RIZA -BOXER
STATE: near Hartford,CT
AGE: 8 MOS
DOB: 04/24/23
WEIGHT: about 44 lbs
SEX: female
NEUT/UTD: no/Yes
COAT COLOR: brindle
CHILDREN under 4: yes
CHILDREN OVER 4: yes
SEPARATION ANXIETY: No
OTHER DOGS: Yes
CATS: no (no history)
CRATE TRAINED: yes
HOUSE TRAINED: mostly
OBEDIENCE TRAINED: No
LEASH TRAINED: yes
MICROCHIPPED: unsure
ADOPTION FEE: $725 (includes $50 refundable neuter deposit)
(Since I’m a baby I need home with someone home more often. Ex: work at home, retired, at home parent, work opposite, etc)
DONATIONS NEEDED TO COVER $12,000 LIVER SHUNT SURGERY! Mail check to SCBR PO Box 374, COVENTRY, CT 06238 or click here to get PayPal link: secondchanceboxer.com Or use paypal address cummingsnora@gmail.com or Go Fund Me link here: https://gofund.me/db8cfcd8
1/14/24-Riza is doing very well after her surgery & she still does & always has acted like a happy normal boxer puppy. Here are the post surgery medical needs of Riza for anyone that adopts her. Also to be aware these costs/post visits will be at her new owner’s own vet & their expense as rescue only covers up until adoption. In 3 months & again in 6 months she will need follow up bloodwork to check her levels to see how the surgery has helped her liver. She cannot be spayed while in rescue but will need done by her new home. The timing of her spay will be based on what your vet says after her 3 month check-up. Riza has had anemia since she came into rescue (due to has not been able to have protein). Now that the surgery was done she will need to be on an over the counter iron supplement…same as get for humans for hundreds of pills for just couple dollars at Walmart, etc. At her 3 month check up if she is no longer anemic the iron supplement can probably be stopped. She has also been on Prilosec (OTC human grade) for nausea, metronidazole (antibiotic) & lactulose(for constipation). These 3 medicines are not very expensive & will be tapered down by your vet over next few months with hopes that once her liver is working better then all can be stopped. Lastly, she is still on a hepatic veterinary diet (very low protein) which runs around $5 per lb & needs to remain on it for at least 6 months. After that she may be able to come off it & go to normal food, but there is a chance she may be on it the rest of her life.
1/10/24-Thank you everyone for helping Riza financially & with prayers, good vibes & thoughts & to her foster mom Nancy who has been diligent with her health & care. Riza made it through her liver shunt surgery successfully yesterday at Tufts & is in recovery. Riza is doing well this morning & her foster mom is on her way now to go pick her up. More updates as she recovers & she will finally be able to be adopted around 2/1!
12/19/23-Riza went to Tufts & she is a perfect candidate for liver shunt surgery where they put in a mesh stent with coils. Without surgery & only on medicine she may make it to only 2-3 years but with surgery she can live to be 7-8 years or more. The cost for surgery, pre & post visits, medicines plus prescription food for the last 4 months is about $12,000! Luckily they are able to squeeze her in for surgery but it is in less than 3 weeks, on Tuesday 1/9! We desperately need to get donations to cover these costs. She is such a sweet puppy that deserves a great healthy long life.
12/16/23-Riza is doing extremely well. She’s also growing and developing her boxer personality playing with her BFF boxer puppy Greta. She’s strong and happy. Tuesday 12/19 she goes to Tufts University Foster animal hospital for her pre op bloodwork & our consultation with Dr Rush for the repair of her internal liver shunt. Please keep good thoughts and prayers for a successful visit.
10/13/23-Hi everyone, my name is Riza and foster mom Nancy says she needs to do an update about me….but I wanted to do it because I’m smart and been really good. So here goes.
