Cassie's Love Story
Ellie's Rainy Day Fund helped Cassie get physical therapy to make her muscles stronger.
Animal lovers are an amazing, warm and a caring group of people with hearts full of love and compassion! Thank you Ellie's Rainy Day Fund for all your help and caring! Thank you for making my family whole once again!
A Letter from Cassie's Mom
Cassie's story began in July 2007 when I chose her and her sister out of a litter of 10 mixed chow puppies at 1½ weeks old. My dog had just died and I was so lonely. At 5 months I got them spayed and the vet told me I had very aggressive dogs and I had better get them to behavior training soon before they bit someone. I was sometimes afraid of them, but I felt I had taken on a responsibility when I adopted them and I wasn’t going to abandon them. First, I had to give them every chance I could.
After two years of being together, I one day found Cassie choking. I was afraid of getting near her for fear of getting bitten but I had to help her. I reached into her mouth and removed a candy wrapper from her throat. Since that day she has been my best friend. She is always by my side or needs to know where I am at all times. Even if I just look at her, she comes running to me. She loves me unconditionally and she's my protector.
Last summer, I began walking my girls everyday-- not an easy task with my bad back and two strong dogs pulling me. On one of our morning walks, Cassie suddenly laid down in the street. I knew something wasn't right, but she got back up and we made it home. She started lying down more and more so we eventually stopped the walks. She became deeply depressed because she couldn't play with her sister or jump up anymore. She used to love catching Frisbees and jumping up to catch bouncing tennis balls. One Saturday morning she couldn't get up. I was very afraid for her.
The first vet we saw said she had an incurable spinal infection. I figured she was getting to her "end time" and it broke my heart. I would just cry at the thought of my life without Cassie. A year or so later she began limping even worse than usual so I took her to a different vet who took x-rays and said she had hip dysplasia. For 2 years Cassie had been misdiagnosed!
I am on Social Security Disability and it was almost all of my savings but my girl was in pain so I decided I had to do whatever was needed. Surgery was scheduled and it was the first time my girls have ever been separated from each other or me for more than a few hours. That night after Cassie's surgery and while she was in recovery was a very sad, sad night for my dog Kendra and me. It was a long 2 days and a very challenging 2 weeks after I got her home. She would drag herself around and I wondered if I had done the right thing.
After my last post-surgery visit with the rehab tech, I was told there would be an additional cost for Cassie to get more rehab. I told them I couldn't afford anymore. When I was quoted the cost of the surgery, I never expected all the additional costs for pre-surgery testing and post-surgery rehab. I felt like she really would benefit greatly with the proper help and I didn’t know what I could do. Then I was told about Ellie's Rainy Day Fund. Now I had hope I could get the care Cassie needed to get her muscles stronger.
Cassie loves to walk and wants to go everyday. Thanks to Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund she is getting the physical therapy and exercise in the underwater treadmill that have given her back her confidence. She is starting to play with her sister again. In fact, now she thinks she's "Wonder Dog" and I have to hold her back from running and chasing squirrels. And I know she is much happier too. Yeah!
Animal Lovers are an amazing, warm and a caring group of people with hearts full of love and compassion! Thank you Ellie's Rainy Day Fund for all your help and caring! Thank you for making my family whole once again!
