Larry - Emaciated Boston Terrier Needs Your Help!

Larry has been in his foster home for a few weeks now and he is being treated like a King! Thank you so very much to Lynn and Marianne for the wonderful care and love they are giving Larry.



We wish we had better news to report but on his first visit back to the specialist Larry had actually lost another pound - not a good thing! The specialist adjusted his medications and diet and wanted to see him back in a week. A week later he had not lost any weight, but he had only gained 3 ounces - not very much weight considering how emaciated Larry is. The specialist thought we should give the current protocol more time to work and wanted to see him in another week.



Larry went back to see the specialist this morning - his foster mom reports that he has not been interested in eating for the past few days and in fact he has lost weight and now only weighs 13.7 lbs. The specialist increased the prednisone dosage and has now added cyclosporine to his daily medications and will see him again on Monday, August 2 for another weigh in. Hopefully Larry will start to gain some weight. If not, the only options will be either palliative care or major abdominal surgery to collect biopsies deeper within Larry's intestinal system to determine whether Larry has severe IBD or intestinal lymphoma. With Larry's emaciated state and his heart condition there is a high likelihood that Larry would not survive the surgery so we are hoping that the more intense drug therapy will begin to work.

Please say a prayer for Larry that this new medical protocol will help his little body start to heal.

Larry is an 8-10 year old Boston boy who came into the shelter as a stray back in March. Larry was turned over to Boston Buddies in May when the public adopter realized she could not properly care for Larrys medical needs.

Larry weighed only 15 lbs when he came into Boston Buddies and you could see his ribs and hip bones jutting out. Our vet diagnosed Larry with compression in his lower spine, an enlarged heart and a heart murmur. Our vet advised us to take Larry to see a cardiologist.



At the cardiologist we learned that Larry has degenerative valve disease and a 2nd degree AV block.

Larry has been with Boston Buddies for three weeks and while he has a big appetite he is not putting on weight like he should. Blood work and a quick ultrasound with our regular vet found nothing to explain him not gaining weight.
So Boston Buddies took Larry to see the internist at Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Marcos where we did an abdominal ultrasound and a gastrointestinal endoscopy. During the endoscopy it was discovered that Larry has pyloric hypertrophy, a thickening of the layers of muscle and stomach lining tissue near the lower part of the stomach leading into the small intestine that can lead to obstruction of the flow of food and water through the stomach. The specialist had to use the smallest scope they had to get through to the small intestine to get some biopsies. This condition will need to be surgically repaired, but it is not the likely cause of Larrys emaciated state. The specialist also found a mass in Larrys stomach and took a biopsy of that as well. At this point in time we are waiting to get the results of the biopsies back and hope to have a full diagnosis and treatment plan soon.

As of June 18, 2010, Boston Buddies has spent over $4,200 on Larrys vet care and we know there will be more expenses to come once we receive a diagnosis.

We are soliciting donations to cover Larrys past and future medical expenses. Any amount is truly appreciated and will allow us to continue to help Larry and all the other Special Needs Buddies like Larry.

From all of us at Boston Buddies, most especially Larry, THANK YOU!