Karen and Buddy
On Mother’s Day, the Project Street Vet team met Karen and her baby Buddy at a clinic for individuals experiencing homelessness in downtown San Diego, California. When Karen rescued Buddy, he was fragile and malnourished. Buddy quickly became Karen’s travel partner and “reason for living” – they do everything together.
After examining Buddy, Dr. Kwane noticed a large bulge on Buddy’s rear. Karen told him that it had been getting larger and could tell Buddy was in pain. She had been desperately trying to save enough money to take him to the vet, but simply could not afford it.
Dr. Kwane determined that Buddy had one of the largest perineal hernia’s he had ever seen and would need surgery. A perineal hernia is a condition seen in dogs and cats where the pelvic diaphragm becomes weakened resulting in displacement of organs into surrounding areas. The cause of these hernias is not totally understood, but Buddy needed the surgery to correct the issue and relieve his pain. Dr. Kwane told Karen our team could cover the cost, and she broke down in tears.
As we typically do, we reached out to our community partners to help get the process in motion. Karen lived out of an RV that wasn't working properly and we needed to coordinate getting Buddy to Los Angeles to see a specialist, Dr. Antonio Pedraza. Dr. Kwane personally volunteered to take him there, and a couple weeks later Karen packed a bag for Buddy full of treats and his blanket, then they were off.
Buddy’s surgery went great! After a few days of recovery at the hospital, he was delivered back to Karen who was overjoyed to have her baby home. Shortly after, Dr. Kwane visited Karen and Buddy to remove his stitches and make sure his recovery was going well – everything looked amazing. Karen was so thankful that Buddy’s pain was relieved and was grateful for the assistance they both received. This great story was made possible thanks to our generous supporters.
