The Ice Princess Will Melt Your Heart

She may be the Ice Princess, but she will melt your heart if you get to close.

Ice Princess T. is a happy, 6 yr old female who has something to say about everything. She talks all the time–to say hello–to make sure everyone knows she is there–to say hi to other dogs–or simply to hear herself talk. She does settle after abut 10 minutes.

She has a waggy tail, and is very interested in interacting with people. She likes to explore. She likes to go for walks. She likes to ride in the car.

Princess has a bit of a strange gait–seems to be something associated with the rear end. But there is no arthritis, her hips are super (especially for a GSD), she has good muscle mass, and her X-Rays of hips, knees, and spine revealed no obvious irregularities. We are still working on finding out what the cause of the strange gait is.

Stay tuned, but for now she is a level 2 dog in a foster home in the south Bay. She may end up as a Thulani dog or may go back into the regular program.

Katsu Desperately Needs Our Help

Katsu had been doing great with us, but then disaster struck again.  He now needs your help more than ever.

Katsu in the shelter

Katsu and 13 other dogs who were in dreadful physical condition were removed from intolerable living conditions which led to an animal cruelty investigation.  Unfortunately the escape from these conditions did not improve Katsu’s lot very much because he was put in a shelter and considered ‘evidence’ in the pending case against his owner.  So he received very little care and attention.

One of our volunteers saw him at the shelter, saw his miserable condition and his terrible existence, and began a relentless struggle with the bureaucracy to have Katsu released into our custody.  Three months ago her successful fight brought Katsu into the Thulani Program—stunningly handsome, severely malnourished, sick with a number of ailments, and supposedly 12 years old.

Katsu at Ginger’s

But Katsu was free, he was home, and he was thriving.  He put on weight, he put on muscle mass, and he put on a smile.  His heart murmur disappeared, his other illnesses vanished, his energy level skyrocketed, and his whole demeanor changed to that of a happy, well-adjusted dog.  Amazingly, every time he went to see a vet, the estimate of his age plummeted, all the way down to 7 years.  It was the true success story that we want for all our rescue dogs.

This was looking like a classic storybook ending—-but then disaster struck again.  Katsu’s foster mom noticed a terrible odor from his mouth.  A vet visit and removal of a severely infected tooth revealed a cancerous jaw bone.  We are all devastated.  It is just so unfair, after all he had been through and survived.  But he is a fighter and so are we.  We will not give up on him.

After much research and fact finding, we decided that for Katsu, the best option is surgery.  His guarded prognosis with surgery is up to two years of normal life.  Without surgery, a couple of painful months.  So we will do it.  The estimated cost is $2500 for the surgery, and probably another $700 for hospital rehab and follow-up.

So we desperately need your help in covering these costs.  We have a target of $3200 and we already have $1500 pledged.  But the additional costs are more than our general program can absorb without jeopardizing our ability to help other dogs.  Katsu deserves our help and you can make the difference.  Please help save Katsu and give him the good life he deserves and has earned.

To help Katsu, please go to

http://www.gsrnc.org/sponsor.asp

and follow the instructions for a ‘one time donation’, indicating in the ‘review’ section that the donation is for Katsu.

If you wish to send a check please send it (again indicating that it is intended for Katsu) to:

GSRNC/Thulani Fund/Katsu

PO Box 1930

Cupertino, CA 95015

100% of your donation will go to helping Katsu.

Preview of the New Thulani Program Video