2/18/15: Please welcome Val! Val was recently sold by her breeder to another breeder and vet. But it was quickly discovered that she had some “leaky lady parts”. With the help of the breeder the owners surrendered her to GEBR for testing and treatment. She flew from Illinois to Georgia with a pet nanny to join our group. Val has a open vulva. She will be seeing a specialist next week to determine what can be done to correct this. She is 13 weeks old. She likes dogs and children. We do not know if she likes cats.
Update 3/3/15: Val had an Abdominal ultrasound and a CT Scan yesterday. She spent the night at GVS for observation. CT Scan demonstrated that both of her ureters are ectopic (tube leading from kidneys to the bladder do not insert into the bladder. She also has abnormal looking kidneys. Val will be having surgery on Friday to move the ureters to the bladder. It’s called a Ureteral reimplant. They will be taking a closer look at her kidneys at that time.
Update 3/6/15: After consultation with the surgeon, we have decided to hold off on surgery for another month or 2 to allow her to grow a bit more. We want to give her the best shot at a good future, and agree with their decision.
Update 4/13/15: Val had a follow up visit with the specialist at GVS. Her ultrasound showed that things are pretty much the same on the inside. She is a candidate for surgery to attempt to correct her ectopic ureters. She will be traveling to The Animal Medical Center in NY this summer to have the surgery. There is no guarantee the surgery will correct her leaking issue but it is certainly worth a try!
Update 6/27-7/6: Val’s Voyage… Day 1 – Today we (Amanda, Stephanie, Meaty and Val) drove from Atlanta, GA to Charlotte, NC). Frist we stopped at Carolina Pet Pantry to visit our friends form Bullies 2 The Rescue. Val was able to present the director, Courtney, with a donation from our rescue to theirs! After that we went to Cristi and Roger’s house for the night. We got to hang out with Deuce and Yogi too! Day 2 – We spent most of the day (9 hours) in the van today! But when we got to PA we were greeted by Donna, Carol, Debbie, Colette, Dan and Cooper! Then Mary came over too! We grilled out and had cake! Then we to the Cow Flop! We meet lots of people and saw a few fireworks! Stepany held me tight to be safe but I wasn’t scared at all! Day 3 – Today we went to the Archbald Pothole and Lackawanna State Park. After that Val met Amanda’s sister and her kids. She had lots of fun at the park with all of them. Day 4 – This morning we drove from Throop, PA to New York City, NY. Of course we played dress up! And Amanda’s brother Josh came to the city to meet Val. Her appt with Dr Berent is tomorrow morning. Day 5 – Val had her consult with Dr Berent at 10:30 am. She got to meet Dr Weisse (the surgeon who did Simon and Zeus’s surgeries). She also met Susan and Michelle! She went into surgery around 3:30 pm. All went well! She had her ectopic ureters corrected. We will know in a week or so if this will also correct her “leaky lady parts”. If she is of the 50% that does not stop leaking then we will try medication. If the medication does not stop the leaking 100% then she will have another surgery in two months. Day 6 – We got on the road at 6am and got off the road at 7pm. What a long day! Val did great for most of the drive. By the end of the day we were all ready to get out of the car. We will be relaxing for the next two days at the lake with the Satterfields! Day 7 – We spent all day relaxing at the lake. Oh and we wore a tutu! Day 8 – We spent another day relaxing at the lake! We had a few visitors too. Derek, Melissa and Lyla came over to visit. Oh and we wore another tutu!
Update 7/8/15: One week after surgery and Val is doing great. The correction of her ectopic ureters were a success but her leaking has not completely stopped. We will start her on proin next week and hopefully this will take care of leaking issue.
Update 8/3/15: We found out today that Val will need to travel back to New York for a second surgery. Her innards are still not working properly so she continues to leak. The big problem is that since her bladder can’t keep urine in, that also means it can’t keep the bad stuff out either. She’s had constant bladder infections since the first day we got her. This next surgery will be to implant a hydraulic occluder. It is a small silicone implant that looks like a blood pressure cuff. It will be placed around the bottom of the bladder and we will inflate it to the necessary size to keep the leaking controlled. We’re also going to switch her to a raw diet which will hopefully decrease her number of daily bowel movements. No poop in the diaper means less risk of infection!
