We cant save all dogs but, this week, we can save one.
MEET ELLA
Ella is a 5 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with severe Syringomyelia. Syringomyelia (SM) means that Ella’s skull is too small for her brain. The compression causes neurological damage resulting in bodily sensations of extreme pain. This condition particularly affects Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
Ella had come through surgery successfully and the results during her first six months looked good, but now it appears that scar tissue is causing a recurrance of symptoms. Ella needs a new MRI and possibly another surgery.
Ella’s owner, having already spent her savings, has no way to afford more medical care. The only help left will have to come from us.
WAYS TO HELP
- Blog about Ella. You can use Jana Rade’s, Dino Dogan’s and this post for reference.
- Copy the widget above to fundraise on your website.
- Place this post on your Facebook profile and ask others to do the same.
- Tweet the following this week at least few times a day:
Give Ella Your Umbrella, Ella ella, ay ay http://retwt.me/1Oqat 5 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel needs your help #syringomyelia
Together, we can make a difference!
For more about Syringomyelia, see the video below.
I hope Ella can get the help she needs to be pain free. What a beautiful dog.
Thank you so much for helping Ella! ((( )))
This is such a painful condition, let's get Ella the help she needs!
Me too, Peggy!
Jana, thanks for alerting me to Ella's condition in the first place. I had never heard of it until now. Poor girl. Glad to see that @RichellUsa is willing to donate product for a fundraiser for her!
I'm getting very concerned over this poor little Ella – whom started out as a blenheim, and now is a tricolor??? Yes, I've been following her story, from the very begining.Please get to the bottom this.
Hi Karen,
I'm sure the answer is a simple case of need. Bloggers without graphics to accompany their posts often grab free graphics from the Flickr Commons – just as the video is borrowed to make a point. I included the photo above from another blogger covering Ella's fight and assumed it was the correct dog. The original story on Ella (http://www.fightforella.blogspot.com/) features one large photo with text through it, a graphic that doesn't read well when shrunk.
Updated 8/27: I have posted an actual picture of Ella, removing the unknown Cavalier.
On August 27th. I am donating 100% of the proceeds from my store to Ella for her treatment. Buy a collar & help a Cavalier 🙂 You can read more about it here;
http://www.doggiestylish.com/store/2010/08/lets-h…
Karen, that is terrific news! Your collars are beautiful and to buy one knowing that Ella and Annie are going to benefit from a purchase is the best kind of icing on the cake!
I think it should be mentioned that Ella is getting her MRI for free
http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/showthread.php… The decision to do a very controversial and fairly unsuccessful surgery is choice rather than necessity. Most dogs with SM in varying degrees can be managed very successfully through very cost effective medication plans. Surgery is not the advocated treatment for most Neurologists including Clare Rusbridge. It is in its infancy and so far proven to have very low success rates and high incidents of failure.
If you are truly interested in helping Cavaliers I'd suggest donating to ongoing research projects including "Finding the Gene – through the Genome Project in Montreal http://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/research…. or the Foetal Tissue Research Project, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=… of which are in desperate need of funding.
That way the many breeds who are being discovered to have syringomyelia including the ckcs, brussels griffon, maltese, yorkie, shih zu, pug, Pomeranian, papillion, bulldogs, and many others with increasing prominence can benefit from discovering more about this horrible condition. http://www.friends-of-lola.com/8.html
I wish Ella the best and I hope that her donated MRI sheds light on what she is going through and her medications can be re-evaluated so that she can be more comfortable in her day to day life.
Thank you for the forum link. As I read it, the MRI was offered in June but there is still question about whether or not the doctor will make good on that offer. According to the latest post on August 17th, Annie (Ella's mom) has scheduled the second MRI for September 1. Still, there is no mention of whether this will be free or not.
As for contributing to the greater good, I agree wholeheartedly. I thank you for the links to the fabulous research resources. When we help them all, we certainly help one like Ella.
Please know that I also feel strongly that Annie should not have to make difficult medical decisions for Ella based on a lack of money. I don't know Annie or Ella personally, but when I read about Ella on Jana Rade's blog, Dawg Business (http://dawgbusiness.blogspot.com/), I was deeply moved and wanted to help. Jana has taken up this cause to the fullest extent and I applaud her for it. It matters to her and it now matters to me.
For my part, I have chosen to support Annie as much as Ella, giving Annie the financial resources offers her the freedom to choose what is best for her dog and for her. I stand by helping this owner cope and would hope somebody would do the same for me.
Sometimes it's not about the greater good. Sometimes it's about a community coming together to support an individual during an extremely difficult and emotional time. That is my motivation. It is, of course, your choice whether you wish to take part or not.
Thank you again for the very useful information. There is no reason why these forms of assistance have to be mutually exclusive. Contributing to research and helping this distraught owner can all be part of the plan.
Hi, that was a very interesting read. I love Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, they are so loving. I love them so much I run the Website CavalierKingCharlesSpaniel.com which you might find interesting, as it also has a lot of info on the breed.