Hi, I am
Jaxton
Col. Potter Cairn Rescue Network's Jaxton "Jax" is a 10-11 year old handsome black brindle who is a little, tiny powerhouse, but last Sunday, he was brought down by constant vomiting. He had been having some gastric upset first thing in the morning for several months but as many dog-people know, this is not uncommon when their tummies are empty after sleeping through the night. But this was an abnormal amount of vomiting, so Foster Mom bundled him off to the ER vet for X-rays and bloodwork. That's where the financial problems started (and they were far from over!). He was released back to his foster home, seeming to be better with anti-nausea medications and got through the night, but the next morning at 5:00 a.m., he woke up Foster Mom by vomiting again, and again, and again. So, off to the regular vet who put him on fluids and pain medications, because by this time he was shaking and obviously in a great deal of pain. His bloodwork showed a high enzyme that could indicate pancreatitis, but we were unable to find anyone locally to do an ultrasound! Whether it was because of the Monday holiday or people being on vacation (and February in Vermont, who would blame them!), poor Jax was unable to get a complete diagnosis for another 24 hours. So, back to the ER vet for an overnight stay with all his needles and injections to keep him pain-free and hydrated.
Finally, on Tuesday morning, an abdominal ultrasound was able to be done and a "foreign body" was noted in his small intestine. Once it was determined that there were no tumors or other problems - just the blockage, surgery was scheduled immediately, so by the afternoon, he was in recovery. The culprit? An ACORN - that must have slid down whole and could possibly have been there for awhile (especially since Foster Mom's yard is covered in 2 feet of snow right now so there are NO acorns visible when normally there were be thousands of them). Once that was removed, he started to recover immediately, although he has a fairly good size incision site and we did also discover a grade 2 heart murmur at the time (just so you know, grade 2 is out of 6 so it is a very minor issue - just something to know for the future). On Wednesday, he came home to his Foster Home and started his recovery, but the vet bills have been very large so Jaxton could use some support from all his favorite Cairn lovers. He is such a lover-boy himself, he would give everyone a big lick and offer to sit on your lap if you helped Col. Potter by donating for his recent problems.
Jaxton in his "cone of shame," and in the bottom of the picture, you can see the culprit - the acorn in a plastic bag - the surgeon was nice enough to give this to Foster Mom as a remembrance ;-)
Jaxton is a sweet little boy who loves nothing more than following his favorite person around, sitting on their lap and just being loved on. He does the cutest little begging and can sit up on his hind legs for hours (well minutes anyway). He is feisty though and dislikes grooming (which is why he is always a little scruffy-looking), and he does have dry-eye which requires daily medication, but otherwise, once he gets past this episode, he would be a wonderful companion especially to anyone who needs a smaller Cairn - Foster Mom calls him a "pocket Cairn" and will make sure he doesn't get anywhere near any more acorns in the future!
We would appreciate any donations for Jaxton. Thank you so much for your help and support! It is truly appreciated! Jax gives his thanks as well!
$860 raised of $3,500 Goal
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