Happy Rescueversary Rambo!

In June, we normally celebrate our anniversary (we just celebrated our 7th, click here) but this year we are also celebrating Rambo's rescueversary! It was one year ago today that we pulled Rambo from the Baldwin Park Animal Care center, suffering horribly and in a lot of pain. At the time we rescued him, we were told he had an auto immune disease, that he may have chemical burns, and that he probably didn't have long.

To say that Rambo was in bad shape when we got him doesn't do it justice. But here's the thing, as we learned more about what was wrong with him, and how to treat him, it looked like he was getting worse.

Rambo has pemphigus, an autoimmune skin disease. As Rambo is a rescue, we have no idea what life was like for him before we found him, and we have no idea when the symptoms first started appearing. As we started his treatment plan, at times it was alarming and concerning based on his appearance whether we were doing good or he was getting worse. But the one thing we knew without a doubt was that he was feeling better, he was happy, and he loved being around his people.

Rambo (and our rescue, Leave No Paws Behind) has had the good fortune of partnering with The Pet Doctors of Sherman Oaks, who we use as our vet for all of our rescues, and specifically Dr Missy Achenbach, who has been Rambo's primary care vet since we rescued him. And it was through her that we found The Animal Dermatology Clinic and Dr John Angus. Dr Achenbach and Dr Angus developed Rambo's recovery protocol, which we have followed very strictly. There is a video posted below of Dr Achenbach talking about what we have done through the last year to get Rambo to where he is today.

Rambo spent 7 1/2 months of his recovery living at the Pet Dr's. We spent countless hours trying to find a foster for him, trying to find someplace suitable for him, knowing that his road to recovery was still a very long one. The reality is, the time spent there was probably the best thing we could do for him to help assure that his recovery would stick, that he would continue down the road towards being healthy. His road was not easy, and with this particular disease, not well traveled.

When it became obvious to us that we may not find a good fit for Rambo (he has many restrictions due to his disease, and the medications he is on) our founder, Toby Wisneski did some soul searching. We started off with a play date in January of this year, bringing Rambo over to her home to see how he did. Again, we have no idea what his previous life was like, was he an indoor dog? Did he only live outside? Was he house trained? We had spent a lot of time leading up to this taking him on walks, teaching him sit and down, etc. But did he know how to live with someone?

Well, that was all it took. Rambo is a great room mate, so good in the house, and these two fell in love. Rambo found his forever home right along side his number one fan and biggest advocate. And just look at him now! Most of his hair has grown back, he is at a great weight, and he is happy. Rambo truly hit the lottery. If you have been following along with Rambo all year, or this is the first time you've seen him, but are moved by his story, please consider a donation on his behalf, so we can continue to help him and other homeless animals like him in the Southern California area. Please click on www.leavenopawsbehind.org/donate

Here is a very special video we did with Dr Achenbach to celebrate Rambo's past year, talking about his initial prognosis, how far he's come, and where he is today. We hope you enjoy!

We hope you have been as amazed at Rambo's transformation as we have, and we hope you continue to follow along with him and all of our other rescues on our Facebook page. As always, none of this is possible without your help and support. Thank you for continuing to help us help them.