Prayers and positive thoughts for Freedom (senior)

I have opted to seek help in having Freedom's Vet Bill Paid!! Yes, she is my "Personal" Dog, Yes, she is a Rescued Dog! Yes, she plays a vital role in the PBH Rescue! I will be forever grateful for ANY and ALL Help in paying her Vet Bill off... Starting up and continuing to move forward with the Rescue, sadly has put me behind on a few personal bills which I'm working on rectifying... The Rescue's Vet were so kind to treat Freedom under our Rescue Pricing without knowing her story below... They did this even after knowing she was my "Personal" Dog... and for that I'm very thankful, as our Rescue as well as my persons is going through financial hardships... Please consider helping me pay down Freedom's Vet Bill to help me maintain the Rescue Dogs and work on rectifying the financials of the Rescue and my Personal financial obligations. The Rescue has drained me financially... Any questions or whatnot please email me at Eric@PitBullHappenings.com

Freedom was also given supplements which will be in her best interests to stay on for the long term due to her age, etc... The supplements given to her by the Vet are Dasuquin (MSM Large Dog: 84 count) & Welactin (Dog 16 oz) If anybody knows where we can get these for a very affordable price or somebody who knows of supplements that we can get for her as soon as her current supply is used up... Please let me know!! Thank you all for your kindness and generosity and prayers!! Freedom's doing very well and is still as stubborn as ever... Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything! 

Update 07/19/2011 1930 hrs:  The good news is the tests came back and it appears Freedom does not have Cancer... and what a relief... 

However, she did somehow get an ACL tear... which I'm pounding my mind trying to figure it out considering the fact she's not an active dog... she doesn't rough house with any of the dogs and vice versa... they know better... she can be a bitch ;)  The Vet, wants to try to avoid surgery due to her age... so, we'll see... 

She also has hip dysplasia... and an infection in her vaginal area... She is on Metacam (pain meds), Dasuquin MSM (Supplement), Welactin (Supplement), and Orbax (antibiotics for infection).

Her Vet of course, ordered rest... which fortunately, Freedom has already mastered!  The biggest concern and task will be keeping her off of the couch so that she doesn't further damage her ACL tear... I was offered by a very kind and very generous lady a ramp for Freedom which will ensure Freedom doesn't lose the one thing she loves the most... the couch...  My mom reports that during the day she does good by laying down on the bed she has on the floor but night time... she does get on the couch, so the couch will be barricaded off for now... Thank you all for keeping the prayers coming!! and let's hope she heals without needing to go through surgery... She'll go back to the Vet in a week and half to see if her infection has cleared up.

Thank you all again for the prayers and positive thoughts... Please, for Freedom, keep them coming and let's hope she heals quickly without the need for undergoing surgery... Let's pray her pain goes away. 

Update 07/18/2011 2030 hrs:  After my mom brought Freedom  to me at work today... I must admit, she seemed to be feeling a little bit better... she seemed more alert and focused and even was moving around slightly better so it seemed... however, she's still in a lot of pain... The vet wanted us to bring her back in the morning at 0700 hrs... so that they can do a few x rays on her leg that's seriously is hurting her... during that process they are going to go ahead and give her sedation because they basically will have to press her legs flat (I'm not sure how to describe it) press down on the legs or similar... which with her leg already hurting her... well, I'm sure we can imagine how painful that will be :(  hence the reason for the sedation... She has quite a few growths that have formed as well... most of which are pretty small... the one growth is about the size of a quarter, maybe slightly larger... The vet will test that one for cancer... They are also going to give her a Urinalysis to see if she might have an infection that caused the mucous to drop out...

Since they wanted her back to the Vet at 0700 hrs and I didn't leave out of there until 1820 hrs, I asked if she could stay over night and I'll pick her up at about 1630 hrs since I have to work tomorrow from 0730 to 1530 hrs. She'll be fasting tonight and first thing in the morning they'll get the urine sample... and then they'll perform the other tests and the X-Rays for her leg that's hurting her badly... Sadly, she is in pain right now... she's a trooper and has always been a strong willed dog... I will say I'm very optimistic after seeing her today... I'll know A LOT more tomorrow so please your prayers and thoughts are still needed... I'm still hanging onto hope that this isn't anything serious... Thank you for all the prayers!!

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 Update 07/18/2011 0855 hrs: I contacted Quail Hollow Animal Hospital at 0830 hrs and we have scheduled Freedom an appointment for this afternoon at 1630 hrs. I called my mom and she will be bringing Freedom to me at the time I get off of work today and then I'll drive out to our Vet. I'll keep everybody posted on the outcome of this appointment. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts!! Thank you!!
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Freedom who is in between 13 and 14 years of age needs prayers and positive thoughts... sadly, she is not doing so swell... and we're scheduling her a vet appointment first thing Monday morning... As of right now, her balance and coordination are way off, she's always been a "Couch Potato" and quite lazy, however more recently, her laziness increased dramatically, she is also having troubles getting onto the actual couch and one of her rear legs is definitely bothering her... she also has arthritis pretty bad... which all the rain we've been getting has her really hurting...

