21 August 2016 ~ We’re very sorry to have to update Pete’s page with the news that he has very sadly passed away :-(. Pete did very well in his lovely forever-foster home for so long, especially considering his health issues, but he became poorly with another bout of pancreatitis :-(. Our thoughts are with Pete’s foster family, who took great care of him on our behalf. Sleep tight, sweet boy x
Pete is a very pretty 16 year old Collie Cross boy who came into Oldies Club care after his owner’s death. For a while, Pete was home alone, with friends of his owner taking him out during the day – poor lad.
Pete moved into Oldies Club care and at first everything seemed great for Pete even at 16 he was given a clean bill of health from the vets apart from needing to gain a little bit of weight and having poor eyesight. As you can seen in the short video Pete might be an older boy, but he still enjoys a good run around:
Pete started to be sick with no apparent reason and became very lethargic. As he was underweight this was of concern and he was booked into the vets. They discovered his abdomen to be very tender and they took bloods to screen for a variety of conditions. The bloods revealed that Pete has pancreatitis so needed to start on a low fat diet and pain killers. The vet suggested an ultrasound to rule out any tumours.
Sadly the scan showed chronic pancreatitis, enlarged prostate (Pete isn’t neutered and deemed to delicate to undergo the operation), nodules on his pancreas and liver, cysts on his kidneys and some inflammation/nodules in the bowel. It was decided that due to his age it was better to treat the symptoms rather than put him under for major surgery for biopsies. At this point it was decided that Pete would remain in our care as a sponsor dog.
More recently Pete became very poorly being sick and having the runs so he was admitted to the vets and placed on a drip to help with his dehydration. He was diagnosed with a nasty stomach bug and was becoming so distressed it was agreed that his fosterer could bring him home but things were not looking good.
Miraculously Pete has made an incredible recovery. Holly his vet was amazed calling him a little fighter. The next step is to build him up and monitor his progress.
Pete is enjoying life in his foster home where he lives with a very laid back dog and a cat who rules the roost.
Even though he is 16 Pete gets very excited about going for walks and initially pulls on his lead. He has an extendable lead for the park and is only let off when it is not busy. This is because he has very poor eyesight and cannot easily locate you if he wanders off. His recall is good when called loudly (he might be a little bit hard of hearing when outside with other loud noises). He is always walked on a short lead at night to guide him around obstacles, including high kerbs and garden walls. He has three or four 20-minute walks a day. A gentle 30 minute mooch around the park would be enough for him, although he is by no means slow. He likes to trot around, sniffing every blade of grass :)
Pete’s favourite pastimes: Snoozing, going for walks, and the occasional tug of war with his toys.
Foster carer’s comments about Pete: “Pretty, companionable and gentle. He is still active and loves his walks, but also likes nothing more than to snooze in the company of his owner when indoors. He really is a gentle, undemanding soul. Pete was very poorly recently, but pulled through to the amazement of all the veterinary staff. He has so many medical problems, but is full of spirit. He’s an absolute trooper, bless him.”
Now that Pete is a sponsor dogs, he will remain in his wonderful foster home for the rest of his life, with Oldies Club continuing to cover all of his vet bills. 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 Pete or one of the other special oldies we are caring for in our sponsor dog scheme.