Rescue Ranch intakes often include sick and injured puppies, many of whom receive care through Kitu’s Fund. Some have been abandoned to their fate by unscrupulous people who fail to protect them. Others are surrendered by caring owners who can’t afford treatement. Thanks to the fund, serious medical cases get a chance at life.
You can help sick and injured puppies like these
Olivia and Patrick
Olivia was hit by a car and surrendered to our care. She suffered serious injuries in both hind legs, requiring two surgeries: one to remove the femoral head on her right leg, like Kitu’s fund’s namesake, and one to repair her right knee. She has come a long way since her first post-op photos.
Now she’s a happy energetic puppy like any other and growing like a weed. Olivia’s vet bill was close to $4,000. Untreated her injuries would have been fatal, of that there is no doubt.
She spends her days playing with Patrick, a black and white puppy with one ice blue and one brown eye. Patrick was a parvo puppy. He’s not technically a Kitu’s Fund dog because he was treated onsite.
Parvovirus is so highly infectious and deadly that many vets aren’t set up for it, and specialized veterinary care costs $4000, or more, per dog. As a result, Sanctuary staff usually undertake the intensive, multi-day, round-the-clock care themselves.
Fortunately, a new, $800, highly effective single dose anti-viral treatment is now available for dogs as young as eight weeks old. It dramatically increases survival rates and more quickly resolves serious symptoms, so puppies feel better sooner. Patrick had already turned the corner when it became available from our vet, but, given the obvious benefits, Rescue Ranch hopes to use it whenever possible going forward.
Duncan
Injured puppies arrive with many different ailments. Duncan had a serious infection in his right eye when he arrived with his mum, Delaney, and healthier littermates. He required veterinary attention. A wound doesn’t have to be obviously catastrophic to be life threatening. Duncan’s eye was swollen and sealed shut, it didn’t look good.
When Executive Director John Golay returned from the vet with Duncan and handed him to Operations Manager Laura Finley, the pup’s eye had been cleaned up but was still swollen shut. The Animal Medical Hospital vets who examined and treated him couldn’t tell what had caused the injury but hoped for a full recovery.
Sure enough, after 10 days of medication at the Sanctuary, Duncan felt much better. When I visited last week, his eye was open and clear, and he was active and playful. Duncan’s treatment didn’t involve major surgery or round-the-clock monitoring, but without veterinary attention he could easily have lost the eye, even his life. Thanks to Kitu’s Fund he received the care he needed to thrive.
Kitu’s Fund helps injured puppies
Kitu’s Fund covers high-cost veterinary expenses for sick or injured puppies and dogs. Costs range from several hundred to many thousands of dollars. We never know what to expect: broken bones? Parvovirus? Heartworm? Foxtail infections? Prolapsed uteri or rectums? Pregnancy complications? Crush injuries? Heart defects? Without your generous donations, many dogs would suffer needlessly or die. Our special campaign has ended, but you can still give to Kitu’s Fund.
