Lexi came into our shelter as a "loose/stray pick up" the first week of September. She was never reclaimed by her family. After her hold time was up we pulled her to the "Adoption Side" of our facility. There was a certain liveliness to Lexi and everyone and the staff found her delightful with a zest for life that was contagious.
She was given vaccines, h/w test, spayed and treated for hookworms on 9/14/11. During the exam the vet noticed the beginnings of Juvenile cataracts and wanted to know if we wanted to proceed with her spay and vetting. We asked the vet to get her spayed ready for adoption.
The vet confirmed a LOVELY, LOVELY personality and that she was very young at only 9 months old, highly adoptable and very intelligent so able to adopt to her vision restrictions.The vet recommended a follow up visit with an Ophthalmologist and we took her for a second opinion in October to VA Tech. Below is the Ophthalmologist evaluation.
Since September we have been unable to find Lexi a home. We are NOT a no-kill shelter so it is urgent that after all this time, money and resources we keep Lexi safe until a forever home can be found but since we are not a no kill, we only have so much time available to hold her.
She is dog friendly, walks beautifully on a leash and is at the front of her kennel every time a visitor enters the building. With her disability she can partial see 80% & 50%, but she mainly sees out of the sides of her eyes. Lexi does not act like a special needs dog, nor does she want any special treatment. She only wants a home without bars and gates.
The cost of her surgery is between $2,000. and $ 2,400. and must be done by her adoptive family, our shelter can not do the surgery for the rescue or adopters.
We have sponsorships totaling $1,000. that would go to her receiving rescue's doctor or her adopter's doctor, as payment toward her eye surgery. Lexi has touched many hearts so the donations have come in - just not a permanent home or rescue to help her.
Please consider helping Lexi as she has so much life in her, so much life left to live and so much love to share. She is very adoptable but we need help finding her a home. We can help with some of her transportation.
Below is the information on Lexi's visit to Virginia Tech Vet Ophthalmologist:
Lexi did really great on her trip to Virginia Tech today. Unfortunately she does have cataracts in both eyes.
The cataracts cover about 80% of her left eye and about 50% of her right eye.
Dr. Binder said if Lexi were a human, she would be classified as legally blind. Being so young she has managed to adapt very well to limited sight. Lexi’s are immature.
If nothing is done, the cataracts will grow and mature, which means they start to liquefy and she will become blind. Once they mature, they can, but don’t always, cause glaucoma, eye infections and extreme pain in her eyes as they start to liquefy. There are drops she can be given that will help to prevent infections, and she would probably always have to have the drops. How quickly they grow, they really can’t say as the timeline varies from dog to dog.
Dr. Binder thinks even if she doesn’t have the surgery, she is still a very adoptable dog with her personality, and many dogs get along fine being blind. Right now Lexi sees better in a low light area than the brighter light areas.
Dr. Binder determined she as a good candidate for the surgery. The cost for cataract surgery for both eyes would run between $2000-2400. If she does get the surgery, there are special eye drops she will need every day for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, she will need to be taken back to VT where they will do a complete physical and check her eyes to see if there have been any changes. The next day, they will do the surgery and she stays one more night.
Lexi really won over everyone today and two of the vet techs really wanted her, which I told them she was available. Lexi was a little hyper when we first got there (of course having a great dane and a huge german shepherd in the waiting room didn’t help matters at all) but once we got into an exam room she calmed down and was a fantastic patient.
Contact:
Humane Society of Amherst County
318 Shelter Lane
Amherst, Virginia 24521
website: www.amherstanimalshelter.org
petfinder link http://www.petfinder..com/petdetail/20845797
Contact - Andrea Cerqua
cell 434-660-2504
email andrea@lcscentral.net
