It's January!

Unfortunately, I don't think this is the month.  My new personal goal is the start of February!  It would have been really nice to do her surgery right now, but it also would have been very difficult, and I know we're on our way even if it's a couple of weeks later.  We still have about 2/3 of the money to raise for her surgery, and to help it along I'll be working booths this month (I'll give you dates when I know 'em!) and offering handmade doggy sweaters, treats, and other crocheted items in exchange for donations at my Etsy shop here.  Everything I raise on Etsy goes right into her fundraising folder in its entirety, same as paypal donations here.

You can special request something in exchange for a donation by leaving a comment here or emailing me at twsquirrels@gmail.com.  However, please keep in mind that it may take me a couple of weeks to make it, and definitely talk to me before donating if you wanted something to be made.  :)  Our most important fundraising tool, though, is word of mouth!  Please pass this website on to everyone you can!  We're gettin' there.  :)



We took Penny into the vet today because it seemed she was going into heat - she spent several days spotting around our home despite the scar on her belly that we thought was from a spay.  The vet (a wonderful man named Dr. Bond at Southwood Valley Animal Hospital) suspected that the long mark we thought was a scar might only be from her umbilicus.  He weighed her in at 51.8 pounds (yay!  Finally at a perfect weight!) and thankfully didn't even charge us for the short visit.  He warned us that she was definitely in heat, but we don't let her out unleashed anyways and don't own any other dogs, so she should be just fine.

Unfortunately, I don't think the clinic she'll be getting her surgery at will do two different types of surgeries at once, nor do I think it would be wise anyways.  Since getting her leg fixed up is my priority, I think we're going to tackle that first, then get her spayed after she is fully healed, recovered, and active again.  In the meantime, she's scheduled to get her rabies vaccination and heartworm test (so I know it's safe to put her on preventative regularly) next week, which is a good next step.  All that's left after that is microchipping...and fixing that leg, of course!  Then she'll be all caught up!  :D

We put up a baby gate in the hallway to move along introducing her and the cat, too.  So far she's being a very good girl about it, but the cat has a deathwish.  First thing Basement Cat did was jump the barrier and sneak up on the back end of the dog.  I can't do my part if she doesn't do hers!  She hasn't tried anything since and we've done a little reinforcing to the barrier to prevent future mischief.  Penny's doing great - it's just that darn cat.  ;)

Here are a couple vids of Penny being Penny!



Penny hurled in the car ride back from the vet's office, so I was trying to wash off her paws with the watering can. Of course, she thought I was watering her. :p



And that would be Pennybobenny trying to open her tennis balls all by herself. She was so excited about them!


Okay guys, I'll give you more updates when I have 'em!  In the meantime, spread this site around and let people know about Penny and her leg surgery.  Remember - every single penny helps, so tell as many folks as you can!

Getting There

Well, we're still in fundraising mode here.  Saturday Penny got to go see Della of God's Little Creatures to talk out a gameplan and her options.  We will be working together every day possible between now and her surgery to raise what we need.  I'll be baking doggy treats non-stop and crocheting warm, cozy sweaters for donations, and Della will be finding us spots outside of local businesses to sell them over the next few weeks.  Della also said she had a friend who was willing to give $100 to the cause, so we're that much closer to our goal!!  Yay!

Penny got her first distemper combo vaccination, which is GREAT, and will hopefully have all her other general health needs knocked outta the park this week if we can afford it.  We're switching her off high-protein now that her muscles are developing wonderfully, if I haven't already mentioned that.

Hmm...what else?  I think that's most of the news.  I don't think we'll be making the January 3rd date I'd hoped for (they want half of the surgery cost to reserve the date - the higher surgery cost.  We don't have that $450 just yet!), but that's fine as long as we get it done soon.  :)

We're getting there!  Thank you all for your support and remember to tell everyone  you can!  This is mostly being spread by word of mouth, so we really appreciate your help in getting the news out!  :)

Penny modeling!  :)

Update Time

So!

Fundraising lately has been slow, which is mostly my fault. I had my finals last week and kind of dropped the ball on a lot of opportunities. The rest of this week and next is going to be fundraising on hyperdrive! I wish I hadn't lost that time, but hopefully we'll still make enough in time to get Penny's surgery January 3rd, which is the first Monday after we come home from Christmas vacation (and the first one of the new year!). Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully.

We're still at $171.04, so if you know ANYONE you can pass this website on to, or anywhere that might put up a little sign for us or something, we'd really appreciate it!

