Percy's Story

Percy has had a rough life to be only a 1 year old. At 8 weeks old he fell from a 2nd story balcony and was taken to the shelter. That is when he joined Cause For Paws of North Carolina (CFP), and I (Harley) began fostering him. He had to have the ball of his hip removed because it fractured in the fall. That procedure is known as a Femoral Head Ostectomy. It was only a couple of weeks later that we suspected his shoulder had also been fractured. Luckily it was not, but he did have to have another surgery to put the joint back in place. After these two surgeries, he began to be a real puppy. He was able to go for walks and play with toys.

Even though he was growing, he was not retaining his training, and continued to act like an 8 weeks old puppy. I also noticed he would tilt his head a little and shake. He would even try to walk across the room when these episodes occurred and it looked like a drunken person trying to walk down a hallway. He struggled to lean over and eat/drink. Something was not right. We could not figure out what was causing it. It is similar to an epileptic dog, but the seizure like episodes were never in full force. We tried a few different medications to see if we could get them under control, but nothing seemed to make a difference. CFP never hesitated when it came to Percy’s medical needs. They too wanted what was best for him and ensure that he was not in any pain. We got an appointment at NC State for him to visit the neurology department. He had an MRI done, along with many other tests, to find out what was causing Percy’s problems.

 We learned that he had a brain bleed, that most likely occurred when he fell, and that it was the size of a pencil eraser. The location of it is what causes Percy to continue to have these episodes, and causes him to believe he is still only 8 weeks old. They were able to prescribe a medication, which he takes 3 times a day, which controls most of his episodes. He went from having 25-30 a day to only having about 10 a week. He can function. He can walk across the room. He can securely drink water. These might sound like little things, but for Percy, they are huge! We also learned that he is partially blind and has a slow reaction time. None of this slows him down at all! Yes his story is sad, but he has come so far. Percy will always have these episodes, and he will always believe that he is 8 weeks old. Percy has to stay active so his legs do not get stiff and build up scar tissue, and keep his medicine in his system. We fostered Percy for 10 months, and after going through all of this with Percy and knowing how to manage his needs, my husband and I adopted him on November 25th 2017! We are excited to base this business around him, and love even more that we are able to donate a portion back to rescues like Cause For Paws so they can continue helping special needs dogs like Percy.