The Boston Dogs – Marley
The Boston Dogs - Marley
The story so far:
If you’re following us on Facebook, or look at our rehomed ridgebacks page on the website, you may have seen our story about the Boston Dogs; Marley and Marsha.
You may remember that several people got involved to rescue this sorry pair of dogs from the Boston area of Lincolnshire, off a selling site. Though Ridgeback Rescue is not able to purchase dogs, we did agree to take over the care of this pair once they had been bought and collected from their seller by a supporter. We knew very little at all about Marsha and Marley other than their rough ages – about one and two respectively. Marley was in a very sorry state being incredibly underweight and passing a lot of blood in his urine.
Marsha and Marley were originally in our foster care but it became apparent immediately that Marsha was in season and Marley, still very much an entire male, was VERY interested in her indeed. Keeping them apart safely in the foster home was simply not possible.
It was decided that it would be best all round if they were taken into kennels where they could be separated while Marsha was in season. Marley struggled in the kennel environment and so we found him a foster carer, who could look after him where he could be neutered as soon as possible with a view to getting the two back together again.
Marley went to see the vet this week to arrange his neutering but, on examination, he was found to have a serious heart murmur and a significant arrhythmia. He would need further investigation with scans and an ECG and as such, we would have to wait to neuter him once we knew what was going on. The vet is quite concerned for Marley’s condition and tells us that it is likely something that is hereditary.
As always, we thank you for the donations we have had in for their care – to collect them, deliver them, foster them, kennel them, feed them and attend to their medical issues immediately and going forward. We do our utmost not only in the care of the dogs who come to us, but also in our transparency to you our supporters to keep you in the loop and explain where your incredible funding goes. We will continue to do both of those things and hope to be able to bring you news of their further welfare and happy rehoming sometime in the not too distant future.
For now, thank you all for your support and interest in these two lovely hounds. They are smashing. We are not asking for donations at this time but just wanted to keep you all abreast of what is happening with their care. However, if you feel you would like to leave a little something for their care going forward, as always, we very much appreciate your help.
Marley - Recent Developments
Marsha, his partner in crime, has now been rehomed with a wonderful family. However, with Marley’s needs, we needed to investigate his medical condition further before being able to find him a lovely new home.
Marley is currently being loved in foster care and is reportedly the sweetest, kindest, loveliest boy in every way – if they could keep him themselves they absolutely would and in fact have moved heaven and earth to try to make that happen, but it’s just possible long-term.
Marley will be going to his new home soon, but before he does we would like to give you all an update on his condition.
Marley has DCM (dilated cardio myopathy) which means his heart is stretched and weak. A couple of the valves are leaking, and blood is going the wrong way and causing inefficiencies in it. He could have been born with this condition or it could have developed very soon after birth. We will never know.
The medication he is now on has stabilised him somewhat and improved the function and output, but the heart has NOT returned to normal and will never be cured.
He has also developed AF (atrial fibrillation) which is basically where the top two chambers of the heart don’t coordinate properly with the bottom chambers which reduces the overall efficiency of the heart, increasing the heart rate and blood pressure.
The medication he is on improves the contraction of the heart chambers, the blood pressure and effort the heart needs to make and it slows the heart rate down.
This is an unpredictable condition but if he remains stable and responds well to the medication, he could continue on for a few years, however the vets have advised that sadly he will not be expected to reach mid-life.
Going forward, he can have ostensibly a normal life for a dog his age with normal walks and running over the fields should he wish to do so. However, he will fade over time and the stresses on his heart will happen one way or another.
* We will support Marley in every way that we can.
* We will pay for his medication and scans for the rest of his life.
* We want Marley to have the best years of his life 💙
We are holding a online Quiz on 12th December to raise funds for Marley, if you would like to join us please find a link to the entry form below:
Thank You for your support, without you we couldn’t help Ridgey’s like Marley
