Eeyore (also known as BigE) is a gorgeous 5.5-year-old Neapolitan mastiff who has had a life of ups and downs, but has remained the sweetest, gentlest dog we have encountered. BigE loves everyone he meets and gladly sits with any new friends and takes the opportunity to rest his heavy head. What we can piece together of his life before CCR makes our hearts break. Bought as a dog to be shown in the ring, it appears the first year or two if his life was spent training, showing, and being well taken care of. At some point after this, he was transitioned into a stud dog and things appeared to take a turn for the worse. Fast forward ~3 years, and BigE was seized from the breeder under cruelty situations. A total of 13 dog were seized, sadly leaving many behind who didn’t fit the full criteria for cruelty. Of those 13 dogs, 8 were Neapolitan mastiffs, and 2 were already deceased. Our sweet boy was in the worst condition, arriving with many open wounds, severe skin, ear, and eye infections, and worst of all, weighing only 114 lbs. ( he is currently 170lbs). How he survived at all, we will never know. Whats more than that, is how he remained so happy and loving.

After 7 months in the shelter being nursed back to health, the breeder finally agreed to surrender is dogs, allowing them to be placed. A volunteer who had seen these dogs in the shelter while visiting other corsos that CCR rescued was contacted and we sprang into action to make a plan to get him a home.

Sadly, as if he hasn’t been through enough, BigE suffered a severe complication following his neuter. He immediately developed a scrotal hematoma, which is a relatively common event in dogs of his size and age. What is not common, is how severe his hematoma became. We will spare you the gruesome photos, but his scrotum swelled to the size of large cantaloupe. He struggled to walk, sit, and even lay down comfortably. His foster mom was doing everything possible to help him including providing pain medication, icing, hot packs, etc. As days went by the swelling worsened, and eventually was so severe that his neuter incision was pulled open. We immediately got him back in for a revision surgery to try to close the site and stop the active bleeding. The incision was closed but the vets were not optimistic that it would hold due to how severe the swelling was. An ablation was discussed at this time, but he was not a good candidate and there was major concern that the new wound would be unable to hold together.

Unfortunately, the vet was correct, and the revision surgery did not hold. At this point it was decided it was best to treat this as an open wound, keeping him clean, comfortable and allowing the hematoma to drain from the incision site. As you can all imagine, this was a VERY messy process, but we knew BigE would feel better and better as the pressure was relieved from his scrotum. After about a week of drainage, his foster noticed the discharge had become purulent and immediately rushed him back to a vet. His scrotal hematoma had abscess and was now filled with pockets of puss and infection. We immediately sent out for a culture to get him started on the appropriate antibiotics. Thankfully, his foster was once a vet tech and was able to handle a lot of his medical care at home, including sterile flushing his scrotum via his incision several times a day to help remove as much infection as possible. This would have been impossible to achieve without sedation and hospitalization if this dog wasn’t who he is…. The most patient, gentle, and loving dog who just seems to know we are trying to help him. The appropriate antibiotics were started a few days later, and we finally feel as though he is on the path to a full recovery. We are so grateful for all the veterinary support we have had, from both the shelter and private vets to get this sweet boy back on track. While BigE is worth EVERY PENNY we have spent, many big dog owners know how quickly surgical and medication costs can add up. His 6-week course of antibiotics alone is approximately $1,500 so we are turning to our CCR family to help offset some of his costs. ANY amount is truly appreciated, and BigE will gladly repay you with all his love.