Our Cherished Pet, Sparky

Sparky first came into the Cherished Pets circle in 2015 when his human, Jean, acquired him from an elderly person who had passed.
Jean desperately missed her first little dog and could not wait to find another companion.

Sparky was perfect. A cheeky little Shih Tzu cross, Sparky lives up to his name. Cheerful, enthusiastic, cheeky and adores his human. Their daily routine involves a couple of toddle walks, games with toys and lots of cuddles.

In her late 80s at the time, Jean needed physical assistance to keep Sparky healthy and well.

Through our community project, Glenda, our wonderful Community Vet nurse has been visiting him monthly for seven years to ensure his wellness needs are met.

Glenda baths and trims Sparky, and ensures he receives all his preventative health care.

During these years Jean has had her own periods of illness and has needed to access our respite care service, where our wonderful volunteer, Heather, minds Sparky until Jean is well again.

Together Team Sparky ensures he is kept healthy and well and together with Jean.

Sparky is now an elder dog himself and requires more veterinary care.

He has in recent times had blood tests and a dental procedure at our Cherished Pets vet clinic in Ocean Grove. We are able to transfer him to his visits as Jean cannot drive the distance.

Sparky’s health took a turn for the worse in February when a stumble down the back stairs led to a disc prolapse in his back and he was paralysed.

This was an emergency and together our team rallied at short notice to create a plan.

Sparky needed high level nursing support through the critical first two weeks, something Jean simply cannot provide. Glenda came to the rescue and has loved, nursed and supported Sparky through his rehabilitation program.

This has included multiple visits to Dr Kim Lim from Geelong Creatures Comfort. The wonderful news is that Sparky has responded amazingly well and is walking again and well on the mend. He is still in the daily care of dear Glenda, while we arrange a ramp to be installed for Sparky to access his back garden.

Jean tells us, “Cherished Pets is wonderful. I couldn’t do without them. Glenda is wonderful and I look forward to seeing her every month and calling her on the phone. I cannot wait to have Sparky home again with me. Thank you, Cherished Pets,”.

Cherished Pets provides home pet care assistance and respite pet care to eligible people in the community. For more information contact [email protected] or call 5222 2453.

How you can help

By generously donating to the Regular Monthly Giving program, we can ensure best friends can stay together and more people in crisis can keep their pets by their side. Donations are 100 per cent tax deductible, and your regular gift can help in these ways:

$5 can work and vaccinate a dog of an elderly pensioner
$10 a dog can visit a boarding kennel whilst a family seeks safety from domestic violence
$15 covers the cost of a community vet home visit to ensure a pet is kept healthy
$20 can support the pet of a vulnerable community member for a year so they can stay together.

For more information about the Regular Monthly Giving program, go to https://chuffed.org/project/help-keep-them-together or contact [email protected]