I called the Animal Trustees of Austin today to find out what the deposit would be that's needed to reserve her operation date. They told me I needed half of the surgery cost - but there's no knowing until she goes under whether it will be 300 or 900. I asked which one to go with, and they guessed to just provide half of the largest sum - which would be $450. Welp, we don't have that yet, so I can't reserve her date just yet. Kind of a depressing thing to hear, since the operation might only cost 300, but if it does that just means we can give the rest to God's Little Creatures. Wouldn't that be an amazing holiday gift? :)

Here are a couple of photos of Penny I took recently that I just can't get enough of, they're so cute!!

And here's a video of her on one of our runs.  She LOVES to run, believe it or not!  She waits until I'm on the opposite side of her injured leg, then looks up at me and waits for me to go, then she dashes ahead!  At the beginning of the video she's looking at the dude who's chopping down all the trees outside of our place (uncool).  I think it freaks her out.  Here it is:



Okie dokie, I've got a great many things to attend to.  I'll let you know when there's more news!  Until then, tell everyone you know about Penny!  :D

Great News!!

I just heard back from the Animal Trustees of Austin, and it turns out they'll be able to do the surgery for a lot less!  Our new estimate is between $300-$900, plus followup costs over the next six weeks after the operation.

The low end is if it has to be amputated, which, although a last resort, sounds kind of likely due to how old the injury appears to be.  They'll try to repair it, though, if it looks like they can once they open up her leg - due to the equipment needed (a plate and an FHO) this would be the more expensive option.

This means our new goal is $1,000 - much better than that first number!  Thank goodness for shopping around and awesome recommendations!  If you can donate anything at all, please do on the right hand side of the page.  Anything we raise above the ultimate price of the operation will go fully and directly to God's Little Creatures in Bryan, TX.

About her surgery:

They won't know which option to take with her leg until they actually do it, so we will all have to be mentally and financially prepared for either direction.  If it can be repaired she'll receive a plate in her leg and an FHO - something to do with the femoral head (I really don't know much about that at all - but Google does!)

She'll need six weeks of strict confinement after the operation, with followups at 1-2 weeks, 4 weeks, and possibly 6 weeks.  She won't be allowed even short walks until one month!  For this reason we have to plan when to do the operation carefully, so that at all times one of us will be present to care for her.  The soonest we can do it is December 6th or 7th, but for fundraising and care reasons we may have to wait until the first Monday or Tuesday after Christmas - we haven't yet decided what would be best.

Since the clinic is in Austin, we might have to make special arrangements to figure out how to best make the appointments, and how to get her home again afterward.  We have a little time to figure it out, though!

Some new pics and vids of Penny:

She's really rounding out nicely!  She's only a few pounds shy of being a good, healthy, normal weight, which is important both for building up compensating muscles in her three good legs, and for better health during anesthesia and recovery!  :)

Playing with AJ while we fished at a local river

I'm happy because I'm getting my surgery sooner!

If that isn't the goofiest face, I don't know what is!

Penny's favorite thing to do is chew!

Smiles!

Here are a couple somewhat-blurry phone pictures of her pretty smile:

She's such a happy girl!

About Penelope!

Penelope, or Penny for short, is a beautiful, year-old pit bull who was found wandering around half-starved and limping.  The awesome woman who found her took her in, fed her, got her scanned for a microchip, and posted ads to try and find her owner - but no one claimed her.

She took her in to a local shelter, God's Little Creatures, to speak with the owner about getting some help finding her a home and fixing her up.  That's when my fiance and I met her for the first time.  She was so sweet and so perfect for us - we knew right away we were going to help her.

Step One was getting her to a vet for an X-ray.  We needed to know what the problem was in her leg.  They took her in and called us back several hours later.  The vet said she'd been shot.  The bullet went in her right hind leg, shattered the bone just below the hip joint, and scattered pieces of bone and bullet all over the place.  Luckily no vital organs seemed to be injured!

The vet said there were two options.  First, a surgeon could try to pin the bit of bone that is still in the pelvis joint to the bone below the break, but he didn't seem too optimistic about it.  The other option would be to remove it.

No matter which option she has to have done, she now has a TON of love to help her get through it - both from her new family and her wonderful rescuer.  One way or another we're going to fix that silly leg, forget about gunshots and hunger, and make the rest of her life the happiest any dog's ever had.  Great big pit bull smiles from here on out!

The estimated cost of surgery is somewhere between $1,900 and $2,600.  I would like to humbly ask your help in raising this money with us.  Anything you can spare will help Penny get her leg fixed up and start a new life.

If we are very fortunate and manage to make our goal, extra donations will be passed on to God's Little Creatures.  She's been the most extraordinary help, and is the most giving person.  It would be the absolute least I could do.

I'll be posting photos of Penny as we go, and news on how she's doing.  Hopefully we'll be able to afford her surgery sooner rather than later!