Cricket is doing AMAZING in his foster home with his little foster dog sibling Oreo and two cats!

Cricket has responded better than expected to his medical treatment and we are hopeful he’ll be able to avoid surgery, but time will tell.

In the meantime, Cricket is enjoying being spoiled and loved on!

We received an SOS from the shelter about this little guy: surrendered to the shelter as a senior, and then adopted out, only to be surrendered to the shelter again after he jumped off the couch and hurt his back and neck.  We didn’t even know then that Cricket was SO CUTE and the sweetest little fella; we just jumped in the car and headed to get him!

We took Cricket to the vet for diagnostics and to get him relief from the pain he was having. Diagnosis: cervical spine impingement. “Markedly narrowed/collapsed disk space with nascent spondylosis C4-C5.”

We also learned his teeth are in bad shape, obviously some extractions in the past with roots left behind, and many teeth ground down as though he’d been chewing on rocks.

After discussing Cricket’s history and diagnosis with our vet, we were told Cricket “could be a $10,000 dog.” But Cricket deserves a chance and that’s what we do, we give second chances.

We started with conservative treatment: pain medications, of course, and anti-inflammatories and Cricket has responded very well to medical management. We’ll see over the next few weeks if an MRI will be required and if Cricket will need surgery. Once he’s stable and doing well, we’ll be getting him in  for a dental.

Luckily, Cricket landed in a wonderful foster home and is getting a lot of TLC!