We rescued Andy from Hamilton Animal Control.
Andy was sweet, sweet, sweet as can be and was already neutered, so he certainly belonged to someone before he ended up at Animal Control as a stray. He was such an affectionate dog, we were shocked that nobody came looking for him.
While at HAC, it was noticed that Andy had a bit of a funny walk, and seemed to be a bit unsteady on his feet at times. He wasn’t in any pain and didn’t show any signs of discomfort at all, but shelter staff thought something seemed a bit off.
We were happy to rescue Andy, and as we do with every dog we rescue, we give them a bit of a walk around the outside of the shelter building to give them a chance to have a pee and/or poop before getting into the car for their trip to the vet. Andy was walking happily for less than 5 minutes before he decided to lay down on his side on the grass and put his head down. Strange behaviour for a dog his age who should have a load of energy…especially after being cooped up in a cage for two weeks. He seemed pretty pooped, so we just let him have a rest. He was up and about soon after, but it was obvious that something strange was going on. Our thoughts went to a potential heart issue…but because we were on our way to the vet, we knew we’d have an answer soon enough.
After a general check-up, we learned that there was nothing wrong with Andy’s heart or lungs, but blood tests revealed that he had an extremely high red blood cell count. Turns out, Andy has a condition called Polycythemia that was causing the issue. Because of the severity of this particular blood disorder, Andy was not a candidate for adoption. Thankfully, his foster family was willing to keep fostering him as a “Ladybird permanent resident” and they were happy to get him to and from his vet appointments. Andy had many, many vet visits, blood tests and blood removals to try to regulate his blood levels. It worked for a short time, but then our vets switched him to a heavy duty medication to see if it would help Andy more than the blood removal treatment. It did help for some time, and though it was a tough go for Andy to endure all this, he was amazingly sweet through it all. Our vets advised us that there were no other treatment options and that Andy would not get any better, despite the medication and treatment. We accepted that, and Andy’s foster family spoiled and loved him as much as they could. They even took him on vacation adventures with them! Andy was happy to have love, and he gave his foster family lots of affection in return, even though he wasn’t always feeling that great.

This past weekend, Andy’s health took a turn for the worst and he went downhill very quickly. It was time we had to make the sad decision to let him go.  Andy was very much loved right to the end. We are so thankful his foster family was there for him and didn’t give up on him when things got rough. Our hearts and thoughts are with them.  We’d like to thank the vets and staff at Stone Church Animal Hospital for giving Andy such wonderful care for his time with us.

Andy, we will never forget your funny face and your gentle nature. We are so happy we got to meet you. Rest in peace little guy.

Andy photos by Sara Clausnitzer