2020 Fundraising–GPA-WI Blue Fund

So far in 2020 GPA-WI has had three Blue Fund dogs that needed emergency or intensive medical treatments…Meet Sugar, Abbey and Spirit:

 

Sugar

In March of this year, three-year-old Tali Brown Sugar (“Sugar”) recovered from an accident that broke her hock.  She went through rehab and healed up nicely.

But, in early May, this sweet gentle girl was rushed to the emergency vet after she collapsed due an internal bleeding issue.  It was also discovered she had a dangerous heart arrhythmia that need to be constantly monitored in order to stabilize her.  She ultimately required surgery to correct the underlying problems.  This emergency surgery, along with three days in the emergency hospital ended up costing a whopping $4,804.20.

The costs included were:

• Intake exam $117.00
• Hospitalization including Dr/Nurse care $993.00
• Blood $359.00
• Surgery $1392.00
• Intensive Care $1106.00
• IV’s   $151.00
• Ultrasounds $84.00
• Electrocardiogram Monitoring $468.00
• Medications $134.20

With the money available through the GPA-WI Blue Fund, Sugar made a complete recovery and lives her best life with her forever family now.  Whether its playtime in the yard with her human sister or bounding up the stairs to the bedroom at night for her bedtime snack, Sugar is happy and healthy today because of your generous donations.

Abbey

Seeing a greyhound puppy is almost like seeing a unicorn.   Greys are bred and raised on farms and most go directly into a life of racing at the track.  The public rarely comes in contact with them until they are retired adults.

So when baby Abbey arrived in October of last year at only three months old, GPA staff and volunteers were over the moon and completely smitten with her.  She was tiny, much smaller than her siblings, and this meant that she was never going to be a successful racer.  Her size and her physical limitations are why we got this baby at such a young age.

Abbey was born with a deformity in her back leg.  Although it didn’t look quite right, this didn’t slow her down, she ran and played just like every other puppy.  She was sent immediately into foster care with an experienced greyhound family to grow and learn about living in a home.

At about 9 months, Abbey’s body had matured enough to be ready for surgery.  You don’t have to have medical training to see the abnormality in her left leg!

It would require an expensive Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) surgery to correct.

Once again, the Blue Fund came to the rescue.  Abbey’s surgery and rehab ended up costing around $2600.

This included:
Initial Eval $499.71
X-rays/Ultrasound $166.89
Surgery $1137.84
Sutures $85.06
Medication $368.46
Surgical Follow-up $240.10
Spay $157.30

Fast forward to a few weeks later, and Abbey’s leg is functioning normally and she is enjoying being a young adult.  The foster family that took her in could not imagine letting her go and adopted her permanently in early May.

Spirit

“Spirit’s Way” arrived at GPA-WI on June 6 from a farm in Abilene, KS where she was a breeding dam.  She was a mature girl, just turned five years old.  Shortly after arriving, she was obviously declining in health and no one could figure out why.  A trip to the emergency vet and a blood test discovered that she had an auto-immune disease of the blood called Immune-Mediated Thrombocytopenia (ITP) which means her body began attacking her own platelets.  The normal platelet range for greyhounds is 80,000 to 200,000.  At it’s lowest, Spirit’s platelet count was 6,000.  This put her at risk of bleeding out from the slightest bruise or injury.

The vet immediately started a course of medications including steroids, antibiotics, and immune suppressors to combat her body’s attack on her own blood.  At five years old, it was strange to have a condition like this suddenly appear.  Once she was stabilized, she was sent to a foster home for gentle rest and rehab.  After one week, her platelets had rebounded to 230,000!  After several more two-week recheck intervals, they had normalized at 107,000.  Spirit’s Blue Fund costs so far for hospitalization and medications are nearing $4000.

Emergency Hospitalization
Cardio Eval $1672.16
Hematology Eval $805.77

Diagnostic Hospitalization
X-rays $202
Meds/IV’s $231.40
Bloodwork $215.00
Hospitalization $141
Misc. $47.85

Follow up
5+ Exams and Bloodwork $608.49

Spirit’s Prognosis

It will take several months of monitoring and medication adjustment to know what her final prognosis will be.  Some dogs can live safely and comfortably with this condition with the right medication levels.  However, she may require medication for the rest of her life.

Currently, Spirit is enjoying foster life on a farm near Burlington, WI.  If she becomes adoptable, she might be the right grey for your family.

• Calm and mature
• Quiet and well-behaved alone, except when she wants her food, then she will tell you all about it.
• Seeks out affection and snuggles
• Never had one accident in the house
• Doesn’t care for toys (so far)
• Does well with another dog
• Cat Workable
• Her tail wags up and down, not side to side!
• She sleeps with her teeth showing

Stay tuned for updates on Spirit’s adoptable status.

A Call For Donations
As you can imagine, these dogs’ medical costs have depleted our Blue Fund. We want to be ready for the next greyhound that needs special medical care. Without rebuilding the Blue Fund, we may have to turn away a dog in need. That dog might have been your next family member.

In a “normal” year, we would be able to raise additional money for this cause at our annual Gala. This year we will not have that opportunity, at least as an in-person event, as the Waukesha Expo Center has canceled all large community events.

Can you help us? Our goal is to raise $10,000 by the end of August, to keep the Blue Fund available for the next dog we take in with medical issues. Your gift ensures that we never turn away a greyhound for medical reasons.

History of the Blue Fund

The Blue Fund was established in 1997 to memorialize a wonderful greyhound named Blue who died unexpectedly at the age of seven. Silly, friendly, and gentle, Blue was loved by all who knew him. This fund, dedicated to his memory, gives hope and a chance for a healthy future to greyhounds who are suffering from severe medical issues. Since its inception, the Blue Fund has allowed GPA-WI to take in injured dogs, pay for their veterinary care and place them in loving adoptive homes.

To donate by check (our preferred method) please send to:

GPA-Wisconsin Blue Fund
PO Box 308
Genoa City, Wisconsin 53128-0308

We also accept PayPal Donations

If you wish to make a special donation, perhaps in memory of a beloved animal or person, please indicate the animal or person’s name, and the name and address of the person who should receive the memorial card. If paying through PayPal, you can include this in the “message to seller.” All donations are acknowledged with a card notifying the person in whose name the donation was made.