Claire's 2nd Acupuncture Treatment and the Zoom Room

Claire doesn't like camera flashes. She does like to be wiggly when getting acupuncture in front of mom, which causes the needles to fall out of her skin, which means they have to be re-secured. Mom hastily snapped a couple pictures before Claire went to the back of the clinic with the vet to get her acupuncture treatment in privacy, where she could sit calmly for the 15 minutes that the needles have to stay in. So these pictures don't show all the needles they use on her at once, but they show the size of the needles in relation to little Claire, and some of what it's like.

I expected our first visit to Dr. Grey to be a bit pricey due to the initial consultation. But I thought after we met and talked, the fee would go down since we'd be quickly in and out with only an acupuncture treatment. So I was surprised today when the fee was over a hundred bucks, and was told that though the receipt was split into office visit & acupuncture, that was simply "how the computer works" and the total was the actual price of acupuncture. Claire is supposed to have another session on Tuesday, but I left without making an appointment as I can't continue to spend this way. I'll have to call Dr. Grey tomorrow to discuss it with her directly and am hoping she can waive a portion of the fee.

I've started pulling back a bit on the pain meds. They seemed to be making Claire constipated, and that was just worsening the situation for her. I'm glad I have the prescriptions filled and at the ready, and if she starts yelping, I can react immediately. Claire's still on restricted rest, meaning I'm keeping her in the bedroom where she can't jump up on anything, and I'm trying not to pick her up. She's obviously not going on walks with Chance and me. She's eating the Dismuzyme pill Dr Grey prescribed a couple days ago, but the Traumeel, which is a dropper to be applied to the gums, isn't working well--Claire doesn't like anything to be squirted at her! I've also left Pedialyte in her crate, as I thought all the pain meds had been sapping her will to drink and leaving her a bit dehydrated.

My day started with receipts, taxes, and more receipts. I'm making progress and should finish up tomorrow, so we can start applying to private foundations for help with Claire's medical costs.

After several more phone calls, we finally figured out what's going on with PayPal & the ChipIn: I erroneously entered Claire's bank account as checking (it's savings), so the verification got rejected. It's corrected now, but we're back at the beginning of the process and have to wait another three or four days for it to go through. Ugh!

This evening to continue networking I contacted Jen's List, a Meetup Chihuahua doggy playgroup on the Westside that we've belonged to for quite a while, and my Compact listserv, which goes out to thousands of people daily. The word is getting out, and we're at 99 people on Facebook! I didn't want to waste raffle prizes when I didn't have a big group to appeal to but I think by next week I can set some of those up!

Thanks to a Facebook friend, I headed this evening to meet with David Essex, the owner at Zoom Room Culver City. Zoom Room offers itself as a space for dog training & canine social club. David kindly placed a collection jar for Claire at Zoom Room and is brainstorming how to help further. I wish Chance was a little bit calmer so he could enjoy agility! The dogs involved clearly loved it, and the handlers looked like they were having fun too.

Grant Sources, Pet Stores, and Homeopathic Meds

(Claire with her ornament mini-me, Christmas 2010)

Started the day early Wednesday morning at the LA Breakfast Club meeting in Los Feliz. Since Claire is a therapy dog serving the community, I thought I might have a chance at a grant from the Rotary-like organization. They reaffirmed that I'd have a good shot, but unfortunately, they don't fund individuals. So I'd have to find a nonprofit or rescue group under whose guise I can complete the application. I left with a copy of the application to complete at home, then spent a couple hours after I got home extending feelers to rescue groups, to no avail. Since I left a lot of messages I'm hoping one will get back to me soon.

This was Claire's first day on homeopathic meds. I was worried about the Dismuzyme pill because it is so big--too big to be dropped down Claire's throat--and she has food allergies making hiding the pill difficult. But she gulped it right down along with her regular food, no problem. The Traumeel, on the other hand, did not go over well. It's to be sprayed by dropper onto her gums and absorbed through her mucous membranes three times a day, but Claire does Not like anything sprayed at her. I'll keep trying to get her used to it.

I was just leaving the house when I got a phone call from Annie over at Pet Haven. I'd placed a donation jar just the day before, and she was calling to let me know that her first customer of the day had dropped in $10! It was the encouragement I needed to give me confidence to approach the next business.

Jennifer at C&C Pet Food on 3820 W. Verdugo Ave in Burbank is our newest sponsoring business! She placed a donation jar at the register for me in the afternoon. Please shop at all our sponsors--they are Claire's guardian angels!

