Written in 2002 by the Central Illinois German Shepherd Dog Rescue. Updated 2004.
Sabrina was acquired by the Central Illinois German Shepherd Dog Rescue in July 2001 when her "family" left her tied to the garage door of their old house when they moved out of town. She is a sweet 8-10 year old who needed immediate medical attention when she arrived at our rescue. She could not receive treatment without a sponsor's support and the estimated cost for her needed spay, lump removal, and histopath (to determine if the lump was a malignant or benign tumor) was $250. She did receive a couple generous donations so she was able to undergo her surgery.
Sabrina had her surgery on August 23, 2001. During surgery prep, some additional lumps were found and we decided to go ahead with a radical mastectomy and spay. Seven lumps were removed in addition to her hysterectomy. Unfortunately three of the masses were found to be cancerous, yet, even as time passed, no metastases were found. She was healing up well and was in very good spirits. We believed she must have felt better after having so much disease removed after years of medical neglect.
At this point, we were optimistic that she would heal up and have many years of healthy life.
By the end of November, Sabrina had healed up marvelously from her major surgery. Her bloodwork showed that she was in beautiful health, her hips were great, and her heart and lungs are very clear. However, our good news stopped there.
After beating cancer, old age, and major surgery, Sabrina had developed a new disease: Spinal Stenosis. This degenerative disease continued to crush her spinal column and would eventually cause her to lose sensation in her rear legs and possibly lose control. This meant, unfortunately, that she would only be with us for a short time.
We want to thank everyone who had been so very generous to Sabrina and her needs.
She lived with us at the rescue (we"adopted" her!) for over a year before succumbing to cancer. She died peacefully in her sleep, curled up under the desk (a favorite spot).
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