A Tribute to Daisy

Daisy’s story is a sad one, but highlights some of the wonderful aspects of animal rescue. NRGRR accepts golden retrievers into their program regardless of age, medical condition, or cost to treat them. We also pledge to help families who can no longer care for their goldens by offering an opportunity to surrender their dogs, knowing that they will be well cared for and placed in loving forever homes. Please consider making a donation so we can continue to help dogs with special needs.

Daisy was an adorable golden puppy with a serious medical condition. She was purchased from a breeder and soon after started to become very sick; vomiting, diarrhea and unable to keep food down. The owners rushed her to the vet and it was determined that she had a portosystemic liver shunt, a congenital birth defect, which is an abnormal connection allowing blood to bypass the liver. Without a properly functioning liver, toxins and chemicals were allowed to build up in her blood which was causing her to be sick. It was determined that she should be hospitalized at the emergency clinic for failure to thrive.

You often hear the phrase “it takes a village,” and in Daisy’s case, she sure had a village behind her. Daisy’s story started this May in the Charlotte area when she was just 4 months old. The owners could not afford the costly procedure to attempt to close the shunt, so they contacted the Golden Retriever Rescue Club of Charlotte (GRRCC) for help. After consultation among the GRRCC vet, the emergency clinic vet, and the original owner’s vet, it was determined that the best course of action would be for her to have surgery at a clinic in Raleigh. GRRCC asked to have her transferred to NRGRR so that a rescue will remain close by for the follow-up care she needed, and of course we immediately said yes.

Daisy was now in the hands of some of our very special fosters and under the care of one of our wonderful vet partners, Dr. Clark at Quartet Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Hospital. Dr. Clark identified one large shunt and believed performing the complicated surgery was the best course of action. It was no easy task as Daisy was so young, the tissue in this area is very delicate, and the shunt was very large. She actually had to have 2 surgeries as she experienced a lot of bleeding during the first procedure, but the second surgery was very successful. However, Daisy was not out of the woods yet and recovery would be very slow to make sure her liver was functioning properly. She was on a constantly changing medication and diet schedule to try and find what worked best for her, but she was very, very slowly showing signs of improvement.

In foster care, Daisy’s personality began to shine through. Her fosters described her as a saucy little girl, barking when she wanted to be let out or if she hadn’t been fed enough. She loved to play tug of war and chase tennis balls. She enjoyed meeting everyone in the neighborhood and insisted that everyone stop and pet her. She loved to get rough and tumble, when allowed, and was not afraid to stand up to the big dogs. She was brave and tough and far from a Daisy, in fact, the vet techs at Quartet were calling her “Xena Warrior Princess”. She was fiercely independent and bound to make a lasting dent in this world. 

Several weeks after her initial surgery, complications began to arise, beginning with the development of a serious infection that was overwhelming her little body. Daisy went back to our friends at Grace Park Animal Hospital under the expert care of Dr Strunk and Dr. Sumakeris to help us figure out what was going on with her belly. With the assistance of NC State Veterinary Hospital, more tests, CT scans, and ultrasounds found that her liver had multiple abscesses which could not be fixed with surgery or medication. Daisy was out of options and the best that we could do for her was to prevent what promised to be a lifetime of medical problems. She was not alone when she crossed the rainbow bridge and she knew how much she was loved. We were confident we did everything we could and know that this was the best and the only way we could help her.

She was a very strong little girl and did everything we asked her to do. She brought us laughs and smiles and we gave her some good days when she could really be a puppy. She had the best and knew she was loved. We will never forget her and she will always have a special place in our hearts. 

Daisy’s story doesn’t end here, however. The very day we said goodbye to Daisy, we got another young puppy surrendered by a loving family to the NRGRR with a medical diagnosis of congenital portosystemic liver shunt. So, our tireless team of volunteers are back at it doing everything we can to help this new sick puppy, Sweetwater.

Follow Sweetwater's journey by clicking here.

The average cost of bringing local dogs into the program is around $1200, but can easily exceed 5-10 times this amount to care for dogs with serious illnesses, such as Daisy’s and Sweetwater’s liver shunt. Please consider making a donation so we can continue to help these precious dogs in need.