13 June 2017: We are sorry to have to update Marti’s page to let you know that our sweet boy has very sadly passed away. Marti became a sponsor dog some time ago, due to health reasons, and unfortunately he became rather poorly and stopped eating. Our thoughts are with his forever-foster family, who took care of him on our behalf. Sleep tight, Marti.
Marti is a gorgeous crossbreed boy aged around 11-12, who came into Oldies Club care in the summer of 2016 when his person very sadly passed away. He had lived with his previous owner all his life, but thankfully settled well into his foster home.
Marti arrived with quite a few fatty lumps, but there were some the vet who checked him over for us was more concerned about, so they wanted to do a biopsy analysis. Marti’s liver was enlarged and showing higher enzyme levels and so we arranged for him to have a scan. One of Marti’s lumps was found to be tumourous and so was removed, and he was also found to have high steroid hormone levels.
The ultrasound scan revealed a mass on Marti’s liver, while his spleen was okay. In discussion and agreement with Marti’s vet, Oldies Club decided not to proceed with removing the lump on the liver, in part because the wound on his leg from previous lump removal was already having trouble healing. Oldies Club is paying for a daily medication to help support Marti’s liver.
In addition, the poor boy had to have a toe removed in November. The op thankfully went well, but he was understandably feeling sorry for himself afterwards. Due to Marti’s health concerns, we felt it was in Marti’s best interest for him to be placed in our sponsor dog scheme, which means he will stay in his forever-foster home for the rest of his life, with Oldies Club covering his vet bills.
Marti, home and recovering from his toe op, bless him!
Marti’s foster family tells us he is generally a placid dog, unless there is a ball in the vicinity. He’s a real daddy’s boy, but also loves being part of the family.
Waiting to play?
He has been through a fair amount of being poked, prodded and shaved while his health worries have been investigated and he had to wear a lampshade collar for several weeks, but once that came off, he was back to his lovely placid self. He has coped really well with his numerous vet visits.
Sweet Marti, relaxing and recovering from his vet visits
Marti has a lovely personality and is always pleased to greet his people when they return home. He likes to lick his foster mum’s hand each morning when he feels she should be getting up to let him out. He did try it with his foster dad for a few days, but soon realised nothing was going to be waking him up quickly!
Marti also visits a relative of his family, who sadly has Alzheimer’s and who lights up whenever he sees Marti.
Marti and his foster dad
If you would love to offer a home to an oldie but your circumstances aren’t suitable, perhaps you would be kind enough to sponsor Marti, or one of the other special oldies we are caring for in our sponsor dog scheme.