MRI Films, Acupuncture, Another Collection Jar, and Insurance Claim Forms

(Claire & Chance at puppy school, Jan. 2011)

This morning I followed up on the ChipIn. Though folks have contributed, it's still reading $0 because my PayPal account is not verified and thus not linked up to the ChipIn. Unfortunately it looks like I'll be waiting a couple of days to verify the PayPal account--right now, the ball's in their court. The good news is that once that step is complete, the transfer of funds is easy.

I picked up Claire's MRI films and records from Dr. Gorgi today before picking up Claire and heading to yet another new vet--we met Dr. Jackie Grey at Limehouse Vet in Toluca Lake this afternoon, and Claire had her first ever acupuncture treatment. She was quite excited to be out of the house after being trapped in her boring crate for the last several weeks! Though she seemed to like Dr. Grey just fine, she definitely didn't like the needles being stuck in her back. The idea with the acupuncture was to have the needles in for about fifteen minutes. The vet had to take her out of the room to the back once the needles were in because she was so wiggly around me that the needles were falling out. We sat around the waiting room for quite a while after the appointment too waiting for medications and an insurance claim form. It was nice to get a feel for the vet by watching other clients come and go, and Claire got a bit more adjusted to the noises, sites, and smells.

I was so nervous about the appointment that it didn't occur to me to bring a camera and take a photo. We have our second treatment this Thursday, so I'll take one then. I had no idea what the needles would look like, where they would be placed on an animal, or how many of them there would be. I'm sure there are other people who wouldn't know what to expect either, so I'll try to show it.

Dr. Grey specializes in homeopathic medicine, and she put Claire on two new meds: an antioxidant enzyme pill called Dismuzyme and an anti-inflammatory liquid called Traumeel. I feel like I have at least five things to research each day of this process; tonight I'm looking up the meds.

After taking Claire home from the vet, I took a collection jar to our favorite neighborhood pet store, Pet Haven in Burbank. Chance and Claire go there monthly for non-anesthetic dental cleaning, and we order our pet food through them. They're generously doing what they can for Claire.

Oh, and my homework tonight is filling out insurance claim forms for all that's happened this month....that will pretty much vacate the cap on the category.

Delta Society Therapy Dog & Handler Teams

Re-posting a blog post from my personal blog, Within My Means, that I put up when Claire and I were re-certified as a Delta Society therapy team in spring of 2010 to explain what is involved in the process:

I had Claire certified as a therapy dog through Delta Society in the spring of 2008. It's already been two years, and her certification is coming up for renewal. So we'll be retested on May 15th. In order to knock our training up to the necessary level, I'm walking Chance & Claire separately for the next six weeks, so I have an opportunity to work with Claire individually. That's two hours of walking daily for me, and it's eating up a lot of blogging, gardening, and crafting time! But it will pay off in the end with a well trained and obedient pup who knows I'm in charge and is able to meet and greet lots of strangers, offering comfort and love to old or sick people.

(Claire on her first test day)

When we were first certified, I registered as a volunteer at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills and took Claire there to visit the residents. We discontinued our visits when the price of gas skyrocketed. Since then they've decided to close the long-term care unit at the Country Home, and the morale there has understandably hit rock bottom, so I haven't wanted to go back, as much as I know we're needed. Claire's re-certification has renewed my interest in being a therapy team, so we may go back sometime this summer.

Lots of people ask me what's involved with the test, so I thought I'd post the test requirements here. It's a pretty involved evaluation much like the Canine Good Citizen test. You'll have to click on the images to enlarge to a readable size for a step-by-step breakdown of the process. The test consists of two parts: the Pet Partners Skills Test (PPST), which evaluates whether the animal can be controlled by the handler and follow basic commands, and the Pet Partners Aptitude Test (PPAT), which is designed to simulate conditions that may be encountered on a visit and helps determine the most appropriate environment for the team to visit.

There's a financial component to certification as well, as a vet visit is required, along with a fecal test and full immunizations. Then there's the testing & membership fees of Delta Society themselves.

Have you ever gone through certification with a pet? Have you had an animal visit you or a loved one when you were sick or staying in a care facility? Please leave your comments on the blog--I'd love to hear them!

