Gwen - noseless puppy

Gwen is a lively, very friendly, smart 18-week-old German Shepherd puppy who lost her nose from Puppy Strangles, an immune-mediated disease that has no specific cause that affects the skin around the muzzle. In Gwen’s case, it was so severe it ate her nose, lips, and the skin around her mouth. Thanks to Dr. Rakesh Vali and his staff at Mt.Pleasant Veterinary Hospital and Pleasant Paws of Newtown, CT for the initial treatments for Gwen to save her life. Ultimately, Gwen was surrendered to DAWS.

Gwen’s journey with DAWS began after her surrender at the age of about 15 weeks. Being involved with DAWS as Operations Director, working with DAWS staff and being a licensed veterinary technician married to a veterinarian, it was an easy decision for me to take Gwen in as a medical foster. She is curious, energetic, and very friendly and she has no clue she is “special.” She tries to make new doggy friends, but other dogs reject her puppy friendship thinking she is baring her teeth at them. She is not discouraged by rejection and continues to try to greet everybody including dogs, cats, and even horses with a wagging tail.

With only one functioning nasal passage, she drags her baring gums along the floor, grass, dirt and carpet just to get a good sniff, leaving her with bleeding gums and damage to her front teeth. Dr. Cary Brenner, resident veterinarian at DAWS performed her first reconstructive surgery with some success and also researched what would be the best option for her. Finding a specialist who can help her was difficult to find due to the location of her surgery site. Dr. Brenner after days of reaching out to specialists found a Veterinarian, Dr. Pavletic of Angell Medical Animal Center in Boston who is willing to help Gwen. Hurray!!

Dr. Brenner and I will be taking a road trip with Gwen to Boston on Jan 30, 2023. We don’t know the full extent of the costs for Gwen's surgery in Boston, Dr. Brenner with his medical experience and expertise, guesstimates the cost to be somewhere between $8000 to $10,000. We are not sure if she will require multiple surgeries. Any amount of donation no matter how small will have a huge impact on Gwen and her road to recovery and quality of life.

Stay tuned!!! I will continue to update Gwen’s journey and how she gets her nose back!!!

For more information on DAWS, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping animals in need since 1974, please visit Daws.org.

**Any funds exceeding the amount needed to help Gwen with surgery and post-surgery care, will be used to help other animals at DAWS.

**Gwen will be available for foster to adopt once she is stable.