Foster mom talked to a place called Tufts University and they can fix my liver shunt, she says they have a lot of really smart and talented Dr’s there. Plus my Dr here in CT thought it was the best place for me to go, and he talked to them and , so Nancy is bringing me there on December 18th for my pre surgery bloodwork and I’ll get to meet a lot of new people and see for myself where I’m going to have my liver fixed. My liver shunt surgery according to Tufts is going to be about $12,000! Yikes! Please help me out by making a donation, it would be pawsome! Donations can be mailed to SCBR PO Box 374, COVENTRY, CT 06238 or click here to get PayPal link: https://secondchanceboxer.com/?page_id=659 Or use paypal address cummingsnora@gmail.com. Thank you for helping save my life with this surgery! Right now I am also required to be on a veterinary only liver diet dry food with little added veterinary liver diet frozen food & treats cost about $150/month total. I love meeting new people. Nancy says I’ll be treated like a princess, sounds good to me. So until then, I’m going to stay here and continue to grow and play with my buff Greta, and dream about the lucky family who gets to adopt me. Oh yes, I’m also supposed to tell you all that I love fruit, and raw carrots, baby ones. So Nancy says you’ll need to go grocery shopping for me. I love
Strawberries
Blueberries
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Pineapple
Apples
Bananas
Cranberry sauce
So now you’ll know my favorite snacks. I’ll talk to you all soon! Love, Riza
10/1/23-Hi everyone, Riza here! I wanted to tell you all about the week-long slumber party I got to go to while my foster mom was away. I was such a brave girl when I got dropped off at a new house, and even more so when I was greeted by 3 big doggies! The girl dogs were ok, but they are a lot older than me and all I want to do is play so they kind of stayed away. The boy though….OMG I think I have a new boyfriend!! He’s so big and handsome and we had a great time non-stop playing in the house and doing zoomies outside in the yard. I also got to go on walks and was surprised my little legs kept up with the big dogs. I did have a few accidents in the house, but foster aunt & uncle didn’t get too mad at me. They still snuggled me all the time and even let me try a few new treats like yogurt, canned carrots, and my new favorite fruit: pears! I also learned from the other doggies how much fun it is to crunch this cold & slippery treat called “ice cubies”. I was comfy & quiet in my crate and took my daily medicine like a good girl ‘cuz I want them to like me, so I get to visit again. I missed my foster
& mates, but I had sooooo much fun.
9/5/23-This week we also discovered special little treats for Riza, as she can’t really have most dog treats we normally give our dogs.
Riza loves watermelon, orange melon and blueberries!
9/4/23-It’s been a busy week for little Riza and we know you are all waiting to hear how she is doing. Riza is thriving, she’s grown a whole inch this week and acclimated to fitting in with 3 other dogs, an aged boxer boy, a feisty Boston terrier, and of course Greta who is 2 weeks older than Riza and just as active despite her cardiac issues. While Riza does have a liver shunt that is going to require a surgical procedure, our research so far has indicated that several vets do not advise this procedure until she is approximately 8 months old. And it is a very specialized procedure.
Her absolutely awesome owners did have great veterinary research and tests done, however we still need to do more in researching where, when and who will be her BEST option for the procedure. Unfortunately, this alone can take weeks. We are going to look into Tufts as well as Cornell for this procedure. For now we are treating Riza medically. She’s on prilosec 2 times a day, and metronidazole liquid 2 times a day, and lactulose liquid 3 times a day. She’s on prescription food designed to treat her hepatic issues, this she gets 3 times a day.
For now, she’s loved and cuddled and playful and happy. We will continue to love her while she’s here.
8/28/23-Riza was nervous at first with the dogs in her foster home but now she is having a blast playing with Greta, the other boxer puppy! She is crate trained, mostly potty trained & does really well walking on a leash.
8/27/23-Riza (Ree-zha) is a very sweet special needs 18 week old brindle boxer girl, with a tail! She is an owner surrender that came into rescue today thanks to her transport volunteer Tiffany. Her owner realized sadly he could not continue to provide medically/financially for Riza. He gave her to rescue to get the help she needs & find her a new home that could take on any of her future medical needs. Riza was born in a shelter in NYC & adopted out several weeks later when she was old enough. After just a couple of days, her new owner found out they were severely allergic to dogs. Riza was then taken in by a friend who took excellent care of her & loved her. She almost immediately was showing signs of being very sick. After many vet visits, very extensive (& expensive!) testing, etc it was found she has a portosystemic liver shunt. She underwent a CT scan to confirm and further characterize her shunt. They determined Riza’s shunt is intrahepatic (the connection is within the liver). This shunt requires she be on special hepatic food & will require several thousands more in vet visits & surgery to fix the shunt so she can have a chance to live a long healthy life. Riza has an appointment with our vet Tuesday 8/29 to determine the next steps to get her the necessary surgery. More updates later in the week after her vet visit.