MARIETTA, GEORGIA.......Imagine spending your whole Life with a Family having litter after litter, and then one day you are discarded because you are not the moneymaker you used to be. That is what happened to this beautiful older Gal that wants nothing more than to lay at your feet and live out her latter years in Comfort.
Pepper is a beautiful 9-year-old Lab Mix that was picked up as a stray with massive Mammary Gland Tumors that had ulcerated. She was taken to Cobb County Animal Control where she remained for a month before we were contacted. A Volunteer reached out to us as a Last Ditch effort before she was euthanized. I took one look and knew I had to help her. Older dogs love unconditionally all their lives and ask for nothing. This was her time to be taken care of, and we were going to do just that.
Pepper was taken to Carolina Veterinary Specialist in Matthews, NC where she was stabilized and had extensive scans while in ICU. The first thing they noticed was that her massive tumor had ulcerated and was draining. Scans were done to see if they found any places that could show she had cancer and that it had spread. While doing the scans they found a bullet that indicated she had been shot some time ago. The bullet was still lodged in her body but did not appear to be causing her any discomfort. Our main concern was keeping her stable to remove the large tumor.
Pepper had surgery approx. one week after she came into our care. Her large tumor was removed along with lymph nodes that were in the area. During that time, the scans indicated there was a very small area in her lungs that showed if she had cancer it could have spread. Anything that appeared to be a firm mass along her mammary chain was removed during surgery. Biopsies were taken and sent off to determine if she had cancer.
Unfortunately, the results came back that Pepper has the same kind of cancer that dear Molly has. She has an Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma which is rare and very deadly if left untreated. Molly has had such wonderful results with her Palladia Therapy that we have opted to do the same chemo for Pepper. Pepper's chemotherapy was started this week. She is an older gal that has to be closely monitored during her Treatment. So far, she has not had any bad reactions to the Palladia. Her Treatment was started after her blood values were in the normal range to give her the best possible chance of being able to stay on the Chemotherapy.
Pepper is a wonderful dog that should have never been in this horrible situation. She is a beautiful small Lab Mix that should be at someone's feet during her latter years without a care in the World. Instead, she was discarded, like trash. The good news is that she is in our care and we are going to make sure the rest of her Life is going to be filled with unconditional Love and Support.
Pepper's Surgery was long and complicated. Please, Donate whatever you can to cover her Medical Expenses. Thanks for caring and making her Journey to Heal and find Love, possible. We greatly appreciate your Love and Support.
