Archer’s story
On the twelfth of October 2021, Archer was surrendered to Blue Cross when his previous owners felt they could no longer provide him with the life he deserved.
He seemed a little weathered, with fly-bitten ear tips, visible skin issues and a thin coat.
As with every animal that comes into our care, Archer went off to the vets for his routine vet check, where Dr. Rebecca took note of his poor skin and coat health and sent off a blood sample to try and figure out the cause.
Quite unexpectedly, when these results came back, we discovered that there was in fact a much larger issue than a simple case of skin allergies or dermatitis, and that poor Archer had a disease called immune-mediated thrombocytopenia. This is a disease in which his immune system destroys his own platelets, putting him at risk of excessive bleeding. The treatment for an animal in Archer’s condition includes medication that unfortunately weakens his immune system, essentially so that it will stop attacking itself.
Without the dedication of our amazing vets and taking the care to meticulously look over not only Archer but all of our animals, Archer’s condition may have been overlooked, leaving him in discomfort and with a poor quality of life while his condition progressed. It truly does go to show that regular vet visits and checking out that little issue that you’re sure is nothing can be so important to your animal’s life.
And so, we started the long road of attempting to stabilize Archer’s immune disease and getting him to a point where we were confident that his medical requirements would be manageable for his future family.
Although the several medications he was prescribed did wonders and quickly got his platelets back to normal levels, they weakened his immune system which meant that Archer was at a high risk of contracting – and being a lot more affected by – diseases than normal.
As if his risk of excessive bleeding wasn’t enough! Poor guy!
Because of this, our biggest hurdle was getting his body to keep working as it should with as little medical assistance as possible so that he could live a better, less constrained and much more exciting life.
So, with many visits to our amazing vet clinic @NorthCroydonVetClinic and lots of help from Dr. Rebecca, we set out to slowly wean Archer off most of his medication.
After three months, although he still required tablets morning and night and monthly blood tests to ensure he was still on track, we decided it was finally time for Archer to begin his search for his forever family.
Of course, Archer was looking for a pretty special home. He was a pretty unique character, who wasn’t overly fussed with lots of pats and affection from his human friends, but instead would’ve gladly spent his days enjoying a challenging food puzzle or obsessively rounding up his endless supply of tennis balls!
Sadly, his special personality, along with his existing medical condition that would require extra care for life, meant that Archer had to wait a long time for his chance at a home to come along.
In the end, Archer had to wait a total of three-hundred and sixty-six days in the shelter, contracted and overcame multiple health setbacks, had over fifteen blood tests, and an even larger number of vet visits before he found his home.
The day after we ‘celebrated’ Archer’s one-year anniversary at Blue Cross, he finally found a wonderful family who loved him for who he was, medical hurdles and all, and gave him a loving home.
Since his adoption, Archer has celebrated a birthday with his family where he got a very special breakfast and an outing that involved a puppachino, has been to the beach, and is overall deservedly spoilt rotten and very loved.
You can even follow Archer and his adventures on his very own Instagram account! @archerthekelpie
Anywhere else, Archer could’ve been viewed as a lost cause and not given a second chance at a fulfilling life. We were only able to give him this chance and the crucial medical care that he received through the ongoing support of our dedicated community. You really do make a difference, and we can continue creating second chances for animals like Archer and Ralph with your help. Animals deserve a second chance. Just like we do.
Please consider donating to Ralph’s Legacy today, so that we can continue providing animals with the critical care they need to be able to find their forever homes.
