American Maltese Association Rescue: Senior Pet Adoption Assistance Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
American Maltese Association Rescue is so glad to be the recipient of a 2022 Senior Pet Adoption Grant from the Petfinder Foundation. The grant was used to fund the adoption and some post-adoption medical costs of Dandy and Sandy, our bonded Maltese pair from Massachusetts.
These two girls' mother died and her son kept them in a filthy basement washroom for three years with no medical care. Dandy (13) had undiagnosed diabetes and is blind and Sandy (11) had more than 50 bladder stones we had removed.
As you can imagine, adopting out a pair of seniors who have had serious medical issues is no easy task, but thanks to our Petfinder Foundation grant, we found the perfect adopter and were able to lessen her burden because of this grant!
How many pets did this grant help?
Two dogs who are a senior bonded pair
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Maltese mixes Sandy and Dandy were a mess when they came to American Maltese Association Rescue in January 2022. Their mother had died three years ago and her son took them in, never gave them medical attention and kept them in a dirty washroom on urine-covered beds.
We were alerted to them by an animal lover, and the son agreed to surrender them to us. It was heartbreaking to see how they had been neglected. Dandy’s eyes were crusted and Sandy couldn’t stop urinating.
We took Sandy to an E.R. vet who said she had a mass in her abdomen and suggested they euthanize her. We said no. We wanted her to know love, even if only for a few days after what she had been through.
The following week we took her to another vet and she said Sandy had more than 50 bladder stones. She successfully operated on her.
We then found out that Dandy had diabetes and was blind from it. We put her on insulin, worked on adjusting the dose, took her to an eye specialist, and got her eye drops so her eyes wouldn’t get even worse.
Both girls got dentals. They healed and learned what it was like to be loved, and months later were ready for adoption. But who would take two seniors with medical issues like they had? We loved them so much and wanted someone who would feel the same way.
That’s when the Petfinder Foundation Senior Pet Adoption Grant came to our rescue! We applied for it and were awarded it and we believe that the grant was a big help in getting them adopted!
They are happily in their new home now. We used the grant to pay for the adoption fees, a case of Sandy’s prescription food to help prevent stones from forming again, Dandy’s follow-up ophthalmology visit, some of her eye drops, and her insulin and syringes.
We know this gave our adopter a great start to her life with Sandy and Dandy. They’re living the life they deserve. Thank you so much. We enclosed before and after photos from when they came in and now, being held by their new mom.