Monday--Banks and Blogs

(Claire sleeping with a smile April 2011)

I went to sleep last night knowing Monday would be a better day, and woke up to find $120 had been deposited to Claire's ChipIn fund! Unfortunately, the ChipIn still says $0 donated, and I think it's because I've been unable to claim the funds so far. The final step in the ChipIn setup requires a Paypal account linked to a bank account. Since I have paypal for my Etsy shop, I kept getting error messages when trying to set up something for Claire. So this morning started with another trip to the bank, to close the account I'd just opened on Friday (that was linked to my own) and establish an entirely separate one that I could link up to Paypal. I also deposited everything raised yesterday at Nuts for Mutts, bringing the total raised so far (including the ChipIn funds) to $616.86.

We had a follow-up phone call this afternoon with Dr. Gorgi, Claire's surgeon. He didn't have much to add but did say he'll give us 20% off on the surgery when we've met our goal.

After researching a few more, I chose a therapist to use for Claire--at least to start. She has an appointment tomorrow (Tues 6/28) afternoon with Dr. Jackie Grey at Limehouse Vetrinary in Toluca Lake. It's close to the house, and she was recommended by another dog owner in the neighborhood. Claire's surgeon, Dr. Gorgi, said he's had a couple clients go to her in the past with positive results. But he also spoke strongly against chiropractic care for Claire's condition, recommending accupuncture instead. I ordered Claire's records and will pick up a copy of the MRI images before seeing the new vet. I feel like I'm getting a second opinion tomorrow and can only judge as I go--at this moment, I'm not convinced by anyone.

I ran out of pain meds for Claire over the weekend, when all pharmacies were closed. I finally found a compounding pharmacy in my neighborhood today, but filled another prescription that did not need to be compounded at Costco, for fear that the compounding place would be much more expensive. When I compared their pricing, they were about 33% more than Costco, so I was glad I'd split them up, though it took nearly two hours to get both errands done. But to their credit, the compounding pharmacy told me in future they would match the Costco pricing for me to save me an additional trip. So for anyone in a similar position, it's worth it to do your research--then ask to price match. The worst that can happen is being turned down.

The majority of the day was all about Claire's blog. I want a site independent of Facebook for those who aren't on it. I'll use the blog to encourage donations and allow donors to track Claire's progress and recovery, as a journal to help me track whom I have approached and the responses, and as a resource for others who face difficulties (monetary or otherwise) in caring for their pet's medical conditions. I'm hoping the sidebars and resources will be useful to others long after we've been through this process and that some good will come of our story. Not to mention, on a blog we can use affiliate opportunities to raise funds through click-throughs and online purchasing, as well as administer raffles and other giveaways.

While I was blogging, a kind friend helped me begin to pull together my financials. I should be current by the end of the week, which will enable me to apply to more private foundations.

Goodnight kisses from Claire~

Dog Is Good

Shop Dog Is Good using the link on this blog, and a percentage of sales will go towards Claire's medical expenses! They have some awesome t-shirts that I was admiring at Nuts for Mutts. Check out their site by clicking on the logo above, or on the banner in the right-hand sidebar.

Advanced Compounding Pharmacy

I never knew what a compounding pharmacy was until Claire. Because she's so tiny, weighing only seven pounds, certain medications have to be formulated specifically for her: there's no way to cut some pills into tiny enough fragments for the appropriate dosage for her weight.

So today I found myself at Advanced Compounding Pharmacy. Of course, I'm spilling Claire's story each time I pick up something for her, so within five minutes the folks there knew our predicament. They've kindly agreed to place a collection jar for Claire near their register.

Thanks for being a supportive business, Advanced Compounding Pharmacy! Hopefully Claire can send you some customers in return.

Claire's First X-Rays

In May of 2010 I took Claire to see our favorite vet, Dr. Massenzio, who was at the time practicing out of Burbank Dog & Cat Hospital. The hunch in her back had become pretty pronounced, enough to concern me.

So Claire had her first x-rays. I was told that there were no visibly defined bone spurs, so her condition could not definitively be called arthritis, but there was some shadowing on the x-ray that could indicate inflammation or possible arthritis.

Claire was put on Metacam for quite a while, until my vet moved away, and I had trouble getting refills from the other vet in the practice without bringing her in for another exam, though it had only been two or three months since Claire had been seen. I really couldn't tell a discernible effect from the medicine, and when she went off of it Claire didn't have any further incidents for about six months, other than walking with a curved back.

Here are the x-rays that were taken.

