High
Quality Medical Care
At Good Karma
Animal Rescue, we have a high standard of medical care. We believe that true rescue means true care.
It’s important to our mission and our spirits to keep rescuing the dogs who
need rescue most – and many times, those dogs have extensive medical
conditions. Whether a dog is sick or healthy, the medical care we provide
starts the moment we make a commitment to rescue them and does not end until
they are adopted.
Before the dogs
come to Good Karma, they are in shelters or with partner rescues. Every dog starts out by being tested for
heartworm and tick-borne diseases. If they are Heartworm positive, our foster
parents and veterinary partners prepare for their care (heartworm positive dogs
require a minimum 3-month stay in foster care to help them recover).
These are some Heartworm positive dogs we are preparing for to come in to rescue the end of this month,
In addition to
testing for heartworm and tick-borne diseases, all dogs are vaccinated and seen
by a veterinarian for a rabies vaccine and to make sure they are well enough to
make the trip to MN. In the days before travel, we learn about the dogs and any
concerns or healthy issues we may need to address or plan for. Every dog
receives flea/tick and heartworm preventative and is dewormed, either before
traveling (using products we provide) or immediately upon arriving to GK! Here are some of the dogs from our latest
transport from Texas being seen at the vet clinic.
The dogs arrive
to happy and excited members of the #goodkarmaarmy. At every intake, we check the dogs for any
concerns, look at the vet paperwork to see if any issues we need to immediately
be aware of and send any other preventatives necessary home with the foster
parent and dog. Valentine’s Day was
extra special when these cuties arrived!
Once the dogs
have arrived, we upload their records and share them with any of our veterinary
partners who needs to see them. We determine what other vetting is needed and
make appointments for all our dogs to be seen.
Sometimes they need spay/ neuter surgeries, sometimes booster
vaccinations, sometimes dental procedures, sometimes more serious concerns, and
sometimes just for a comprehensive examination.
Without exception, EVERY Good Karma dog is thoroughly examined by one of
OUR partner veterinarians in MN AFTER they arrive to our rescue.
All newly arriving dogs are
placed on a 10 day shut-down where the only place they go is the vet clinic as
required. This is to ensure that all
dogs have time to settle in, feel safe and secure, and we can monitor for any
issues that may come up. If the dogs are
healthy, they can be adopted after day 14.
In rescue, there
are a host of medical needs we run across.
Some dogs arrive very healthy and just need the regular standard of
care. Standard care means deworming,
monthly preventatives (Heartworm and flea/tick), spay/neuter, all age-appropriate distemper and rabies vaccines,
heartworm test in dogs over 8 months of age, and microchip INCLUDING lifetime
microchip registration.
Other dogs come in with a variety of different issues. We treat ear infections,
skin infections and allergies, UTIs, and kennel cough. Dentals are done if needed. We take in dogs
with Heartworm, tick diseases or other ailments and treat them until they are
healthy as well. We also have dogs with
special needs such as seizures that need daily medication. We’ve had
amputations, cancer cases, mange, parvo, and just about any other medical case
you can imagine.
We also occasionally
deal with medical emergencies. Recently,
adorable Nixie got into something and she had a blockage in her stomach and
intestines. She needed to go into
emergency life-saving surgery. When all
said and done the costs will equal over $5000. But this is rescue. This is part
of the promise we make to every dog in our care. That we will work tirelessly
to provide the best quality physical and emotional care to every animal we
rescue!
Our gold
standard of medical care is extremely costly, but we believe that the dogs
deserve the best we can provide them – and we also believe that our adopters
deserve to know that when they adopt a GK dog, they are adopting a dog who has
received excellent veterinary care and attention.
We depend on
donations and fundraisers to be able to meet this standard of care for our
dogs. If you would like to help us so
that we can keep saving more deserving lives, please go to http://www.goodkarmamn.org/donate.html
Want to help us
save more dogs? Sign up to foster at http://www.goodkarmamn.org/foster.html
Comments