Cochise Canine Rescue: All-Star Dog Rescue Celebration Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

Medical care for the senior and special-needs dogs in our care. One of our handicapped dogs, Yassi, needed eye enucleation due to glaucoma in January 2016. In March, an older dog, Sarge, required surgery.

We further used the funds for ongoing blood work on several dogs with valley fever plus their medications. I am pleased to report that by mid-year, all but one of the four dogs with VF had gone into remission or recovered.

In February, our dog Billy, who is living with cancer, had blood work and x-rays to see whether the cancer, osteosarcoma, had spread. To date -- 17 months after his initial leg amputation -- Billy is doing very well with no recurrence.

We have a number of senior dogs with arthritis and age-related issues living on anti-inflamatory and pain-relieving medications. The grant helped provide these medications to the animals in our care.

We have been able to provide the ongoing medical treatment that our senior and special-needs animals require. This grant was literally a lifesaver and has enabled CCR to ensure the dogs are comfortable and healthy.

How many pets did this grant help?

Close to a dozen dogs, either through direct veterinary care or the purchase of medications they needed.

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Yassi arrived at Cochise Canine Rescue from a northern Arizona Navajo reservation in 2014. She was 2-3 years old, already blind and had rear-end weakness, possibly due to distemper as a pup. Early in 2015 we began noticing that her eyes were beginning to “bulge” — a sign of possible glaucoma. We took Yassi to our veteriarian, Dr. Heist at Rincon Vista in Tucson, who measured the eye pressure with a special device. The pressure was elevated significantly, denoting glaucoma. Although enucleation is a painful surgery, allowing the glaucoma to progress is also very painful, so we had her eye removed. Since Yassi was already blind, she adjusted rapidly, and once she’d healed from the surgery she seemed to be happier and more comfortable! (Attached are pictures before and after surgery.)