Disfigured Tawau dog with tumour gets a second chance
Published on: Monday, August 03, 2020
By: Dr Roslee bin Haji Abbas
Text Size:
HElping Animals Rescue Team (Heart)
WE ARE often asked why we carry out works to rescue animals in distressed. Simply put – at Heart, we lead with heart.
A homeless dog had been wandering the streets of Tawau with a massive growth on her face. The five-year-old dog received mixed treatment while living on the streets. Some residents had fed her, others taunted her, while some stoned her.
Even when all hope is lost, there is still love that can be shown to make her final day one of the best she’s ever had. That’s what Heart would want to show the dog we named “Kareena”. But what stood out for everyone who saw her was the huge mass hanging on her face.
ADVERTISEMENT
The tumour pulled Kareena’s face down and made her face hang in an odd manner. Finally, someone from Tawau contacted Heart in hopes of saving her. We don’t do rescues outside Kota Kinabalu due to limited resources. But when the woman showed us the heartbreaking video, we couldn’t turn down her plea for help.
Kareena is living a very hard, miserable life. We can’t even imagine how hard it would be for her to go through life enduring the excruciating pain. It’s just amazing she adapted to living in such condition. We are forging ahead as we believe the dog deserves a second chance.
At first, Kareena was wary of her rescuers. But when their intentions became clear, Kareena welcomed the help. She put her head up and it was as if she was smiling at her rescuers. It was a precious moment.
On July 9, 2020 at 8.45am, Kareena was crated and was flown to Kota Kinabalu on MASWings. Due to three stops, Kareena arrived at the MASCargo at 2.45pm. The dog crate didn’t fit into the car. It’s too large to fit in the back seat. We called a few friends to help transport Kareena to a foster home for a night before sending her to the vet clinic the next day. But none of them were available in the afternoon. We had to wait for six hours before our backup transport finally arrived at 9pm. Kareena had a long journey to get here and she became restless and whining because the mass, which weighed a whopping 1.59kg caused certain discomfort and pain.
Kareena was taken to the veterinary clinic on July 10 where decision had to be made about her treatment. She was warded at our panel veterinary clinic. After viewing the results of the exam, the vet was concerned about the growth on her face. He took a sample and sent out for a biopsy laboratory analysis.
Despite obvious complications involved in operating on a senior dog, a veterinarian there decided Kareena was strong enough to undergo surgery if the results of the biopsy showed signs of cancer. The medical team is doing its utmost to help Kareena have some quality of life. The results of the biopsy tests would be known in two weeks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Meanwhile, Kareena was given non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and pain relief medications.
After nearly two weeks, Kareena was diagnosed with low to intermediate lymphoma or plasmacytoma (malignant). Lymphoma is treated with chemotherapy. Kareena’s veterinarian had started the chemotherapy treatment twice since she was warded. Treatment with vincristine sulfate will result in complete resolution of the lymphoma.
The tumour shrunk a bit after the second dose of vincristine. It progressively decreased in size. Not all tumours require surgery. But in Kareena’s case if the tumour didn’t shrink after chemotherapy treatments, debulking surgery would be used to remove some, but not all, of the cancer.
We’ll be keeping everybody updated on her status and treatment plan. We were told by Kareena’s veterinarian that she would be hospitalised for at least a month. We desperately need financial help for Kareena’s vet bills.
The treatment is going to cost as huge as thousand of ringgit as a non profit animal group run by working individuals and volunteers with rescued dogs and cats to take care of we can’t spend this huge amount on a single dog but we want to get cured and to search her a forever home. Alone we can’t but together we can, so please step forward and consider to donate and help us save her.
We receive no government funding and rely on the support and kindness from our community, private donations and charity bazaar to complete our mission. Heart does not euthanise animals to make space to house others. We are a no-kill animal welfare group and work to preserve life whenever possible.
ADVERTISEMENT
We rely on donations from people like you who are willing to spend their hard-earned money to help animals in dire needs.
If you would like to help to pay for Kareena’s medical vet expenses please e-mail us at [email protected] for more information.
We hope you can find it in your heart to assist us with Kareena’s medical bill and other essential expenses.
And every ringgit helps! Thank you in advance for your generous, big and small (and no donation is too small).