Romeo's Rescue was born out of love.  Our family always adopted rescue dogs and cats.  In 2014, we adopted a 9 month old Bichon named Romeo.  Romeo had been caged in a flea market and was rescued by Shih Tzus & Furbabies  (a small breed dog rescue organization).   While he had some physical issues that required medical attention, he was sweet and lovable and just wanted to love and be loved.  At a tender age of five,  Romeo developed Cancer.  Mast Cell Tumor was the specific diagnosis.  We understood that Romeo's tumor was very small and graded a very low stage 2  and felt confident that we caught it early enough and that he would continue to have a full and happy life.  Less than 5 months later, he developed a huge Mast Cell on his lymph node. After consulting with an Oncologist, we agreed  that we needed to remove the cell.

It was extremely rare that his cancer was so aggressive after the  initial tumor had been removed.  These cells are unpredictable and Romeo was clearly in the 1% of dogs that follow this rare aggressive path.  We felt as if our world had been pulled out from under us.  We were able to start chemo 3 days a week at home and Romeo had responded quite well the first two months.  The cancer had not spread into any of the other organs at this point and while we knew the prognosis was still not good, we were committed to ensuring that Romeo had the best and happiest life he could for however long he was able to.  Unexpectedly, Romeo had an acute Pancreatitis attack and from there the cancer spread into the liver and progressively he was spiraling downward.  The hardest part for any fur baby parent is to make the decision to act kindly and humanely while knowing that you did everything in your power to support your precious pet.  While we have adopted many animals over the last 30+ years and have had our share of trials and tribulations, this was heart wrenching and we couldn't come to terms with Romeo's life being cut so short and made to suffer so.  We knew immediately that we wanted to do more and help others who would go through what we did.  While we understand we can't save every animal, it is our goal to know that Romeo's Rescue will make a difference.