I took Freedom to my parents house yesterday so that my mother can keep a closer eye on her until she gets in to see the Vet... as well as planned on taking her over there for a couple of weeks anyhows to give her a vacation of sorts from the Dog House and Rescue activities... Well, yesterday I noticed for the first time, a couple drops of mucous dripped from her rear area which the Vet will have to determine precisely where it came from... and has me really concerned... I also will have her checked for anything cancerous, as she has a few new growths appearing... I'm sadly, thinking of the worst... in hopes to better prepare myself as I know in my heart... there is no cure for old age... I'm hoping for the best and hoping this is nothing too serious... and will do whatever I can to help Freedom as her welfare is paramount... however, if it something serious... and if she is in a lot of pain... I'll have no choice but to make the hard choice that every loving owner dreads to make... but I'll make whatever decision is in Freedom's best interest... how do you prepare for something for this? I honestly, don't think I'm capable of preparing for the worst case scenario... especially for Freedom.  Freedom's a very special dog.

Freedom, I first hand rescued from an abandoned house... I remember that day as if it were yesterday... I was in my parent's neighborhood playing some basketball with their next door neighbor, my best friend's teenage son... It was the end of September, 2001. The basketball had rolled up the driveway of the house across the street, bouncing off the garage door in which I immediately heard barking coming from inside the house.  I knew the house was vacant and that the people had moved out and that the house sat empty for about week and half... I walked over to the front window and looked inside the empty house... to see this beautiful blondish colored dog looking at me. I checked the window and fortunately, it wasn't locked so I opened the window and reached in to pull the dog from the house, learning that she was a female and very frightened and emaciated dog... she was extremely head shy as everytime I went to gently pet her on the head her, she would close her eyes and drop her head to the ground... to this day she is still a tad bit head shy however not nearly as extreme as when she was first rescued.

After removing her from the house, I heard a meow from within the same the house... and pulled out a tiny calico kitten... now skin and bones... I found it amazing how this female "Pit Bull" literally was choosing to starve to death rather than to do what most humans would have chosen to do if in the same situation this wonderful and most amazing "Pit Bull" was put in...

The name I chose, had come to me quickly and naturally with the facts of my being a huge Patriot who loves his country and has a lot of pride... combined with the horrific tragedy that took place on September 11th a couple weeks earlier... in addition to freeing her from most certain death... her name is Freedom.  My sister, then named the calico kitten, Liberty.

I gave her some food as well as some water... poor Freedom was extremely frightened and constantly shaking... emaciated badly... her behavior clearly told me she wasn't only left to die in an empty house... but prior to the abandonment had obviously undergone physical abuse and more than likely emotional and pyschological abuse...

I took her to the Vet to get her checked out and surprisingly was in decent health other than needing to get "fattened" back up and suffering from malnourishment which food would fix quickly... well, shortly later... it turned out she wasn't in good health afterall... I noticed she began seeping some sort of mucous from the vaginal area. I rushed her back to the vet and it was then we learned she had a bad uterus infection and she went into surgery right away... $1000 later, she was back to being healthy... and living a life of the Couch Potato...

Freedom was my very first Rescue and is a true Pit Bull Ambassador... she is very well mannered and loves all people... she is very polite and gentle... has always been just truly amazing.  Every new dog brought into the Dog House... Freedom was always there to meet them first with her very calm demeanor and amazing temperament and did every introduction perfect... she plays a very vital role for our Rescue that include proper introductions and socialization... of course, Freedom being the kind of dog she is had to include some of her own rules, in addition to the rules that I had already laid down... and every dog learned quickly to not to invade her personal space especially while she was enjoying her leisure time on the couch... or out back sunbathing... of course, as she continues to age... depending on her days and moods... the other dogs were realizing that some days she would only have a very small personal space on the couch... while other days her space involved the whole couch... I often kidded around with the other dogs apologizing for Freedom... explaining she's getting a bit senile for her old age... All the dogs of past and current of the Dog House have and continue to respect Freedom and understood she was the Queen of the Dog House, is the Queen of the Dog House.

Her rescue story has also been published in "Lost Souls: Inspiring Stories About Pit Bulls" by Kyla Duffy of Happy Tails Books.  You can see a preview of the book by clicking the following link... Freedom's story is on page 7 of this pdf preview and the story is titled "Lady Liberty" Click Here to read Freedom's published story and scroll down to page 7..

I have so many wonderful memories of Freedom and everybody she met and got to know, fell in love with her. When she first was Rescued... my own mother, although she felt badly for and was upset at the humans responsible for this... yet, unsure what to think with the simple fact... Freedom is a "Pit Bull" well, it didn't take Freedom long to get my mother to change her thoughts which regrettably the media was mostly responsible for as well as other ignorant people... and Freedom has changed the minds of countless other people who she met over the years in regards to the people sadly falling prey to the "hype", the lies, myths, etc.. that surround these most spectacular "Pit Bulls" and everybody falls in love with her almost immediately... I'm very blessed for having Freedom in my life.

Please keep Freedom in your thoughts and prayers... I'm remaining optimistic and will continue hoping this is only a minor ailment that is easily cured. I'm contacting our Vet first thing Monday morning to get her an appointment scheduled for as soon as possible. Once the Vet sees her, we'll discuss in full detail diagnosis and the all options available for making her better... I'll keep every body posted as I learn the extent of this ailment. Thank you all for praying for Freedom and keeping her in your thoughts.

In prayer and positive thoughts,
Eric Emminger
Founder/President of Pit Bull Happenings, Inc.
Eric@PitBullHappenings.com