Help Hospice Dog Walter Settle Into Retirement

Walter is a nearly 14-year-old Rat Terrier with quite a story—and a few mysteries we may never solve. He was found wandering at Beech Fork State Park in Wayne County, West Virginia, where he had apparently been on his own for about two days before animal control picked him up.

Thankfully, Walter has a microchip. When we looked up his original profile, we found the cutest little puppy picture and his date of birth: December 28, 2012. We also learned that Walter was registered to someone in California. That phone number is no longer in service, and we have absolutely no idea how this little California boy ended up clear across the country in West Virginia almost 14 years later. Walter was never reclaimed.

When it became clear that this little old man had some significant medical problems, One by One accepted him so that whatever time Walter has left would not be spent in a shelter kennel.

We knew immediately that his mouth was in terrible shape. He has severe periodontal disease, receding gums, heavy tartar, teeth pointing in all sorts of directions, and a small mass in his mouth. But that wasn’t our biggest concern.

Walter has a significant heart murmur, so we had bloodwork and chest X-rays performed to get a better picture of what was happening. Sadly, the X-rays revealed a mass associated with Walter’s heart that is larger than his heart itself. There are also changes in his lungs that could represent interstitial lung disease or possibly cancer.

He also has a collapsing trachea, which explains the coughing fits we sometimes see.

Walter has been started on Vetmedin to support his heart and prednisolone in hopes of slowing the growth of the mass. The prednisolone is a bit of a double-edged sword because it can also make his heart work harder, so we are tapering it and watching closely to see how he does. Because of his lung disease and coughing, his veterinarian also prescribed an inhaler, and we’ve ordered an AeroChamber so we can administer it properly. And we’re pretty sure Walter is deaf.

That’s a lot for one little 14-year-old body. So you might wonder why we don’t simply say goodbye. Here’s the thing: nobody told Walter he’s sick. Walter has a wonderful appetite and thoroughly enjoys his Cesar meals twice a day. He loves chewy treats. He goes absolutely WILD for spray cheese.

And despite having a mouth that makes us cringe just looking at it, one of his favorite pastimes is chewing on a knuckle bone. Walter is dog friendly. He’s cat friendly. He loves people and freely hands out kisses. And perhaps his favorite thing of all is taking walks “with the big dogs.” We bought him his own little harness so there is no pressure on his collapsing trachea, and off he goes with the pack—those little legs moving and his tiny nubby tail wagging the entire way.

Walter doesn’t know what his X-rays look like. He doesn’t know there’s a mass bigger than his heart. He doesn’t know that he’s almost 14 or that somewhere along the way, his life carried him all the way from California to West Virginia.

Walter only knows today. And today, there are meals he loves, treats to beg for, bones to chew, big dogs to walk with, people to kiss, and a soft place to sleep.

Someday, Walter may tell us that those things aren’t enough anymore. But today is not that day. So for however many good days this little old man has left, Walter has people again. And we are going to make sure every one of those days counts.