You know the saying ‘everything happens for a reason’? And while we do believe this saying to be true, sometimes, we have difficulty understanding the reasoning behind it. Because the one question we seem to be constantly asking ourselves is "why are some animals forced to suffer and endure one setback after another?" And sadly, these sweet two siblings, Kitana & Velvet are prime examples of this.
A little less than a year ago, TLC K9 Rescue rescued Kitana and Velvet from the harsh streets of Tijuana, Mexico. These sweet sisters were doing their very best to survive and fend for themselves, but sadly, this wasn’t a battle they were winning. They were hanging around a local mechanic shop as they always did, waiting for the employees to throw her their scraps for lunch. After doing so, they devoured the food in minutes since this was her first meal in some time. However, before Kitana knew it, all she could feel was a roaring sense of pain…the man had thrown a chicken bone, and that bone was now sticking out of the roof of her mouth, right next to her eye.
When we saw the pictures of Kitana and Velvet, we were devastated and knew we needed to help and time was of the essence. Thankfully, Velvet was okay and we placed her in a foster home, but we rushed Kitana to the vet and it was discovered just how badly this poor girl was suffering. She had a deviated septum, a misaligned jaw, a k9 tooth that was hitting her top gumline which created a hole and even more pain when she chews, and several fractured and missing baby teeth due to the trauma. One of her adult teeth was actually lodged fairly close to her eye socket causing a nasal blockage so she couldn’t breathe well, leaving quite a bit of bone loss and infection in that area as well.
Well, months later and a $5k surgery, we were SO excited that our sweet girl was finally nursed back to health! Kitana and her sister were fully vetted and spayed, and ready to find their forevers! We thought they would be adopted in no time. But for one reason or another, they weren’t and they continued to patiently wait for their perfect families in their forever homes. Then, just the other day, we started to notice that Kitana suddenly began limping. And then a couple of days later, we were informed by Velvet’s foster that she started limping as well.
Confused and terrified (especially after everything they have endured, especially Kitana), we immediately took them to the vet to get to the bottom of it. To our dismay, BOTH Kitana and Velvet have double hip dysphasia. You see, Hip dysplasia is a common skeletal condition often seen in large or giant breed dogs. And in simple terms, it is a deformity of the hip that occurs during growth. Unfortunately, Hip dysplasia is hereditary and factors such as genetics and lack of nutrition contribute to it. Although we thought Kitana and Velvet’s neglectful past was a distant memory, we were so very wrong and they are now forced to pay the price...once again. 💔
This all being said, both Kitana and Velvet need FHO surgery to correct their double Hip Dysplasia to restore their mobility! These girls deserve to live a pain-free life, but we are looking at a $5k surgery….each. To say we are heartbroken and terrified, would be an understatement. Between our sweet little Suzy’s three surgeries, we cannot even fathom how we are supposed to raise $10k to help our sweet girls. Needless to say, we need our village now more than ever. Whether you are able to donate to Kitana and Velvet’s life-altering surgery or send them a much-needed item from their wishlist to aid in their healing, everything adds up and means more to us than you know. No matter the size or amount, you are making a difference! Thank you so much in advance for your love and kindness, we couldn’t do it without you!