Today Oscar saw our Veterinarian and while he was not thrilled about it, he has begun to receive the expert medical care he always has needed and deserves.
To say the Veterinarian was in shock when he heard Oscar’s story would be an understatement.
For those not familiar with Oscar’s background, he was rescued from ACCT Philly. According to his paperwork, he was surrendered by his family who said they loved him; this same family put in a request to euthanize due to being “too old, sick, and not wanting to play anymore”.
Oscar had just turned 18 years old in June and just one month later he was no longer wanted. He arrived at the shelter matted, with feces on his feet, long nails and out of breath.
Our Veterinarian concurs with the shelter vets’ diagnosis and Oscar does suffer from a collapsing trachea. This is causing a horrible honking type coughing and occasional gagging more during the night than the day time. We are going to treat the cough with some medication so Oscar can sleep more peacefully.
Oscar also has a systolic heart murmur, but he does not require medication; we are going to begin a regime of senior supplements including fish oil for his heart. Complete blood work was performed and we will have those results back in about 24 hours.
Oscar’s physical exam also revealed severe dental disease, nuclear sclerosis of the eyes and scaring of one of his eyes due to an ulceration that was never treated medically. Unfortunately, due to Oscar’s age and heart murmur, a full dental surgery is not an option; we will be treating him with short courses of antibiotic treatments to keep his mouth as healthy and comfortable as possible in his remaining years.
Contrary to what his owner put on the surrender form, Oscar is very playful and loves other dogs. He is extremely loving, sweet, and enjoys attention.
We will never really know everything about Oscar’s past life, but we do know that we will make sure his remaining years are filled with nothing but love and happiness.
If anyone is interested in sponsoring Oscar’s lifetime care, please reach out to us directly.
