Luna

Luna exemplifies the importance of clinics! Luna and her family attended our clinic last Saturday and the second she arrived everyone knew something was very wrong with her. Her family had gotten her a couple of days before from an individual giving puppies away in the park and according to her family Luna never seemed quite right. The @positivetails team immediately suspected parvo. While we can vaccinate against parvo at our clinics (which would have prevented this situation in the first place) we could not treat parvo. We immediately sent Luna to our partners @cityveterinarycare where they confirmed our suspicions and got right to work saving her life. Parvo left untreated will most likely result in death, but has an 85% survival rate with treatment. 

Luna was lucky to have attended our clinic just in time, she is lucky to have a family that sought care as soon as they found a way, and she was lucky to land herself in very capable hands.

Another huge thank you to @thestreetdogcoalition for sponsoring Luna’s care

The truth is Luna should never have been bred in the first place. The person that did it was clearly not getting the puppies proper medical care. Another hard truth to swallow is a vaccine can cost $40 at a private clinic (free at our public clinics) and can be thousands of dollars to treat depending on the severity..a cost that is unattainable for many. 

So the moral of the story, stop breeding puppies and vaccinate the ones that are already here. 

Dante

We met Dante through our collaboration work with the community outreach program at the @nycacc 

They are working with many to help find Dante and his family a residence as they are currently experiencing homelessness.

In order for his family to get the help they need Dante needed to be neutered and he needed to be neutered urgently. They reached out to @positivetails and we reached out to @cityveterinarycare and we all made it happen. 

As we all know there is a major housing crisis right now. Finding housing with companion animals is an even larger hurdle. If you’re interested in this (and you should be!) sign up for the My Dog is My Home virtual conference happening at the end of March.

#dontbullymybreed #housingforall

Rocky Lee

We recently told you about another urinary block, and here is another with a different but all too common story. Rock Lee’s family rushed him to VERG after recognizing the signs, as they had been through this a couple of times with Rocky Lee before. The medical team confirmed their suspicions , they said they needed to euthanize because they are unable to afford the cost of the unblockings (for those of you that don’t know, they are a couple of thousand dollars every time) Rocky’s medical team heard the family’s dilemma and proposed another solution..a PU surgery. A PU (perineal urethrostomy) creates a new urinary opening that decreases the length of the urethra and allows urine to bypass this narrowed region. This significantly reduces the risk of the block happening again. While his family was very interested in this, this surgery unfortunately costs even more than an unblocking so his amazing medical team reached out to @positivetails and we split the cost of surgery with Rocky’s family. 

Surgery was a success and Rocky has been reunited with his family and we hope that his regular emergency visits are behind him. This outcome brought to you by the team effort of one amazing family, one compassionate medical team, and you and your support of our work.

Happy New Year!

Our biggest thanks to everyone that makes this all possible! Our incredibly generous donors, volunteers (see above!), partner organizations and hospitals, board members, and families who go the extra mile for their beloved animals. Best wishes for the happiest new year!

Jasper

This is the story of how one cat went from very grumpy to a little less grumpy (and if you know cats you know that is a win!)

Jasper’s family rushed him to @vergbrooklyn when he was experiencing a urinary block. At this point his family was very familiar of the signs as it was his third time in less than a year. Jasper’s family had spent everything they had on his previous emergency unblocks at other ER hospitals.We hear this story again and again, families spend so much treating the emergencies at hand and no longer have the funds to pay for a long term solution.

When the medical team suggested a PU (perineal urethrostomy)which would highly decrease the chances of Jasper having another block, his family simply could not afford it and even wondered if euthanasia might be their only option. The medical team luckily decided to contact @positivetails and Jasper’s surgery was approved. 

Jasper did great and is already back home and he is reported to be doing very well.

Emergency care is expensive, multiple emergency visits are even more expensive. Lots of people are working on answers to this situation but until then our goal is to help as many families that need us and we will never lose sight of the fact that the help comes from all of you!

Timoti

And weighing in at almost 11 pounds, we have Timoti.

Timoti is our last s/n of 2023. Timoti was a cryptorchid (we really wanted our last one to be fun for @cityveterinarycare????) He is our 312th of the year. Our goal at the beginning of the year was 250, so we are thankful for your support that helped exceed our goal.

All of our spays and neuters are on companion animals that are already part of families. This means that 312 families made this happen, sometime this meant getting somewhere at 6am, sometimes this meant traveling long distances, and most of all this means that 312 families chose spay/neuter for the sake of their companion animal’s health. 

We have so many people to thank, but this is just a big thank you to YOU. Your support made this possible so from the bottom of our collective @positivetails heart, our sincerest gratitude!

Brian

One of the most difficult aspects of our work, is coming across disturbing cruelty situations. In the case of Brian, a pup who was placed in a dumpster under piles of trash bags, and left to die, we have a hard time grasping the circumstances that led him to this predicament. Luckily for Brian, the incredible woman who found him, learned about Positive Tails from a former client. We helped bring her and Brian to our amazing partner @cityveterinarycare, where it was determined that Brian has a broken leg and will need surgical intervention. Thanks to our team, we were able to find an immediate loving foster home to take him in, and nurse him through his recovery, as well as help him get ready for a forever home. We can’t wait to update you on this sweet boy’s journey! ❤️

Keng

Keng’s story is all too common. He had a bad ear infection and his family didn’t have the money to take him to a vet, and as a result that ear infection became so bad it became severely debilitating.

His family reached out to us for help. We sent him to one of our amazing partners City Veterinary Care, where we got the disappointing news that the ear infection had progressed and would now require surgical intervention (removal of his ear canal).

We were able to approve his case as well as his neuter procedure (he was a cryptorchid, Keng can’t catch a break!) Thanks to the team at City Veterinary Care, Keng is on the road to recovery. Your support has made Keng’s treatment possible.

We are thrilled that Keng is on the mend, but we can’t help but lament how differently things would be if Keng’s family had been able to visit a vet before it got so bad. This is one of the reasons that we see the importance of our clinics. Our clinics always include a physical exam where we can diagnose and treat common things like ear infections. Surgery shouldn’t have to be the answer!

Love

Love was found alone and injured on the side of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. It’s miraculous that the good Samaritans passing by noticed her at all, but they luckily rescued her from wandering onto the highway, and certain death. They immediately noticed she was injured and rushed little Roadie to VERG Brooklyn – an X-ray revealed a femur fracture. Love would need surgical intervention.

Positive Tails was thrilled to help get Love her surgery. She’s now home with the family who rescued her, and gave her the perfect name.