WestieMed and Miss Daisy

Sometimes you run across a non-profit that is just amazing!  Well today, I want to share with you a non-profit that has a very special place in my heart … WestieMed.  Wait, you haven’t heard of them?  HOW?!?!

Since its inception in 2000, WestieMed has helped rescued West Highland White Terriers in need of medical attention to be adopted.  WestieMed has become a recognized force within the westie rescue community due to its unique purpose of providing the financial assistance necessary to save the lives of rescued westies in need of medical treatment and to date it has provided about $200,000 in financial support toward their medical expenses.

In the rescue world, many groups cannot afford very expensive surgeries for the pets in their rescue.  A dog that needs an expensive surgery could bankrupt the organization.  This is where WestieMed steps up.  If the dog is a westie or a westie-mix, and is with a rescue organization or a newly adopted family (if adopted in the last six months), they can apply for a grant up to $2,000 to help with the vet bills.

My foster sister Daisy was a lucky recipient of this grant and as a result, it saved her leg.  Below is her story … and yes, I helped her every step along the way being a good big brother and teaching her the westie way.

Back in the fall of 2013, Mom received a call that a westie needed to be picked up in Evansville Indiana (about an hour away from us) at the shelter.  She jumped in the car and an hour later with the help of my best westie guy friend’s mom Teresa, Daisy came into our lives as a westie rescue foster dog.  Daisy was a tiny 10-month-old Westie who was in a lot of pain from a fractured leg.  Her previous owner had taken her to a vet to see about repairing the complicated break, but could not afford the surgery.  So instead, Daisy’s leg was splinted in hopes that it would heal on its own. Unfortunately, her leg was healing wrong and she couldn’t use it.

As a result, her previous owner decided to drop her off at the shelter and hoped someone else would take on the responsibility of Daisy.  The shelter had heard about Westie Rescue Indiana (WRI) and called asking if they had any openings for Daisy since they couldn’t provide the surgery.

Mom took her straight to our wonderful vets at Wills Animal Hospital, and they did x-rays and referred her to an orthopedic specialist at BluePearl Specialty Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.  Mom jumped in the car, kissed Elvis and I goodbye, (ok, I should add, and Dad too … hehehe) and headed to the big city.  Daisy had an extensive surgery that lasted over four hours but they were able to save her leg.  She now has two pins in her leg forever so I called her a bionic Westie … hehehe.

For the next six weeks she had to be on crate rest.  She wasn’t happy, and I wasn’t happy.  I wanted us to play and show her all my toys and go on walks.  In the beginning, she was kind of out of it sometimes whenever Mom gave her pain meds. She slept a lot and she spent a lot of time in Mom and Dad’s lap with ice packs and heating pads on her leg.  She also had to do painful range of motion exercises.  Mom said it was hard keeping Daisy still enough to properly heal.

After another trip to Louisville for a follow up x-ray, we received great news that it was healing correctly.  This meant that there was no longer a chance that she could lose her leg … but then the hard part came.  She had months of water rehab ahead of her.  Every week Mom drove her back and forth to Evansville, IN where Daisy walked on a treadmill under water and did physical therapy.  It made her stronger and allowed her to get her full range of motion back.

Now, she puts full weight on her leg with no limp.  She also runs and plays with all of us and even jumps up on the couch to Mom’s dismay.

Thanks to the grant Daisy received from WestieMed, it made sure that the bills for her surgery could be paid in full without jeopardizing WRI’s ability to help the next Westie in need who comes their way!

If you read my blog regularly, you know I hardly ever ask you to make a donation, but this is one time I ask for your consideration.  I encourage you to visit WestieMed’s website and make a donation to help other Westies like Daisy.  We owe WestieMed so much for my foster sis Daisy.  Every day we get to play chase or fetch together it is because WestieMed and WRI were there to help!  Every little bit you can donate helps the next Daisy who needs surgery.

Donate to WestieMed