Please give Nina hope

Nina’s story is a heartbreaking case of neglect. She was confiscated for cruelty from a home in Northern Memphis. When we learned about her situation late the other night, we immediately sent an email pledging to take her in. Early the next morning, we began making arrangements for her transport. With most of our Southern Illinois medical team quarantining due to Covid exposure, Nina made a quick stop at our Admissions Center, was thoroughly examined by one of our veterinarians, and is traveling to our Morton Grove location where her diagnostics and treatment will continue.

Nina is an 8 year-old pitbull who is suffering from one massive growth and a second smaller one that are both hanging down from her abdomen. In addition, she has a significant skin infection on her back legs and haunches, and she is malnourished and extremely underweight.

Both tumors are highly vascularized, and surgery on them could potentially involve significant blood loss, if, in fact, they can be operated on at all. We are running diagnostic blood work, taking biopsies, and getting x-rays to determine the safest course of action. In the meantime, we are working to get her bodyweight up.

Nina needs clinical attention, and she will stay under the direct care of our veterinarians until she is able to be released to a medical foster. She is currently on pain medication, anti-inflammatories, and two kinds of antibiotics.

For now, her suite is filled with soft bedding, toys, extra food, and staff is checking on her constantly, giving her lots of TLC. They have told her about the traditional Wright-Way Rescue Thanksgiving dinner for our shelter dogs, and she is looking forward to a bowl full of turkey.

We wish that we could tell you Nina’s condition can be addressed quickly and that a positive outcome is assured. We can’t.

But we can be ready.

We can be ready to respond to her test results with the best shelter medicine possible; we can be ready to take extraordinary measures if they will make a difference; and we can be ready to give her the chance to live a much better life. We can be ready to give her hope.

Please help give Nina hope.