Today we are sharing Jada’s story, shared with us from Paulette who hails from Rhode Island. After a lifetime of being a good dog, Paulette is going the extra mile to be sure Jada is comfortable in her golden years, with the help of Lolahemp.
Jada came from a kill shelter from Yonkers, NY. They only keep dogs/cats for 3 days no matter what age they are, and then they euthanize them.
I happened to come across someone that did rescues from these kill shelters. It isn't easy to get these dogs out of there, and she has to work fast. She called me and asked me if I was interested in fostering a dog and I said yes.
I live in Rhode Island and we met halfway in CT and I fell in love with Jada. She was extremely thin and weak. She was approximately 3 years old. I took her home, gave her a bath, and decided to give the women a call to let her know that if I didn't get her to a vet ASAP she was going to die that night due to dehydration. She didn't even know how to eat. I had to spoon feed her!
By the way, I failed fostering because I wouldn't give her up.
After she got better she was a great companion and a lot of fun. She was also there for me in my times of need over the years. Because of her past, she was always more protective of her food than my other dogs. But that is understandable.
Now she is 16 years old. At the beginning of this year she had developed a small lump in her rear leg joint area, and she kept licking it. She also had a slight limp. I took her to the vet and they took an x-ray and tried to do a biopsy which came back inconclusive. That vet said not to worry about it.
As time went on, I could tell she was getting more uncomfortable and the lump had gotten a little bigger. Even the pressure of it being touched by the pillow would hurt when she laid down. You could tell she was favoring that leg.
In August I took her to another vet who deals with geriatric dogs. I had my vet forward all her information to them. Of course I couldn't go in with her during her exam. But I spoke to him on the phone. And just by looking at the x-rays he stated it was a tumor that was intertwined in between her muscle and tendons and at this point in her life the surgery is much too aggressive and extremely expensive. The plan of action was to decrease the pain, have her loose 8 pounds, place her on pain meds, and hope the tumor doesn't get larger.
I started her on the pain medication but the downfall was I would have to have her liver functions checked periodically to see if the medication was doing damage to her liver, especially with her on it long term. I was not very happy about that.
After the first week I brought her back to the vet and had bloodwork done to check her liver function. Got results and everything was fine. But I wasn't.... After three weeks I called the vet and told them it was not helping and they added Gabapentin on top of the pain medication.
Now I am saying to myself: I am giving my dog drugs that are essentially going to kill her. I stopped it immediately.
I researched CBD for dogs and came across Lolahemp. I messaged them with questions and I have to say Joey was so great, understanding, and knowledgeable.
I placed my order and got it in the mail and started to provide the recommended dose. At first I didn't notice a difference and I had to tweak the dose from 6 drops to 12/13 drops.
Let me tell you, for a dog that could barely walk, it was truly amazing to see her start running around with my two 3 year old 10 pound chihuahuas. And I have her walking around the block with me again. I am so happy that she is out of pain and more comfortable.
My goal is to keep that tumor from growing. It may be impossible but at least I can try.
But in my heart I know that I saved her from death, provided her with a good life, and did my best to care for her at her end of life stages so she can be comfortable without pain.
Thanks to Joey and his mom. Thank you so very much!
Paulette
