Rudy, a 5-year-old Golden mix AGR took in from the Westside MCACCS Shelter in December 2016, is adopted! This little boy had the trifecta of medical issues when he came to us: tick fever, valley fever and heartworm! In addition, he had never been neutered. He was very thin, limping and had a large, hard swelling on his left shoulder. We thought he might have been hit by a car, but as it turned out, the swelling was a side effect of valley fever affecting his joints. The tick fever was eliminated with doxycycline treatment for a month. Then we started him on fluconazole for the valley fever, gabapentin to combat inflammation and tramadol for pain control. After he had been on these medications for a couple months, he was judged healthy enough for the heartworm treatment, which consists of two injections into the back a month apart. Our Intake co-manager fostered Rudy through all of this and reported that he did well. He was transferred to another foster home because the Intake Co-Manager was anticipating having to leave the state for a family medical emergency.

Placement spent weeks trying to match Rudy with the right family. After they had interviewed 17 approved-to-adopt families with no takers mostly due to Rudy’s predicted future medical costs, we got a serious inquiry through the website. We gave the man the full scoop on Rudy’s medical history and predicted expenses – Rudy might have to take fluconazole, gabapentin and tramadol for the rest of his life. That history did not deter him from submitting an application and scheduling a home evaluation. Before he even had the latter, he came all the way to the Glendale Northern Ave Petco end-of-July Meet-and-Greet to meet Rudy in person. He spent almost two hours talking with the fosters and petting Rudy. All of us who were there could see a bond develop quickly between he and Rudy and hoped that his home evaluation would go well. It did, and Rudy was transported to his adopter at the end of August. He wrote to us in mid-September:

"Everything has been going excellent for him and for me. We start the day with a walk of about a mile every day. He does well and does not need to rest at all. His shoulder looks strong with only a small hitch in his step when he gets tired. He now jumps right into the car and can climb stairs. He then gets a walk around the block at night before going to sleep. He may favor his shoulder more during that walk but it is still hot at 9 PM and he seems happy to get home. He seems very happy, is friendly to all humans, was a little standoffish with dogs but not aggressive, but that seems to be disappearing as he gets more comfortable. Now knows the dog door but prefers the couch to the grass – that may change with the temperature. Got a month and a half more for the fluconazole and may get his titer tested after that is done or may wait until another prescription fill, depending on how his shoulder looks next month. But Rudy is a great dog, we are a great match and he has his forever home. Rudy says thank you for all the love and care that you gave him over those very precarious months."

A month later, the adopter updated us: "I have nothing but good things to say about Rudy. He is a wonderfully good natured dog that seems, slowly, to be improving. His titer was down to 1:32. He gets along with all dogs and cats and people. Some days he hardly limps and then some days it is more pronounced. Regardless, he is always excited when we walk, doing a little dance around the living room. He goes about 1 mile in the morning, around the block after work, and gets a car ride to an new park when I am off. When I work, he gets to go next door and spend the day with my nextdoor neighbor who has four indoor cats that he seems to like and they tolerate him. She likes him as much as I do. I try to make sure he is never alone for more than 4 hours (although I don’t think he minds) and his dog door is always open. So I think he is very happy with the new arrangement. Again thank you so much for all that you have done. He is a gem."