WARRENTON, NC....Beautiful Koal is a 5-year-old Beautiful Border Collie / Chow Mix that was pulled from Warren County Animal Control. The person that picked him up was going to foster him for three weeks while his medical was being done. After going to NC State for his visit, it was discovered he was Heartworm positive and also had a growth in his mouth that needed to be addressed. He was then sent to a dentist where it was determined he had an Acanthomatous Epulis tumor.
The Rescue that Koal was originally pulled for did not want to get Koal the treatments he needed, so the Foster took over and began to raise funds for his care. Funds could not be found to cover the extensive surgery that was now required to remove the tumor. We were reached out to several times for help with the surgery, but we had way too many dogs in the hospital as it was and one more was going to put too much strain on the Rescue.
Everyone knows how I feel about so-called Rescuers stepping up for animals and then not supplying them with the proper medical care and putting the animal down. They use the animal as a Pawn to raise funds and then the animal is not given the proper Medical Care he was supposed to receive. E-mails went back and forth. I spoke to our Oncologist and Surgeon and sent the information I had received to the new Rescue to give them the best information possible.
Koal was still not getting the care he needed. The last e-mail I got that really sent me over the edge was them saying they were now looking for a Hospice Place for this sweet dog to go and nothing else was going to be done. Well, that did it for me. If I could have jumped through the computer and grabbed someone, I am sure I would have. I sent a note saying I would take him and to drop him off at Carolina Vet. Specialists in Charlotte, NC.
Disappointed in people does not begin to describe how I was feeling. I decided to put my energy into Koal and all of the other animals in my care and move on to Healing instead of Negative Energy. Sweet Koal arrived at the ER and was checked out from top to bottom. He was Heartworm positive so he had to be seen by our Cardiologist to make sure he could undergo surgery. Cardiology approved Koal for surgery, and he would have to be treated for his Heartworm Disease at a later time.
Dr. Dan Mertens did Koal's surgery. Care was taken to avoid the mandibular artery. The majority of teeth 303 and 304 removed and 305 to 306 completely removed. A periosteal elevator was used to remove the remainder of tooth roots 303 and 304. Basically, Dr. Mertens went horizontally to remove the teeth and nerves along with some tissue that contained the Epulis. If the tumor had remained, it had the potential to invade the mandible and eventually cause this sweet pup to have trouble eating and drinking.
Dr. Mertens felt like he had clean margins and so far the biopsy came back that he did. Koal has to be on soft food while his mouth heals and then we will begin his slow-kill heartworm treatment. Through all of this, this amazing dog has been nothing but a delight. He lets us look in his mouth and do anything that we need to do without giving us one bit of trouble. If anything, the only problem we have is him wanting to give kisses the entire time.
We rarely get dogs with great manners, but Koal is the exception. He loves everyone and is content being around other dogs but prefers non-stop hugs and kisses. He LOVES human interaction and going for long walks. He truly was the perfect dog from the minute we got him. Koal has some of the thickest fur you will ever see which is why we think he has some chow in him. If you think this beautiful pup would be right for your Family, please, fill out our Adoption Application. In the meantime, please DONATE. We need all the funds we can get to cover his Medical Bills. Thanks for caring about Koal and all the other pups we have saved.
