Elvis – September 26th, 2015

2/28/14: Please welcome Quentin! He came to us from a shelter in AL.  He was found as a stray and no one went looking for him.   At this time we do not know anything about Quentin other than he is a sweet boy and has some typical bulldog skin issues. We will update as we learn more.

Update 3/5/14: Quentin is still being treated for his respiratory infection that he came in with.  We believes he has dry eye but he has not been very cooperative with they try to do a tear test.  Dr Ross will do one when he is under for his neuter.  She should be able to neuter him next week once his respiratory infection clears ups.  Then he will move into his foster home.

Update 2/13/14: So there is a little background on why Quentin will be called Elvis…

We came into his old vet records! And he name was Elvis so we will be calling Elvis not Quentin. His original owners gave him away on craigslist to a man and his wife, last summer. This family realized he needed more vet care then they were told about so they called us to surrender him. We had to put him on the owner surrender wait list because we did not have any room or money at the time. Before we could take him in this man gave him to a co-worker’s friend. Apparently the co-worker’s friend went on vacation and left him with a dog sitter but never went back for him; that was 5 months ago. Recently, he ended up in the shelter. The moment we got him from the shelter, we received an email from someone with an interest in being sure Elvis was cared for. They faxed us all of his vet records. The story is all very odd but we have his records and we know what he has been through and what he needs. According to his records he will be six on 5/5.

Today he was neutered, had his teeth cleaned and had a small tumor removed from his neck.

Dr Ross was able to test him form dry eye while he was under and he does have it. He also needs entropian surgery but we have to get the dry eye under control first; there is too much discharge to do surgery now. He will move into his foster home on Saturday and we will treat his dry eye for the next four weeks then take him back to Riverside for a check up and surgery.

Update 2/18/14: Elvis moved into his foster home on Saturday. His foster sister Bitty is sharing her stuff and showing him the ropes! Unfortunately Elvis has a UTI now but we are treating it.

Update 3/27/14: On 3/21 we took Elvis to GVS because he was not able to urinate. We had been treating a bladder infection a few days leading up to this. An ultrasound confirmed that he had stones in his bladder and urethra. The surgical plan was to insert a catheter into his urethra to flush those stones into his bladder then removed all of them from his bladder at the same time. He made it through surgery just fine. But the Dr was not able to get the catheter into his urethra to flush the stones out so she had to reopen his neuter incision from last week and remove them surgically. Then she removed the ones from his bladder. He had five stones in his urethra and many more in his bladder. We will know in a week or so what they are made up of then we can come up with a long term plan which will include a diet change and/or medication for life. He spent three nights in the ICU and is now back in his foster home resting. He is still very swollen but getting better each day.

Update 4/24/14: Elvis had a entropian surgery a few weeks back and is healing nicely from that.  His tear production is still low in both eyes so we increased his medication and will re-check him in a few weeks.  We are still waiting on the results from his bladder stones.

Update 5/7/14:  We received the results of Elvis’s bladder stones last week.  He had cysteine stones which is are uncommon.  He is now on a low protein prescription dog food diet along with plenty of fresh water added to his food that will hopefully keep more stones from forming.  We will be rechecking his urinalysis in one month to assess for crystals and the pH.  If this food does not prevent more stones from forming then we will need to add a medication called Thiola as well.  Either way he will need to remain in the prescription dog food (and possibly the medication) for the remainder of his life.

Update 6/4/14:  Elvis had his urine rechecked; no stones or crystals but he does have a bacteria infection.  We will treat and recheck in one month.

Update 7/5/14:  Elvis still has a bacteria infection in is urine and he also has an ear infection.  We will treat both and recheck in a month.

Update 8/21/14:  Elvis’s ear infection has cleared up.  He will have his urine tested again in two weeks and if the bacteria infection has stayed away then he will be available for adoption.

Elvis gets along with other dogs and has spent some time around children with no issues.  He will need to stay on eye drops for the remained of his life.  He will also need to eat prescription dog food for the remainder of his life and he will need regular urine test to confirm that bladder stones are not present.

Update 9/21/15:  Elvis was diagnosed with heart failure today.  Please keep him and his foster mom Hannah in your thoughts.

Update 9/26/15:  Elvis lost his battle with heart failure today.  Rest in peace Elvis.  We will miss you.

September 26, 2015: Elvis has quite an interesting and convoluted past, every owner mistake that could be made was perpetrated on this little guy until he finally found his safe place with GEBR.
He had been treated for a myriad of medical issues due to neglect after he came to us, including bladder stones and dry eye.

 By the time we got him put back together again he was a little older and didn’t garner the interest of the younger or healthier dogs in our program. We never lost hope that one …special family would come along and make him their prince….because he was a prince! Until that time he was content to live in love with his foster mom, whom he considered his “real” mom, Hannah. With Hannah he found security, safety, cuddles and true love.

SPONSORS:

S Smith

G Daneshvari

S Yeargos