Please help us save Windsor’s Life!

UPDATE 11.27.23:

Whew, what a weekend! As those of you that read our last update know, Windsor was allowed to leave the hospital with us on Thanksgiving Day. He was finally free from the “tank” and headed to the hotel with his momma and his daddy to spend the day without something attached to his body. We were told that if he did well, we could bring him home on Friday! Whoooo hoooo!

On Thanksgiving Day we laid around the hotel watching him breathe (quite literally) and relaxing. When was the last time we did that? We don’t remember, to be honest, but we decided it was the Lord’s way of making us rest on this very special holiday. To get Windsor down the hall and outside, we used the luggage cart, which he seemed to enjoy very much. Those Bullies sure love movement under their feet. Windsor doesn’t skateboard or surf, but even though he wasn’t feeling well, you could see he thought it was super cool. Chuck threw his back out the first time he went to pick him up. Bless his heart, that was the last thing he needed!

He did well on Thursday so he was released from the hospital Friday morning after the catheters were removed. Bless his heart, his back legs are raw from the tape and catheters and very swollen, but because they couldn’t give meds orally, the caths were mandatory. His legs were really the last of their worried at that time.

He enjoyed his trip back to Branson and it seemed like one of us were always looking into the back seat to check on him. He does love a car ride in the MINI Cooper and he thinks it was custom made just for him. If you’ve seen my car, you would probably agree with Windsor. He gets himself into some funny positions in the back seat of that car and it always makes us laugh out loud!

We made it! We were home… with HIM! On Tuesday we left home at the speed of a south bound bullet train because the doctor said THAT word. That word all animal lovers hate. Euthanasia. We couldn’t wrap our head around it when she said it? How did it come to this??? BUT, we were home, the three of us. Gypsy and Luka were happy to see their brother and had wondered where he’d been. Gypsy (our Pitbull) wanted desperately to love on him, but he was quite grumpy, to be honest. Who can blame him?!?

We have let him tell us what he wants to do the past few days. He is still weak in the legs, especially the back legs, and it’s hard for him to stand up or walk much of a distance at all. He was used to going potty in the “tank”, so he has made a mess or two in the house, which he just doesn’t do. Getting his senses back. He hasn’t wanted to eat much, and when he’s been fed, Chuck has sat down beside him on the floor to hand feed him. They put him on Royal Canin Bulldog Prescription canned food, so feeding him by hand is a little more tricky than feeding him dry.

How is the panting? How’s his breathing? Though he’s been sedated (still taking 2 different types) we are finding that right now, he is only panting when he wakes up. If it’s time for him to have his meds it seems to be a little worse. Aside from that, he seems to be breathing very well. PRAISE GOD!

Nice and easy, one day and one step at a time. We will continue to update often, and please know that we are forever grateful for your donations, your shares, and your prayers. Your help has truly helped our Windsor survive! God bless you all! ♥️

Oh, and one more thing, please be on the lookout for a wonderful fundraiser we are currently putting together!

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WINDSOR UPDATE 11.25.2023:

We made it back to Branson safe and sound last night. He does enjoy a good car ride in the MINI Cooper! If you haven’t seen the pics of him on the trip, there’s a couple on my wall that Chuck took and tagged me in. Such a peculiar guy!

He did SO well the rest of the evening before lights out. His momma and daddy were exhausted, but so thankful to finally have him home! He was overjoyed to be back in his bed that he loves!

He was up about 1am and had peed in his bed. I’m sure that’s because that’s how he had to do it while in the hospital. He sure couldn’t have gotten up and gone potty in the grass outside! He was back up between 3:30-4:00 with those dang pants so we had to give him a sedative to help calm him. We had not given him that sedative with his evening pills because he was doing so good. We will give it to him tonight and wait a few days before trying to get that out of the mix. Right now he’s on 3 different meds to help keep him calm with no anxiety.

