Save Me Rescue remembers Maggie.
Save Me Rescue is saddened to share that one of our long term, forever fosters Maggie has passed.
As many of you know we have a number of “forever fosters” within our rescue. Today we would like to tell you all a little bit more about our Maggie girl. Mags entered our foster program in May of 2014 when she was rescued from a shelter in Quebec where we suspect she was abandoned by her owners because they did not want to deal with her illness.
While we were never entirely certain what her medical issues were when we took her in, quickly upon coming into our rescue we realized Maggie was not a healthy dog and there were some long-term health issues which had clearly been neglected. By process of elimination it came to surface that Maggie would definitely be in palliative care and as such, not available for adoption.
Initially, it appeared as though Maggie could have been suffering from a variety of different issues such as pancreatic cancer, non-hodgkins gastric lymphoma, or a severe inflammatory bowel disease that was left untreated for very long. In order to get a firm diagnosis on Maggie she would require surgery for biopsies however our vet did not feel that she was physically ready for such an ordeal.
However as time went on, over the past ten months, poor sweet Maggie had been poked and prodded, taken an unbelievable amount of medication and had altered her strict diet multiple times with the hopes that we would be able to pin-point what exactly was making her so sick.
Although we had all accepted here at Save Me Rescue that Mags would never be at a place in her life where she would be “adoptable,” with many, many thanks to our close friend and incredible vet, the amazing Dr Kadri of Richmond Hill dog Hopsital, we had been able to get her to a place where as long as she stayed on her current medications and food, she would have a wonderful quality of life.
That being said, over the last few weeks Maggie has been having issues with her left eye. Unfortunately, our dear girl had severe cataracts and has had very limited vision for as long as she has been a part of our foster program. More recently, her foster parents had noticed that there was substantial swelling in her left eye and she appeared to be in quite a bit of pain.
After being seen by both our trusted vet and an ophthalmologist this week it was confirmed that Maggie’s lens and retina had both become dislodged. Further appointments were necessary while we decided how to proceed and correct Maggie’s vision but regardless of what decisions are made, Maggie always received the best care we were able to provide and her foster parents truly did everything in their power to ensure she was pain free.
Behind every one of our palliative dogs there is an incredibly committed and caring foster parent. When these dogs come into our homes; we rarely think that they will be in our care forever, rather by seeing ourselves as a stepping stone on their way to their amazing futures. However, when cases like Maggie’s present themselves, our foster homes are happy to rise to the occasion without batting an eye. Maggie for example, ended up with her foster parents almost by accident!
Initially, the lovely Mags was being fostered by one of our Directors who had multiple dogs of her own, and had told herself that she always wanted to continue fostering other dogs who needed her help. However, after seeing how much calmer and happier Maggie was as the only dog when the situation presented itself in various settings, our Directors parents agreed to lodge her for a short period of time to see how she did in their household as she would have the space to herself as an only dog.
Well that short amount of time has since escalated to over a year, and Maggie had been an only child ever since. Our forever-lady truly lived “the life”, with over 100 acres all to herself, two retired foster parents to dote on her every need and the best care and food that money could buy. We simply cannot thank Maggie’s foster parents Susan and Ben for all they have done for her since entering her life. There are no words to describe how selfless, wonderful and loving they have been to a dog who needed their help, without their knowledge.
Maggie’s foster parents and self-proclaimed “big dog people,” never expected in their wildest dreams that they would find themselves caring for a small, senior palliative, curly haired dog but we at Save Me cannot imagine her in another, better suited home. From opening their home to our Maggie to her opening up their hearts it has sincerely been a happily ever after for everyone involved.
Though we had no idea how long Maggie would be with us, what we do know is that her family has completely committed to making what time she does have the happiest of all her years, and boy is did they ever succeed! Mags was a silly, bossy but charming little love you’d never know was the slightest bit ill.
All of us at Save Me Rescue will miss Maggie, as she was part of our family.
If you would like to hear more about our selection of palliative dogs, please feel free to consider sponsoring a dog like Maggie or making a donation so that we may continue to help dogs like her.
If you would like to hear more about our selection of palliative dogs, please feel free to consider sponsoring a dog like Maggie or making a donation so that we may continue to help dogs like her.
