i heart tripods

When to Say When...

One of the things I’ve been dreading most since I found out Lulu had cancer was making the dreaded decision to call it quits. While I’ve never been in a life and death situation myself, I can only imagine what a difficult decision it is to finally let go and succumb to the inevitable. But making that decision for someone else, well that’s just cruel.

Until we devise a way to truly communicate with our loving pets, it’s impossible to really know what they want and how they feel.  We can guess, based on watching them day-by-day, but how can you really know?

Since discovering Lulu’s cancer has spread to her spine, I’ve noticed week-by-week a steady decline in energy level. Before, she would nudge me in the mornings and evenings to remind me it was time for a meal and a walk. Now, she simply sleeps. On walks, she takes care of business as soon as we walk out the door and pulls me to go back to the house. She actually seems miserable as I force her to just go a block, thinking the exercise will do her good.

I’ve stopped forcing her. Now we head out to the yard, where she does her business and we call it a day. By Sunday I knew that things were declining quickly, but it wasn’t until Monday morning that I realized that the dreaded day was upon me.

The Bitch Is Back – No, Not the Good OneWe need your help!

It's interesting how easily you can fall back into a routine; how easily you can take for granted the obvious blessing you've been given. When Lulu was diagnosed with osteosarcoma back in August of '06 we were told that with the amputation and the chemo she'd have about a year to live –- osteosarcoma eventually jumps to another area of the body, usually the lungs, no matter when you catch it. They say, once you've found it, the cancer has most probably already metastasized, which is really just a big word for ticking time bomb.

Well, a year passed (we celebrated), than another year passed (we quietly celebrated, not wanting to jinx anything). Over the past 2+ years Lulu's situation went from being my number one priority and concern to being a thing of the past. While always in the back of my head, I slowly was able to refocus my energy back to work and helping others (including the feral feline population in New York). Being able to put worries to the side is a great survival mechanism.

I have a friend that says, "As soon as you stop worrying, the shit hits the fan," and in a way I suppose that's what has happened...

Updates and New Shirts

We hope everyone had a great new year and are surviving the current financial hiccups we're having. Here's hoping a new White House will prove to be what we need to get back on track. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for helping I Heart Tripods raise money for both Lulu and other pets in need. 2008 was a great year for I Heart Tripods. We were able to help eight pets since we started, plus of course our main lass, Lulu. You can check out posts on tripod fund recipients here.

In shirt news, we printed a test run of heathered lavender shirts in smalls and mediums. We think they turned out great. If they sell well we'll continue to print them and make other sizes as well. If you're interested in a size we don't have just email me (lulumomma [at] gmail.com) and once I get enough interest I'll do a run.

Hope you guys like the new style!

New Brooklyn Tripod In Desperate Need of Foster or Forever Home

A few weeks weeks ago, a precious dog ended up at the Brooklyn kill-shelter with a snapped front leg. After seeing specialists it was determined she had to have the leg amputated, but with no funds the kill-shelter put her on the euthanasia list! Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn, a rescue organization which places homeless cats and dogs in loving temporary or permanent homes, scooped her up and paid for her necessary amputation.

She took it like a champ but had to go back to the hospital a few days later because of pain. She has been at the hospital for nearly two weeks on a cocktail of anxiety and nerve pain meds. Her whimpering has finally subsided and she's finally back in great spirits. She's ready to go home, but has nowhere to go!

Could you be the one to give her a FOSTER or ADOPTIVE home while she heals?

LADY OINK, named so because of her unbelievably sweet disposition and cute little snorting sound she makes when licking you, is a sweet AmStaff mix (she looks and acts like part-manatee!) who loves people and other dogs. She is a 4 year old true angel of a dog. LADY OINK can get around very well on her three legs. It would be best for her if we could place her with a foster or adopter who has an elevator building, lives on the ground floor or is strong enough to carry her up a flight or two. She was on the euthanasia list before we rescued her and is going to be interviewed in a feature for the ACC, so she is already a star! Check out LADY OINK in action here.

If interested in FOSTERING or ADOPTING LADY OINK please contact April at 917-270-3841 or muttsandmitts@optonline.net

LADY OINK is spayed, is current on her vaccinations and is microchipped.

A Tripod Pup in Need of More Help

Hey tripod lovers! I just wanted to give you a few updates. Lulu is doing great! She's still trucking, though since her 14th birthday this May she's been slowing down a little bit -- but hey, aren't we all!

We recently sent some money out to an owner in need and I wanted to give you the details on where your generous donations are going. This time, $1,500 went to help Jean and Hayley.

Jean adopted Hayley from a woman in Kentucky who runs a shelter for unadoptable dogs. The woman had come across someone dumping a litter of Pyrenees pups on the roadside, so the angel that she is, she took them in. Jean flew down to Tennessee and drove to Kentucky to pick up one of the pups, and with little Hayley in the back seat, she made her way back home to New Jersey.

