Foster
 Foster
was found in July 2009 on the side of highway 175 and was lucky
enough to be picked up by a PAWS in the City volunteer. He jumped
right in the car! He had a collar on, but he wasn’t tagged
or chipped. The volunteer decided to foster him and try to find
him a home through PAWS in the City. As he grew bigger, he started
to have difficulty sitting and laying down. The vet attributed
it to a stress fracture and recommended rest. Shortly thereafter,
walking and standing grew painful for Foster as well. Nights
were worst of all. He was unable to get comfortable laying down
in any position and would shift around for hours on his bed.
One night he began to whimper and cry. It was heartbreaking.
His foster mom slept on the floor by his side to comfort him
as much as possible and took him back to the vet the following
morning. The vet determined that he probably had hip dysplasia,
but x-rays would need to be taken to be sure. A specialist was
recommended. In the meantime, he was prescribed pain medication.
This is when Foster got very lucky again. At an adoption event
outside of Pets Supplies Plus in Dallas, Foster was sighted
by a man who was all too familiar with hip dysplasia. He offered
to pay for Foster’s x-rays after hearing his story. While
he couldn’t adopt Foster, he really wanted to help him
in any way he could. The x-rays revealed that Foster was born
with incomplete hip sockets. Foster’s ball joints were
rubbing directly against his pelvis on both sides. His pain
resulted from this friction and some slight arthritis that
was worsening by the day. To compound the problem and the pain,
new and jagged bone tissue was beginning to form around his
hips as well, stabbing into Foster’s soft tissue. The
specialist quoted a price in the thousands for hip replacement
surgery… a dollar figure that was out of the question
for Foster’s mom.
After a few hours of panic and lots of tears, PAWS in the
City stepped in a saved the day for Foster! They contacted
Dr. Vandermeer at Highland Park Animal Hospital who graciously
agreed to see Foster and suggest alternatives. After the exam,
Dr. Vandermeer determined that total hip replacement wasn’t
necessary to fix Foster. He recommended a procedure called
a Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) in which the ball and neck are
sawed off the top of the femur. This leaves an artificial joint
made up of ligaments and tendons that works like a normal ball-in-socket
joint. Dr. Vandermeer also offered to perform the surgery at
a deeply discounted price. The man from the adoption event
donated more money toward the first surgery and PAWS in the
City covered the rest.
Foster had the FHO on his right hip on April 1st . He is three
months into his six month recovery period and is jumping around
free of medications and largely free of pain on his right side.
He’s much happier now and loves to play with his foster
brother and sister all day long instead of watching from the
sidelines. In October he’ll go back for surgery on his
left hip. He’s been given a HUGE second chance at life…
None of this would have been possible without PAWS in the
City, Dr. Vandermeer, and the kind heart and generosity of
the donor from the adoption event. While Foster seems to be
on his way to a normal life, he still needs his second surgery
a loving home to call his own. After all that he’s been
through, he deserves the very best. If you’d like to
adopt Foster or make a contribution toward his second surgery,
please contact: jim@pawsinthecity.org.
Donations are tax deductible and will help PAWS in the City
continue to save lives. |
Take
a look at all these beauties! 
They
have not signed a contract yet with any talent agency, but
you could be their agent. These kittens are all buffed and
ready for the limelight. Kitten season did not disappoint Paws
in the City. We were able to save many newborns such as these
just when kitten season was in full swing a few months back. 
Many
nursing mothers had been dropped off at Dallas Animal Services
that were ready to give birth or had just given birth when
PITC arrived. We expect the season to continue but would be
able to save even more babies from the brink if we can place
these kittens into loving homes to make room for more sure
to come. Go to Adopt-a-Pet 
to
find out more about their unique characteristics that make
them such a star.
