Update 11/9/21:  Betty has received several pieces of positive medical news! The mass was successfully removed and the pathology report confirmed the mass was benign! Chest x-rays also confirmed that the heartworms hadn't done too much damage yet which luckily made Betty a candidate for a slow-kill heartworm treatment. The slow-kill treatment is easy to manage but could take up to a year, so any interested adopters need to be committed to continuing the protocol (including a monthly preventative and potentially daily antibiotics/steroids for awhile longer).

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This gorgeous golden girl is Betty White!  Betty was picked up as a stray by an animal control and based on her physical condition, she was likely an outdoor dog for quite some time.  The animal control gave Betty some much needed medical care and treated her parasites and tickborne disease.  They also helped her to start gaining weight.  Now that Betty is with VGSR we have more work to do to try and address some of Betty’s additional medical concerns including a mass on her rear left leg and heartworms.  Sadly most of Betty’s ailments could have been prevented if she had been kept on standard monthly preventatives and fed sufficient calories. 

Aside from working through Betty’s medical needs, Betty is an amazing dog with an infectious personality.  Betty may be in the ballpark of 11 years old, but she is the perfect mix of playful, silly, calm and even cuddly.  Betty is the “trifecta” when it comes to being wonderful with other dogs, kids and cats.  There are 4 other seniors in the home Betty is being fostered in and Betty is great with them all.  Betty has tried to politely initiate play and when the other seniors aren’t interested she enjoys playing with a stuffed animal or toy on her own.  Betty has also been around kids between 5-8 years old in her foster home and did fantastically with them.  The cat test was completed by the animal shelter and Betty was said to have tried to clean the cats during the test. 

If you are able to look beyond Betty’s age and you are interested in staying in touch about Betty and potentially giving her a permanent retirement home where she can be pampered like she deserves, please email her foster mom at emily@hartman1.com.  And even if Betty’s isn’t a fit for your family, please considering donating to VGSR to support Betty’s medical expenses.  Age shouldn’t prevent dogs like Betty from getting the care and love they desperately deserve.