Red, thy gift is "Patience".

With horribly ulcerated eyes, Red was rescued from a Seattle area shelter as a 7 year old stray in June 1999. Little did anyone know this was only the beginning of a long sequence of health issues for this little gem of a guy. Treatment for his eyes cleared them by July, but not long after, it was determined he had bladder stones that had actually been there long enough to attach themselves to the bladder wall. JCCARE sponsored his surgery and follow up and Red was ready for his forever home on August 14, 1999.

Soon after he came to live with us, he started chewing "hot spots" on himself. With no history to go on, many ideas were pursued such as allergies, etc. until he was finally diagnosed with sarcoptic mange – by this time, he had lost most of his hair. A series of Ivermectin injections rid him of the mange, but he continued to yelp and isolate himself in his bed. X-rays revealed a disastrous back with disc problems and degeneration. The vet’s analysis was that he had been abused as a pup. Poor Red! His twisting and turning to chew his itchy skin had aggravated his back causing unbelievable pain. He was treated with a non-invasive therapy called VOM – an activator method which reduces the subluxations in the joints and re-establishes neuronal communication and helps the body heal itself. Treatments were every other week, gradually increasing until his treatments became further and further apart to his last one in July of 2000. He has been essentially pain free in his back since then with the option of having treatments any time his back should act up on him.

Not done yet! In July, we thought he was having runny eyes from something airborne and he was diagnosed with Entropion, a folding in of the lower eyelid causing irritation on his eyeball and cornea – our wonderful vet was just in the process of selecting a laser to add to her practice and offered to correct Red’s eye for free. "He deserves it", she said. The laser surgery was a success and the major pain in his eye was gone.

Not yet! Red has eyes that don’t close completely when he blinks. This causes the cornea to dry out and become cloudy. He is being treated daily with a new Optimmune medication and his tear production has increased. A medicine to diminish the cloudiness is also working. He also has a pioderma/staph condition that crops up on his skin periodically which requires constant bathing with a medicated shampoo.

Through it all, this precious little Red bundle has enriched our lives beyond our wildest expectations! Various little things along the way have indicated he had a very rough and abusive life before JCCARE rescued him. But with his fight and determination, he has blossomed from a little guy with aches and pains no one knew about to a smiley, happy, food-loving, berry-eating, woo-wooing, Chin spinning, mouth wrestling, lap cuddling ""Red Dog"! He is our little "dude with a ‘tude" - He loves his fur siblings and even plays with them now – and they know to be gentle with him. He ignored his Christmas toys for 2 years and now he and I have a special morning time every day to play and wrestle toys and woo-woo together when the other furkids aren’t around. This has become our daily ritual. And he loves it!

Thank-you to JCCARE for all the care and love they gave him to start his journey to where he is now.