start to gain their strength again. While we took our time with Cameron's HW treatment- he lost nearly 8lbs in less than a week post treatment causing us to worry that he wouldn't recover. Thankfully he hung in there- but his vet bills did escalate to nearly $800.
The weekend of June 21st, little frightened 7 month old Pointer puppy Hillary came into our care. She has a condition called Cherry Eye. Her eye surgery is scheduled for June 25th and will cost nearly $200 adding to our high vetting expenses. We can't wait to see her beautifuy brown eyes once her surgery is done.
We still have a significant outstanding debt with our main Vetting Clinic and thank goodness they allow us to pay down our bill a little bit every month. As the President of this organization-- I have had to use my own credit cards for all of the out of state foster dog emergencies and that debt is nearly $5,000.
Illinois Birddog Rescue's 9 year anniversary will be coming up this October. It has not been an easy road- but our successes outweigh our sadnesses. Having helped save over 740 dogs and puppies is gratifying- but I do fear that we will not be able to continue our work if we can't get some serious support from the Pointer/Setter/Mutt loving community. I have been at the helm of this ship all these years- but when you are in dog rescue for this long- it is hard not to want to give up and throw in the towel. After 9 years-- I am still amazed at the cruelty,neglect and harm human beings can cause to defenseless animals.
I do love what this little rescue has achieved and I know we are making a difference in our little corner of the world. Please help me continue our work. Any little contribution would be most appreciated.
Wes- I will love you forever. I miss you every day- especially your Pointer zest for life. No dog ever made me laugh so hard or made me get out and enjoy life as you did in your 8 short years in my life. If only I could bottle that Pointer silliness and sell it- I would be a ZILLIONAIRE.
Lisa Spakowski
IBR Founder and President
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