Rusty!

December, 2022- Rest In Peace dear Rusty!
You are so very loved, forever!!

Status Seeking Sponsor Only	Age 10	Sex Male	Color Black	Date Listed 4/10/22	Location Las Vegas, Nevada
					Primary Contact: Doberman Rescue of Nevada info@drnv.org 702-672-7204

Meet Mr. Rusty!

Just when I was beginning to think I was done for...

  
Misty told me about our FANTASTIC luck!

 
It's The Old Dobies Home!!
Me and our new pal Mika (she has dibs on the couch for now :)), share-sy later!

Misty and her best pal Rusty were adopted from DRNM years ago and have returned. This is their story:

Rusty was a happy adolescent when a loving man adopted him in 2013. He made such a great impression that his human looked for a partner and Misty joined the pack a few months later. They were growing old together and very well-cared-for until the day their owner went to the garage for a smoke and never returned. He died of a massive heart attack. Responding officials seized the dogs and placed them in a fairly primitive animal care facility. Before relatives were notified and arrived the old dogs were declining quickly. Saved by a niece from euthanasia or worse at the shelter, DRNV was asked for help. Sad and shocked at the unexpected death, DRNV immediately took on emergency care. There was a lot to sort out.

Rusty was a mess. He was ill, distressed and depressed. So, a complete round of tests began to see if he could again live a comfortable happy life. Imaging showed he has what is labelled idiopathic megaesophagus. In the shelter he was not fed properly and so was vomiting after every meal and only good luck kept him from aspirating it into his lungs – which can cause pneumonia. Imaging also showed that his gastric distress had led him to eat a handful of pebbles that were in his stomach. He had no internal tumors despite a collection of lipomas but would not likely survive surgery. The good news? He was vomiting a few pebbles each time and they finally came out the way they went in.

As tests continued, he was fed properly from a raised stand. The vomiting stopped! So, what is causing the frequently fatal megaesophagus? A test for myasthenia gravis was negative (great news) and so the vet decided to try a new procedure benefiting cases like this and improve blood flow in his neck. Many forget that improving vascular dilation and blood flow is the use for which the drug commonly called Viagra was developed. Within a day Rusty was happy, rambunctious and doing well!

OK. Great. But now to find a possible home for this old couple to live out their lives? Elderly, handicapped, requiring special treatment and costly food with a limited lifetime are not the stuff most adopters seek. But, it is what Rusty and Misty needed.

A week before DRNV heard of Rusty and Misty a former adopter had again taken a middle-aged female following the deaths of the pair that had come from DRNV years before. She had wanted to adopt more than one. On a long shot, DRNV asked if she had any interest at all in helping with two more. She came to the clinic and met them at their worst. To our delight, she said she wanted to take care of them. She would even consider adopting them if that was required, but was concerned about possible hard care decisions she might have to make on the salary of a retired Army nurse. Once a nurse always a nurse, she really wanted to care for them. But, they didn’t even know if they’d get along.

My new family!!  YAAAAAYYYY!!

The pictures speak for themselves. It was sort of like a canine version of the movie Cocoon where the old people recover their joy and playfulness that had left them as they aged. As you read this, Rusty and Misty are sharing the home of fellow DRNV graduate Mika and have happily told her they’re just fine with her being the old alpha… there’s plenty of love to go around.

Special Needs: Medication for arthritis and Viagra to improve blood flow.

Geographic areas for adoptions: Not available for adoption.

Contact:

Phone: 702-672-7204
Website: www.drnv.org
Email: info@drnv.org