Arthur's Fund

BACKGROUND:

Arthur comes from a Rescue in Korea, he flew to New Zealand with his former owner, who passed away in June 2020. Her family has contacted NZCR to assist with re-homing Arthur. Unfortunately, Arthur has come into Trust care in quite a poor and neglected state and will not be fit for re-homing without some serious TLC and medical care. The family have been advised accordingly.

ARTHUR HAS MANY HEALTH CONCERNS, AS FOLLOWS:

- Arthur has sore skin, a couple of lumps and bumps and fur missing. His vet records show he had a lump removed early this year, there are a couple more to investigate. We hope his skin and fur will also improve with a change in diet and more care. Arthur is on Nutrigel and “MyBeau” supplements.

- Arthur is suffering a very serious nutritional deficiency at this stage. He needs to gain some weight also as he is malnourished.

- Arthur has red, sore eyes that have been irritated by the facial fur. We have groomed his fur short and we are treating him with eye drops and an eye cream. Arthur’s vet clinic records show a history of uveitis – which we will keep an eye on. Arthur has cataracts in both eyes. He is not COMPLETELY blind as he does see moving objects, but his eyesight is very minimal.

- Arthur is almost completely deaf in both ears. He does pick up the odd high-pitched noise or sound.

- Arthur has no teeth – there is one lump inside his mouth which could be a root that will need further investigation, once he is strong enough to withhold sedation for x-rays.

- Arthur’s blood results show we need to keep an eye on his kidneys. There is some “pre-renal azotemia” indications in his blood. Meaning a build-up of nitrogen waste product. This may be the cause of some odd neurological symptoms Arthur exhibited in his first night of care (24/06/2020) he was unable to stand or move.

WHAT WILL WE DO - DOES ARTHUR HAVE A FUTURE?

Our plan for now is to keep Arthur in foster care with NZCR. Arthur needs to be closely monitored by our vet for improvement. We hope that with proper nutritional support he will gain weight. The first step is to observe him and get him strong nutritionally, we can then set about addressing any medical issues that remain.

Although he looks a little worse for wear and has a list of issues we will need to address, Arthur enjoys human contact, he loves to be cuddled and snuggled in – as he is deaf and almost completely blind, this makes him feel safe and comforted. He is happy go lucky, friendly and compliant.

We feel very strongly that if a dog is not suffering a terminal illness and in pain, he or she should be given the chance to remain in care, have the benefit of some medical attention, love and support. If it is determined that Arthur is in pain or terminally ill, our team will reassess and decide as to the next steps. For now, we want to do our best to give him the very best chance to have a comfortable few weeks, months or years....