Please continue to share his Go Fund Me page. ♥️ We have lots of recovery to tend to the next several weeks as he heals from all of this medical trauma. Every single cent helps! God is so good! ♥️♥️

https://gofund.me/f804347e

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UPDATE 11.23.23 THANKSGIVING DAY:

God is so good. You know, I wasn’t blessed with children, like all of my friends. There’s so much that I have missed. First days of school, sweet 16, graduation, boyfriends and girlfriends and wedding and grandkids. It’s hard to believe that all of my friends are now grandparents.

I have, however, been truly blessed with an abundance of love for all living things. My heart is filled with a fondness of fur, and you know, that’s ok. :)

I married a man with a love for animals, too, and together, we have helped save the lives of many. We have given of our time, our money, and even have a whole room in our store devoted to animal rescue. It’s a big deal for us!

When we have needed to save our own rescue dogs, again, we have stopped at nothing. We believe every dog’s life is important, and we treat ours like they are kids. Toddlers with fur! We’ve given them everything they have needed for their health and their happiness.

Windsor is a special boy, born in a puppy mill, sold to a puppy warehouse for profit, and nearly euthanized because of his crooked legs and his big underbite. He wouldn’t bring top dollar in other words, so they didn’t even want to mess with him. He wasn’t up to AKC Regulations. We didn’t see a handicap dog, we saw a precious soul through his big beautiful Bulldog eyes! And, in no time at all, with good nutrition and loads of love, he turned in to a very handsome, very capable guy! You wouldn’t have known he was born like he was!

This medical emergency has been the biggest yet. One we have given all of our time to for nearly three months. During this time with Windsor and his need of assistance, we have lost three senior cats, also. We had four 17 year old cats the first of September, and now, we have one. Our hearts have been so broken.

Windsor got an ulcer on his eye, one nothing would heal. Nearly two weeks after the ulcer showed its ugly face, we were at a dog eye specialist surgeon in Fayetteville/Springdale, AR having the eye removed. We had no idea what we were in for next. Windsor developed blood coming out of his nose, and a heavy, constant pant like we’ve never seen. Medication after medication, nothing seemed to be helping. He couldn’t rest, because he couldn’t breathe out of his nose. He wanted to lay down so badly and sleep but because he couldn’t breathe from his mouth, he just couldn’t do it. It was so heartbreaking to see his heavy Bulldog head bobbing up and down trying to decide which was more important, the sleep, or breathing.

At the recommendation of several local veterinarians, (our regular vet, and a ‘Bulldog Vet’ an hour north of us in Strafford, MO), he was taken to Missouri University on November 15, (also Chuck’s 60th Birthday) to have a CT scan of his head. Both of these vets are excellent, and cared very much about what was happening with our big, squishy guy, but neither knew what could be causing all of this trouble breathing.

The Veterinary Hospital in Columbia found nothing, but Windsor continued to get worse. He was admitted into the ICU, put into an oxygen kennel, and they set out to find the cause of all these awful things happening within his Bully body.

It has been an awful week, every day something more, and something worse. We have been at the hospital as much as they would let us be there. He remained in the same “tank” all week, while we went back and forth to Branson twice (a four hour drive to our house), and all of the other nights we have stayed in a hotel close to the Hospital. Just like we would do if this kiddo was a human kiddo.

On Tuesday they had all but given up. His doctor started talking about his quality of life. We could not bear the thought!!! We sure wouldn’t let him suffer, but we weren’t giving up either. We gathered all of the doctors he had been dealing with prior to his hospitalization, and we created a GoFundMe page with requests for help with the hospital and vet bills, and we asked for more and more prayers to help him fight this, feel better and get him home! AND, WE PRAYED! And, we prayed, and… we PRAYED!

Today is Thursday, November 23, THANKSGIVING DAY, and oh my goodness, have we ever been blessed! A whole lot has changed in just a couple of days!! We’ve had a miracle! A true God Blessing Miracle! We were able to bring him to the hotel with us this morning! If he does well here, we can take him home with us tomorrow! WE CAN TAKE HIM HOME TOMORROW!

