Mildred’s Happy Tail

By Savannah Verdon, Development Manager –

One of the tough parts about working with animals, whether at a shelter, kennel, or clinic, is seeing all the cute pets you can’t take home with you. But when an animal is abandoned, it’s those who make compassion their career that make sure every animal finds a loving home – oftentimes, it’s their own home. Fourteen years ago, Traci was working at a dog kennel where a sweet beagle puppy was abandoned by her owners. There was no question that Mildred would come home with her.

After four years, Traci’s son was born, and a daughter came another five years later. Their whole lives, they’d had Mildred to watch over them and keep them safe. With one other dog and three cats in the home, they were surrounded by love. They even had a donkey on their property.

When Traci found Mildred with a large laceration on the side of her body and puncture wounds on her back, she couldn’t think of who or what could have done that sort of damage to sweet Mildred, who, though she was injured, was still in good spirits. When she took her to the emergency veterinarian, all they could afford at first were antibiotics and pain medication. They went to their regular veterinarian the following day, so the wound could be sutured and drainage tubes could be inserted for her recovery. But just days later, the tissue around the sutures and tubes became necrotic and started to separate. The sutures were coming undone, and some of the deeper tissue was exposed.

After two visits to the veterinarian, Traci had exhausted what money she had for Mildred’s care. Now, a stay-at-home mother who homeschooled her children, while she was able to get by most days, she didn’t have much in savings for emergencies. Mildred needed to go back to the veterinarian to remove any dead tissue and resuture her wound, but the treatment would cost more than Traci could afford. Not only that, the veterinarian also wanted to administer fluorescent light therapy to Mildred to accelerate healing around the wound. It was the right choice for Mildred, and Traci wanted to give her the best care possible.

Mildred would need to stay at the hospital overnight, which gave Traci some time to raise the money needed for her treatment. A local rescue referred her to the RedRover Relief Urgent Care grant program, and with additional support from friends and family, paying for Mildred’s full treatment was becoming increasingly possible. Once her grant was approved, she had raised enough money not only for the wound treatment and light therapy, but for several return visits to the veterinarian to change Mildred’s bandages and monitor her healing progress. On the veterinarian’s advice, Traci had been spreading a thin layer of manuka honey over Mildred’s wound to benefit from its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Traci had been so diligent with Mildred’s care that she was fully healed before long.

With the FurEver Friends in their corner, things were soon back to normal for Traci and Mildred. Traci could focus once again on homeschooling her two children, who were both so happy to see their big sister and protector feeling like herself again. The whole family was grateful for the help they’d received: “We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

From the bottom of our hearts here at RedRover, thank you for being a FurEver Friend to pets and families in crisis. Your recurring support is the reason sweet seniors like Mildred are enjoying their golden years happy and healthy with the people who love them.