by Lee Juslin

Luna, aged seven, and Casper, aged four, lived happily with their owner until one day the owner decided to move and could not take the two Westies and that turned out to be a life-saving event for Luna. Enter Sunshine State Westie Rescue.

Although Caspar had been neutered and was in perfect health, Luna had never been spayed and when she came into rescue it was clear something was very wrong. The rescue’s vet did a number of lab tests on Luna and found that her liver values were off, so the spay surgery was postponed. In fact, the vet felt that she was seriously ill and might not survive. Luna was given antibiotics and put on a special diet of chicken and sweet potato designed to be easy on her liver.

Luna on the left & Casper on the right

One week later Luna was still hanging on, new labs were done and they showed some improvement. Still, the vet felt there was something else wrong with the little Westie girl. An ultrasound showed no cancer and a surprisingly healthy liver, but Pyometra was present and her uterus was filled with bacteria. Luna was lucky the uterus had not ruptured. The vet felt that had she been spayed at a younger age, or at least been diagnosed earlier, the massive infection and all the suffering Luna experienced would not have happened.

Luna during illness

Now that Luna has been spayed and the infection cleared from her system, Luna is looking forward to a new beginning, and along with her best bud, Caspar, she is now ready for a forever home. Both Luna and Casper are sweet-natured, very social and well-behaved. They need to be placed together and they will make good companions in the right home.

A good home for this pair would be one with an individual who works at home or has a part-time job. Another option would be a family with one member who is at home at least part of each day because Luna and Caspar are people oriented and enjoy being with their person. They do not necessarily need a fenced in yard, and although they enjoy walks with their person, neither is overly active. This could change though, as Luna may become more energetic as she feels better.

Luna now

There are many positives for early spaying in female dogs of which avoiding Pyometra is one. Pyometra, is most common in older, unsprayed female dogs, though can rarely occur in spayed females. It is a serious infection of the womb and is considered life threatening. It needs to be treated quickly and aggressively, which generally means immediate removal of the uterus. You can learn more about this dangerous threat to female dogs here: Pyometra Symptoms.

To learn more about Luna and Caspar and their pals at Sunshine State Westie Rescue visit the organization’s FB page or website. Volunteer, make a contribution, apply to adopt a rescued Westie, or sign up to be a foster parent which are sorely needed at this young rescue:
Website: SSWR.
Facebook: SSWR on FB

Check out more animal rescue & therapy animal stories in our Pets section.

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Lee Juslin is a free lance copywriter living in North Carolina with her husband, Scott, and her band of misfits: Tarquin, a Wheaten Scottish Terrier, and three handicapped cats. They can be seen on their website: Hampshire Hooligans. She owns I B Dog Gone, a small embroidery business and is the author of the Nurse Frosty books for children and Frosty’s Story: Tales of a Therapy Dog. She supports a number of national and regional terrier rescue organizations.