Nuts for Mutts

Nuts for Mutts is an annual fundraising walk and pet expo benefitting the Rotary Club of Calabasas. I can't believe I'd never before attended! There were tons of people and dogs, but it was roomy enough to not box any dog in, so everyone was well-behaved. I left both pups home--Claire on crate rest and Chance to keep her company--and took a can for Claire along with a poster, then stood outside the event collecting for several hours, adding $50 to Claire's fund. After the walk had run its course, I toured the expo, asking for leads from veteran rescuers, and soliciting raffle donations. Look for some fun giveaways to come on the blog!

In the afternoon I settled into a Starbucks for wireless and set up Claire's and Facebook page. I tried to figure out ChipIn the night before, but I needed an email for Claire in order to get a Paypal in order to set up the ChipIn. It took some thought to figure out how best to configure it all. I had Claire's donation jar with me at Starbucks, and a kind gentleman stopped at the uncanny similarity between our dogs. After hearing our story, he donated $100, bringing the day's total to $150! By the time I left, our internet campaign had begun on ChipIn....I spent most of Sunday evening posting Claire's facebook page to other dog rescue sites and fanpages, and inviting everyone I knew. I put Claire to sleep anticipating a better day come morning.

The Campaign Goes On....

After the denial from the Sam Simon Foundation, and pretty much the first full day of working on this non-stop, Claire's condition and need began to sink in.

I spent Saturday afternoon covering coffee cans and mayonnaise jars in white paper and slotting the lids to ready them for change jars. Laminating photos at Kinkos took a little over two hours. I printed just one sheet of the stickers with our story, as I knew I'd be creating websites that I'd need to add.

I took some new photos of Claire resting in her crate, to show her current state and attitude when I started a page.

Doesn't sound like much, but it actually took all day to prepare for fundraising....

Sleepy Girl

Poor Claire! Tramadol makes her soo sleepy.

A Busy Day on the Claire Front

Friday morning I started by taking the money donated by my co-workers to the bank, and establishing a savings account linked to my own specifically for Claire's surgery.

I also called around to several therapists/vets that I'd been recommended to by my own vets and by some other dog owners in my neighborhood, and spent some time on yelp reading reviews there as well.

I picked up dog food (still have to eat, despite it all) and poured my story out to our friendly pet store owner. She sent me home with a flyer for Nuts for Mutts and suggested placing a collection jar at the register, so that got me thinking about a design for those.

At home, I poured through photos, made a collage large enough to use on a poster, and ordered several printed as 4x6s to use on jars. I sent them online to be printed at a local photo shop, and picked them up late in the evening, along with a tri-fold posterboard and some blank mailing label stickers. I used the stickers to make an explanatory blurb about Claire that could be pasted to jars. Throughout this post are the pictures I used for the posters and jars.

I was still doing constant networking over the phone, and research on the internet. Friday evening I completed a Care Credit application online and was approved for a low cost loan. But as a freelancer, I hate to use credit when I have no assurance of paying it back in a timely fashion. And while Care Credit is a great deal if paid on time, like most credit cards, the interest rate balloons if even one payment is late.

On the down side, we got a voicemail late in the afternoon from the Sam Simon Foundation. Unfortunately, I missed the call, but the staffer left a kind and lengthy message explaining that they couldn't help because Claire's surgery was too involved to be done in a mobile clinic, since she'd need to stay overnight at the vets for several days following. The caller said her dog had had the same surgery, so I look forward to connecting with her soon just to hear her story. She stressed that Claire's crate rest in the meanwhile should be absolute, with no picking her up, steps, or jumping at all. She put fear into me and made me take crate rest much more seriously. I took the denial hard, mostly because it had seemed such a great fit with my entertainment background. But the fundraising goes on, and Claire and I won't give up....

Thanks to the Cast & Crew of "Little Women, Big Cars"

The fundraiser for Claire got off to a great start thanks to the cast and crew of my latest film project. It was a low budget movie where no one was making much money, so I was doubly touched when my co-workers surprised me with a card including about $350.00! Thanks so much to the cast and crew of "Little Women, Big Cars."

The Sam Simon Foundation

Today we submitted an application to the Sam Simon Foundation. We're hoping they can help Claire by doing the operation or by offering financial assistance.

The foundation is funded by Sam Simon, the creator of the Simpsons. Their mission is "Saving the Lives of Dogs to Enrich the Lives of People."

