Please note: Chief is NOT available for adoption at this time. He has a long road to recovery ahead of him. We are in desperate need of donations to help pay for his vet care.
Chief's Story:
Chief is a purebred English Bulldog and is about 5 1/2 years old. His owner had already served in Iraq and had someone care for Chief while he was gone. Went he was sent overseas again, this time for 2 years, the other party didn't want to take care of Chief. So Chief was surrendered to our rescue.
As soon as we picked him up, we noticed Chief had a large lump on his right front leg and were quite concerned about it. His previous caretaker said he'd fallen off the porch, but we weren't convinced so we had the vet examine it. The vet believed it to be a lymphoma and said it needed to be removed. Unfortunately Chief was in poor shape and the vet didn't want to risk putting him under anesthesia at that time.
When Chief came to us, he was extremely overweight and in generally poor condition. Everything seemed to be an effort for him, even breathing. We found out that his previous owner had been feeding him Ol'Roy dog food, which accounted for his poor coat and horrible gas among other things. We immediately put Chief on a raw food diet and he began to blossom. His coat began to shine, he dropped to a good weight, and the gas was gone...thankfully!
When we took Chief in to the vet to have the tumor removed, we weren't surprised to hear that the outlook wasn't good. During surgery, the vet found that the tumor was ingrained in the muscle and there would be no way to remove all of it. We were given the option of amputating the leg or having Chief put to sleep. There was no hesitation at all, this boy was NOT going to be put to sleep!
We asked that a biopsy be done so we would know what we were dealing with. Our vet sent it to a lab in Little Rock, Arkansas for biopsy and the Little Rock lab sent it to Texas A&M for a second opinion. The recommendation from both laboratories was to amputate the leg as this was a highly malignant form of cancer and the chances of removing the entire tumor were slim. We are hopeful that the cancer won't spread to the rest of his body.
Chief is adjusting to having only 3 legs now and is learning that he can still do many of the things he's always done. As he ages, he will have problems with his joints and arthritis. Because of his bulldog build, he will likely have more issues than some other amputees. At some point in the future he may need a front wheeled cart to take some of the stress off his remaining front leg. He does have some hind end weakness as well and we are keeping a close eye on that.
If you can donate any amount to help with Chief's vet expenses, we would be very grateful. You can either make a donation via paypal using the link below, or you can mail in your donation.
If you wish to mail a donation directly to the veterinarian treating Chief, please use the address below and make sure to note that the donation is for MHPets Chief:
Slone Pet Clinic
500 Coley Drive
Mountain Home, AR 72653
If you would like more information on Chief, please email us. Please do not call the vet asking for more information as they will not release any information without specific permission to do so. Thank you.
To donate via paypal, please use this link
Thank you and God bless!