So far he’s doing really well. He still has a catheter in his front leg, and in his back leg, and he’s a tad grumpy! :) My gosh, who can blame him???

Our GoFundMe page has raised nearly 3000.00 and we are forever grateful to each and every one that has shared, donated, and PRAYED! We are still asking for help with the expenses it has taken to save this precious soul. Our vet, hospital, and hotel bills alone are huge, and that doesn’t count for his bag of meds they have him on to continue to heal the pneumonia, and the respiratory infection or the bills for continued care when we get back home.

So, you see, it really is true, GOD IS SO GOOD, and we are having the best Thanksgiving Day ever!

Oh, and one more thing… there’s no such thing as “Just a Dog.” ♥️ God bless you all!

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URGENT! PLEASE HELP!

Hello, we are Chuck and Julie Mires and we are desperate for your help. We have been involved in animal rescue for many years and have helped many abandoned, abused and neglected find their loving forever homes.

We rescued Windsor (Sir Windsor “Chomp Chomp” Willingham, being his full name and one that fits him to a T!) 6 years ago. He sure had a rough start, he was born in a puppy mill and sold to an awful place that uses dogs as their full income. He was slated to be euthanized because his little front legs were crooked and his underbite didn’t fit into AKC regulations. We can’t imagine putting a precious dog down only because he wouldn’t bring top dollar! He was snuck out of this horrible place and saved by one kind heart that couldn’t bear to see it happen.

The rest of Windsor’s story has been an amazing journey. With good nutrition, uncaged mobility, and lots and lots of love, Windsor began to grow into a happy healthy big beautiful Bulldog. He has had joy in every day and is the most comical little guy you’d ever meet. He’s full of spunk and he knows exactly what he wants and how to get it. See those handsome Bulldog eyes?!? To know him is to love him. Your heart just falls in love with his precious soul.

Windsor recently developed an ulcer on his right eye. We had no idea where it came from, but took him to the vet immediately. After drops and meds didn’t work, we were forced to take him to a dog eye specialist in Springdale/Fayetteville Arkansas. We received the awful news that Windsor’s eye needed to be removed. Our hearts just sank. Did I mention those handsome Bulldog eyes?!

We did exactly what the surgeon recommended, and brought him home that same day to begin his recovery. Within a couple of days he started getting worse, he had blood coming from his nose, and his breathing became labored. We were back and forth to our regular vet trying to figure out what was happening. He developed an awful nasal discharge and his breathing became even worse, full panting every minute of the day. He couldn’t lay down with a closed mouth because he couldn’t breathe with his nose. So, he kept getting more and more exhausted. To the point of falling out on the floor. Can you imagine being so tired that you allow your face to hit the floor? We have kept pillows around him so that when he goes down, his face goes into the pillow. Awful, just painful and heartbreaking to watch.

We then took him to another vet to have X-rays of his head to try to figure out where the blood was coming from. This vet sent him to Columbia to Missouri University, a premier veterinary hospital. This was on Wednesday, November 15, and in the hospital is where he remains. He just needs to be able to breathe through his nose!

They did a surgery that removed his elongated palate, and though that did help some, it’s not helped the breathing through his nose. He is on many meds, and they are trying to keep him sedated so that his body can heal. he has been through so much the past 6+ weeks, but we just can’t give up on him. It’s a matter of clearing up the infection in his sinuses, and being allowed, time wise to do so.

This is where we need your help. Our vet costs are sitting at about 15,000.00 right now, and we will require more days in the hospital to continue to allow him to heal. We are begging you, if you can spare any amount, no matter how small or how large, we would be forever grateful. We have many people and veterinarians praying hard for our precious Windsor and we truly believe in the power of prayer, and the efforts that are being done at this hospital at MU. We have got to see this through and let our big guy come back home to his mom, dad, and his two canine sisters.

Thank you so much for anything that you can give to save Windsor’s life so he can continue to live in the joy of everyday. ♥️