With the Angel Fund’s help, beautiful Isis thrives

Isis, a beautiful Pharoah Hound, was not doing well last October.  “She had been down in the dumps off and on for a couple of months,” said her owner, John, a free-lance photographer who asked that his last name not be used. “She lost her appetite – and then she took a turn for the worse and stopped eating and drinking. She lost about five pounds in two weeks – about 10 percent of her body weight or something like that.  So we took her in (to Southern California Veterinary Hospital in Woodland Hills).

The veterinarian said she thought she knew what it was but wanted to run urine tests and do some blood work. The tests confirmed that it was something called Addison’s Disease. It doesn’t get better by itself and so they gave her some steroid shots and also injected some fluid in her because she was dehydrated. That basically saved her life.

“My wife wasn’t working at the time and we were just barely getting by so several hundred dollars on the dog was a lot,” John said.  But Angel Fund contributed $150 and the hospital discounted its fee.  “The money from Angel Fund was a big help – that’s for sure,” he said.

Now Isis, who is seven years old, gets a monthly shot – “every month forever, apparently, and those shots run about $70.” The dog also takes half a prednisone tablet every day as well, medication that is “pretty inexpensive,” John said.

“She has her good days and her bad days. One of the side effects of the shot is that right after that she gets extremely thirsty and every once in a while she can’t control her bladder. . . . And then after the first few days she’s feeling good and is really good for another three or four weeks and then she gets her next shot.  So it’s a cycle.

“The short story is that it undoubtedly saved her life and she is still a member of the family and my two kids love her.  She was a rescue and weighs 48 to 50 pounds.  She’s beautiful. She’s been nothing but a treasure. Not only is she great with my kids but she just loves kids and women in general.”