Leona came to us during the summer after she was found as a stray. The poor girl was so matted that her entire body was shaved. Leona is beautiful and full of sass. A few weeks ago Leona’s foster mom noticed that she didn’t seem herself. She was spending a lot of time alone and seemed unhappy. She was seen by our vet that week and diagnosed with advanced kidney disease, something she likely had prior to coming into our care. Kidney disease can be difficult to notice, as the symptoms are often subtle. Leona’s levels were very high and she was given a poor prognosis: she may only have weeks left.

We had two options: euthanize Leona to end her suffering or try putting her on IV fluids (the equivalent of dialysis) for 48 hours to try to bring her levels down. After consulting with her foster mom, we opted to provide Leona with dialysis. She responded very well and ended staying at the clinic for four days for extended treatment. She’s been back at home for a few weeks now, and while we know we are just buying her time and that the end is near, her foster mom reports that she is eating well and is much happier than before the treatment. We are grateful that her foster mom has committed to loving and caring for Leona.

Rescue isn’t easy and sometimes forever homes and happy endings don’t happen. What we know is that every animal we take in matters and we’ve made a promise to do right by them. We make many decisions with our hearts, and for this we are proud.

So, to sweet Leona we say: you are loved.