 

When Hayley was nine months old, Jean noticed her limping a bit. She took her in to the vet for a look and was told that Hayley may have dysplasia and confirmed the bad news after x-rays. Jean opted to have her hip replaced but needed to clear up a recurring ear infection she had before they would operate. While she tangled with her ear, Hayley blew out the other hip and needed emergency surgery, so she had the right hip replaced and waited for that to heal before going ahead with the originally planned surgery on her left hip.

 

Naturally, because her left hip had been out of place for some time, it was a difficult surgery, and the implant did not stay in place. Hayley needed a second surgery to stabilize the hip and subsequent to that surgery, she developed a seroma at the surgical site. The seroma developed an infection, which proved to be a very resistant strain of e coli, and the infection spread to her implant and the surrounding bone. The surgeon tried removing the implants, but couldn't get all of the cement out. He suggested either amputating her leg or trying to get the rest of the cement out at a future date. Jean opted for the latter, but after two days the infection got worse and she had developed a high fever so Jean rushed her back to have her leg amputated. She is still on antibiotics to make certain that there is no remaining infection, but her hospitalizations and medications have totaled over $20,000. "As I live and breathe, I never thought I would ever spend that much money on a dog in my life," Jean told me. "But each time I thought that surgery would be the last, and as I said before, the alternative just wasn't something I was willing to consider."

 

Unfortunately, on top of all this Jean lost her job in December."The upside of that is that I have been able to be home with Jean and care for her, and if I had been working, I don't know how I would have managed, so there is a bright side to that as well."

Obviously Jean and Hayley need some help. We were able to give them a small chunk, but if you would like to donate some money directly to Jean please email me and I'll send you her info.

 

If we all just give a few bucks we can really make a difference.

Oh and to tug your heart strings even more, Jean told me, "As soon as I realized what a great temperament Jean had, I had plans to train her as a therapy dog. She was in her puppy classes when she was first diagnosed. Everything has been put on hold, but I still want her to be a therapy dog, and as soon as she is a little more steady on her feet, we'll get back into training." A tripod therapy dog! Who could resist.

 

Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn Fundraiser

If you're in Brooklyn next Friday, April 25th please stop by Memories Out of the Box in Prospect Heights for a fundraiser supporting my friend April's new adoption agency, Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn.

Tripods Helping All Kinds of Pods

So after the amazing shout out on Daily Candy I collected loads of donations and got an email from a rescue agency down in Texas. Karen and Allan of AKC Animal Shelter in Quinlan have been collecting unfortunate pups for some time now, putting all medical costs on their own credit cards. When they emailed me they had two cases who had just put a big dent on their finances and a third waiting resources in order to get a costly eye procedure.

Bullet is a homeless dog who when found by AKC was thought to have been hit by a car.

When he was x-rayed at the vet they found that he had actually been shot in his right rear leg! His leg was completely shattered, leaving no option but to amputate.  The cost for the amputation was $555, which the I Heart Tripod fund just sent out a check to cover.

Bullet's doing really great now. He's sharing his run with his spayed girlfriend, Lady.

Next up if Buffy who was attacked by two pit bulls. When her owners could not afford to take her to the vet AKC agreed to take her in. The beautiful husky was hospitalized for nine days, during which her severe bite wounds were treated. The final cost for all this was $632, which the I Heart Tripod fund covered.

And finally little Cloie, a full blooded Cocker Spaniel who was left in her cage on the side of the road. She has a prolapsed gland, basically her third eyelid has popped out of her eye and she needs surgery to have it removed. She may also need to get a tear duct replacement. When AKC contacted I Heart Tripods they didn't have the money to take her to a specialist in Dallas, so the fund sent a check for $1000. She's going in for surgery on Wednesday. Fingers crossed!

It's thanks to people like you, who have bought t-shirts and totes, that we were able to help these three dogs. Thank you so much for you support!

Hopping Down Memory Lane

I went back home to my parents house back in early December and brought back a bunch of photos. I found this one of a wee Lulu at obedience school. Do you like how she's the only one not sitting? And to think that some 13 years later I'm studying to become a certified dog trainer? Oops!

Daily Candy Hearts Tripods

It's been awhile because I've been so overwhelmed with orders. On December 18th, Daily Candy kindly wrote-up about I Heart Tripods and over 250 orders were made for tripod gear! Thanks DC!

Tripod Love Turns to Feral Love

While I'll always be a tripod lover, in the past week I've turned my animal love in another direction. I've been knee deep in a trap-neuter-return project in my neighborhood. There's a large colony of feral cats in on a specific street in my area where I've already rescued and adopted out five kittens. Instead of continuing to catch the kittens, I thought it may make more sense to nip the real problem in the butt -- working eggs and sperm! You can read about the entire project here. Check back both on this site and the Bergen Babies site for a new shirt in the works to support feral cat colonies. It's going to be almost as rad as the tripod line!