Billy

Bob and Sandy’s dog, Billy…In the span of a week, our dear dog Billy lost an eye.  In the span of a week, Bob and I had our lives drastically changed.  And in the span of a week, we discovered a vein of gold stuck inside a cramped, outdated building.

On a Friday night in December of 2007, Billy yelped in pain and red serum leaked from his right eye. We went to the emergency vet, who kept him overnight and then transferred us to UGA to be seen by the ophthalmology department there. GVS has an ophthalmologist, but the procedure Billy needed was beyond her training, so to Athens we went. Drs. Weinstien and Accola came in on their day off and worked on Billy into the wee hours of Sunday morning. A condition our veterinarian had mistakenly treated as rather routine and benign had cost Billy his right eye and severely damaged his left one. Grafting the ulcer in his left eye was no guarantee he would be able to keep it but it was his only shot, so it was one we had to take. The doctors and hospital staff treated Billy as if he was their own. They did the surgery, kept him in ICU for a week, and then sent him home with us. Read More »

Harley

In May of 2003, I was given a baby Senegal Parrot as a birthday present. I named my baby Harley, and we bonded very quickly! In October of that year, Harley began scratching and preening furiously as if he itched or was experiencing discomfort from something. This concerned me, and I took him to a local veterinarian who decided to give Harley a subcutaneous injection of Ivermectin a common cattle wormer, in case he had mites. I was unsure about this, but the vet assured me it was completely safe so I agreed.

Within the following half-hour, Harley became lethargic and was uninterested in food. I tried to convince myself that it was just because of the stress of going to the vet’s office, but I was worried. I continued to monitor his behavior throughout the evening, and he became increasingly listless. I was very worried at this point, but did not know who to call after hours. Harley was, and still is, my best friend and I was worried that I was going to lose him! Read More »

Buddy

We have a Boykin spaniel whose name is Buddy and he is now 8 years old.  When he was approximately 1 year old, his back paw was shattered.  Our local vet said he needed an orthopedist to repair his paw.  So I contacted our vet in Florida, who I have the utmost respect for, and she said UGA was where we needed to be treated, so off to UGA we went.  The doctors, interns and staff were extremely professional, compassionate and caring.  Whenever I called they gave me an update on this progress.  Buddy had the intern wrapped about her finger.  He got special “ice cream”, treats and whatever else he could get out of her.  Approximately $3,000 later his back paw was repaired and you wouldn’t know today that anything had ever happened.  I am so thankful for the compassionate and caring staff at UGA.  After 2 years of loan payments, I wouldn’t have done anything different. Read More »

Bentley

Bentley is not just our family pet, he’s a retired show dog and the most valuable employee at our business, at the Marietta Wine Market. He’s our official greeter, and has been known to recruit customers by charming the passers-by on our side street just off Marietta Square.

For the first year he lived with us, Bentley suffered from ear infections. As an English Springer Spaniel, a breed with dropped ears, it’s not uncommon to have to treat ear infections, but his never seemed to get better or go away. We tried standard ear infection treatments for over a year, but after seeing no improvement, our vet sent a culture to UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. They diagnosed a resistant strain of bacteria and compounded exactly the drug that Bentley needed to be infection-free. Read More »

Phoenix

Wanda Stover writes:

This is a story not about one of my pups, but one of our Southern Cross rescue dogs. His name is Phoenix.

Phoenix was on death’s doorstep when we got him to UGA. He was starved, had horrible skin infections, and ended up with pneumonia. When a dog has been starved for a long time they often wolf down the first few bowls of food, and that’s what Phoenix did. He aspirated some of that food, which brought on the lung infection. Read More »

Spike

Meredith Estep writes:

Spike, a long-haired tabby cat, was born on June 19,1992.  About 8 weeks later, I adopted him.  Spike offered me companionship that I will always cherish.  He knew when I needed his love and attention, and would jump in my lap, rub up against me and purr as loudly as he possibly could.  He slept on top of my pillow with me each night, and was he was cordial to other people and accepted other pets that we brought into the family over the years.

When he was about two, Spike started missing the litter box and having trouble eliminating.  I rushed him to my local vet who determined that he had a bladder infection, provided us with antibiotics and put Spike on a special diet.  Sadly, that didn’t resolve the problem.  He continued to experience problems when needing to use the litterbox, so back to the vet we went.  Again, the problem returned after only a few days. Read More »

Buster

Susie Crockett writes:

Buster was a character, a trouble-finder and a dog with a huge heart.  He was our son’s dog, and got into as much trouble as any puppy could, from getting stuck under furniture, eating cash that had to be surgically removed, downing anti-inflammatory pills and needing his stomach pumped, ripping up carpeting, eating furniture, door frames, dog tags and rocks to spending the night in ICU after sitting on a nest of hornets.  It was for dogs like Buster that veterinary insurance was designed.  We, unfortunately, didn’t have it for him, but we loved him and took care of all the injuries his curiosity helped him incur. Read More »

Vestor

Dan Keenan writes:

Approximately 5 years ago I adopted a greyhound who was a successful racer, but had to retire early due to a rear leg fracture.  Fortunately the crew at the Wichita track where he had raced took care of him, and placed his leg in a cast.  An Atlanta-area adoption agency picked him up, and I was able to take him right after the cast was removed.  I’m explaining all this because he certainly worked hard early in his life, and has already endured tough times.

Well, it didn’t take long for me to realize how goofy and sweet greyhounds are.  He has a unique personality, and seems to really enjoy life.  Three years ago I started noticing some build-up of an unknown substance in his ear.  It was very tender for him, too.  I took him to my regular vet, who could tell something was wrong, but didn’t have the equipment to get a detailed look deep inside his ear.  The preliminary analysis was that the substance was dried blood, and he had a growth inside his ear canal.  I was referred to the University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Read More »