Their application requests specific information along with all pertinent medical records:
1. Your first and last name:
2. Your pet's name:
3. The sex, age, and species of your pet:
4. The breed and approximate weight (if your pet is a dog):
5. The type of surgery you are seeking:
6. If your pet has already been spayed or neutered:
7. At least 2 phone numbers where you can be reached

Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Claire's Spinal Injury

My seven-lb Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, Claire, was a rescue from the Carson shelter in 2006, and has been certified as a therapy dog through Delta society for several years. She has walked with a pretty pronounced curved back for about a year and a half or more. I've taken her to several vets without pinpointing the exact problem. She's had a few incidences of pain, but nothing that lasted more than a day--until last week. She was yelping so much that I took off in a hurry to see any vet who would have me. I was referred to a specialist, a veterinary neurologist, for a spinal consult.

Claire had an MRI on Tues afternoon (6/21/11), which is a story in itself--$2300 just for the test. But it gets worse: she has a herniated disc in her back which requires a $6000.00 surgery. Since I absolutely do not have that, we're treating her conservatively with meds: steroids & pain medications, possible therapy to include hydrotherapy, acupuncture, massage.... that should treat the symptoms for a while & ideally lessen the inflammation, but won't cure the problem. She's still got a good ten years left on her, which means at some point, this degenerative condition will require surgery. So I've got to start now applying to foundations like Actors & Others for Animals, set up a ChipIn page to accept donations, set up a Facebook page in her name, whatever I can think of....

I've requested a written estimate of the surgery from the vet & a letter stating her condition. I've never entered this territory before as a pet owner so will be taking it one day at a time....

Do any of you have dogs with back issues? What sort of therapies have you tried? Any resources in the community for pet owners without financial means? Please give me any referrals or leads you may have in the comments to this post.

Claire's Adoption Story

Here's just a couple of pictures of me from the day my Mommy person adopted me. My brother Chance was only ten months old, and Mom thought it might be time to start looking for some company for him, but she expected it to take some time to find the right match. Little did she know she would see my picture on Petfinder the day she began searching! It was my mom's birthday, and she was a little bummed to be spending it at work. So on her lunch break she scrolled the site, and there I was, head cocked to one side as if speaking to her. Mom placed a call to the shelter, but they said there were already two holds placed, so to call back in two and a half weeks.

That seemed to be an arbitrary number! But that meant the date to call back was Sept 12th--easy for my Mom to remember because it was her parents' anniversary. On that date, mom happened to get home early from work, which never happens. So she was able to call and check again at the shelter around four in the afternoon, figuring I was already gone. But surprisingly, both people who had placed holds on me failed to show up. The shelter said hurry or she'll be gone! So mom and her friend raced across town all the way from Burbank to Carson in rush hour traffic to get me. At the shelter, I was in the very first kennel when Mom went looking for me. My adoption fee was only $38! Mom called her vet, because she wasn't sure she'd make it there before they left for the night. They told her they'd stay open to check me over, and we made it there with only fifteen minutes to spare before they closed! Good thing, because I had fleas, and there was a note in my adoption paperwork that I'd been given meds at the shelter for signs of kennel cough.

The people at the shelter called me an "Owner Arrest." I guess that's why I like anyone in a uniform, because of the nice cop who brought me in. I had my nails painted bright pink when I came home with Mom, so someone obviously cared for me. But I have always rubbed up to people for attention like a cat, so Mom thinks maybe I belonged to a druggie who would alternately shower me with attention then ignore me for a while. Mom calls me her kitten because I like to curl into a ball on your lap, all the time.

The kennel cough meant I had to be segregated from my brother and on antibiotics for about four weeks. The only place mom had to do this was in the bathroom, so I made myself at home in a cozy bed there. That's where my first photos were taken. I'd also been fixed at the shelter, which Mom knew. What they didn't tell her was that I'd been fixed less than 24 hours before Mom had picked me up. In being segregated in the bathroom, I wasn't in mom's eyesight much of the time, and I managed to lick open my stitches twice in that first month. I was pretty uncomfortable! But with Mom's love and attention I got better and was soon wrestling with my brother. That lasted about six months till he gave up and realized I'm in charge. Now he licks my ears clean from time to time, and I am ethereally above it all. I let him walk in front of me when we're on leash so he can deal with all those bothersome skateboards, and I can coast along, but at home I get what I want, which is usually Mom's lap.