When Whitney first visited Ruff Start’s vetting team for her spay surgery, our team noticed during her physical exam that she seemed to favor her hips while walking, likely due to some pain she was experiencing. They determined it was best to send her to a partner vet, Granite City in St. Cloud, to do a full x-ray. They found that she has arthritis/spondylosis in her back. This disease is caused by abnormal growth of bone in the spine and will lead to progressive weakness and pain. They weren’t sure how long Whitney had been dealing with this pain. The best way to help would be to perform a TPLO, Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy, on her left knee. This surgery will repair the cruciate ligament and alleviate the excruciating pain she has been dealing with. She also received a dental procedure while she was there.

Whitney is now awaiting her surgery day in her new foster home. Despite her upbringing, Whitney has been coming out of her shell and showing her goofy, loyal, gentle, playful, happy, and stubborn self. She loves to play in the snow, even to the point where she can’t help but get the zoomies around the yard! Inside, she has been getting along great with the other dogs and cats in the house, enjoys tossing toys around, and when she has worn herself out, she loves to lounge with her foster dad. She is learning all that she can experience in life and enjoying it all.

Once Whitney’s knee is fixed on February 27th, she will need to maintain a lean weight to help her back. She will be on joint supplements long-term as well as pain medication as needed. The current estimate for her time in our care is $2,500-$3,000. Whitney has had a tough life and deserves the absolute best future. Donate today to help this sweet Akita.

Although a senior, Sasha still has some zest. She is good with other calm animals, with slow introductions, and would appreciate a lower-energy home. She likes to be happy and warm with something comfy to lie on. She was in a short-time foster home recently and spent most of her time napping and sleeping in bed at night with her 10-year-old human foster brother.

Do you have some room in your home for this old sweetie? Please fill out a foster application today: https://ruffstartrescue.org/get-involved/foster/

Donate today to sponsor Sasha’s care if she joins Ruff Start and the care of the hundreds of other local impound dogs who we will welcome into rescue this year.

We often rescue animals that may have come from a sad past, and many times it’s difficult to determine the extent of it. As a rescue, we know that it’s our job to do everything we can to ensure their bright future.

Rhea was found abandoned outside St. Paul Animal Control (SPAC) one very cold night last week. She had splayed toes and a pee-stained coat, indicating she had most likely been living in an unsanitary crate for some time. We don’t know who left her, but we’re glad she can now receive the care she needs.

At 2 years old, this pitbull mix is only around 40 pounds and severely underweight. Rhea needs to gain 5-10 pounds to reach a healthy weight. Food may not have been readily available in her past life, as indicated by her protective nature when it comes to treats.

According to the SPAC employees, Rhea is incredibly sweet and loves to be pet and cuddled, despite her history. When receiving her vaccinations at the impound, she was friendly and unbothered, enjoying her belly rubs and the attention. Rhea passed her cat and dog tests with flying colors at the shelter. She enjoyed greeting them both with a gentle demeanor and a wagging tail.

Rhea had her freedom ride with a Ruff Start foster yesterday and is settling into her foster home. She is receiving the love and care she needs and possibly experiencing it for the first time in her life. She has been finding trust with her new people and enjoying her newfound freedom by moving about her foster home and making a Rhea-sized spot up on the couch. She was pampered with a bath and nail trim – both of which she behaved perfectly for. When it was time for bed last night, she wasn’t interested in sleeping in her crate, understandably, but did well sleeping in her new dog bed. Rhea has a lot to learn but has already made great strides in such a short amount of time.

Please donate today to sponsor Rhea’s time at Ruff Start Rescue and ensure we’re here to help when dogs like Rhea need us most.

Malina was brought into rescue a week and a half ago. She had obviously been fighting to survive for quite some time. Her neck was enlarged, infected, and a source of pain.

When her rescuers discovered her, they reached out to a Ruff Start volunteer who reached out for a foster, and Malina joined the rescue. The home Malina was found in also had a male adult cat, and together they had 2 kittens. The kittens joined Ruff Start on Saturday, and the male went home with the rescuers to work on his socialization before being placed with a foster.

Malina has been incredibly loving and affectionate in her foster home. It’s amazing that she still has so much love to give, despite how poorly she has been cared for in the past. She’s starting to talk and chatter a bit, and she’s learning to play with toys! We don’t know if she was played with much before, as she was unsure of what to do with toys at first. She’s very curious and has done well with the other cats in her foster home. She will be able to interact more with them when her quarantine ends.

At this time, Malina is on antibiotics. She has a checkup with Ruff Start’s vetting team on Tuesday to see if she’s healing well enough with medicine alone or if she needs surgical repair of any of her wounds.

Malina has so much life left, and we are determined to make sure she gets the best care possible so she can live it happily. Can you please help us ensure that by making a gift toward her care?

Running down the streets of Houston being shot at. This was Adira’s reality before she was rescued.

10-week-old Adira was rescued by a couple who encountered teenagers running after a small puppy, shooting her with a BB gun. The couple grabbed Adira to keep her safe. Luckily, she had sustained no injuries from the BBs. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to keep her in their home and would struggle to feed her. They posted her in a Facebook group commonly used to rehome animals in Houston, and a Ruff Start foster immediately went to pick her up.

We thought her troubled days were behind her when she joined Ruff Start, but Adira then began having seizures. She was very skinny and had been living on the streets, which led us to believe the seizures were a symptom of low blood sugar. To confirm the reasoning, Adira visited the vet the next day. While she was there, the vet found ringworm on all four of her paws and her tail, which can be treated with medication. They tested her blood sugar, but it was within the normal range. With that, the vet’s best guess was that she has a congenital liver shunt, which would likely require surgery, medication, a special diet, and follow-up appointments.

When Adira continued to have 1-4 seizures a day, her foster knew she had to resolve the problem and rushed her to an emergency vet. The doctor determined it wasn’t a liver shunt – her blood and liver values were normal. There she stayed the night for observation and was put on anticonvulsant medication, which helped her seizures subside. The vet then considered the possibility that Adira may be having seizures due to a viral infection. At that point, they decided to run additional tests and send Adira back to her foster home while we await further test results.

Adira is doing well in her foster home and is slowly regaining her energy and becoming a playful puppy. She’s very sweet and soaks up all the love; she enjoys napping like a baby in her foster’s arms. She is in the best care while we await test results, and she is stable for the time being. As a rescue, we will continue to do whatever is possible to ensure the best quality of life for Adira.

We appreciate our community’s support when unexpected costs like these arise. Can you help us help Adira so she can live a happy, healthy life in Minnesota?