11/23/2025
Billy wanted us to give everyone and update!
If you have been following Billy’s story you know he came into rescue as a stray.
If you are new to Billy’s story here is a re-cap. In November 2023 IEBR was alerted to 2 emaciated bulldogs that were presumed to be breeder dumps. We named them Billy and Mildred. Billy had worms, a few ticks, and was as described was vastly underweight …skin and bones. Once he landed in foster care the first task was to get rid of those worms and get some nourishment into him and get him at a healthy weight. As Billy began to settle other problems peaked. His body was now reacting to all of the stress he had endured. He had severe diarrhea and had bouts of nausea and vomiting. These bouts seem to be triggered after he slept, and would last for hours at a time. Due to the vomiting Billy found himself in the ER a lot. The ER visits were necessary to ensure he did not aspirate while vomiting. That was another battle he did not need to overcome.
Long story short. After not being able to resolve the vomiting bouts Billy was seen by a specialist. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with Lymphangiectasia. This is a condition where the lacteals in the small intestines to dilate. There is no cure. The only thing we can do is treat the symptoms. He is on medication for the nausea, the vomiting and the diarrhea and doing well in that aspect with ongoing treatment.
Now for Billy’s biggest hurdle. Billy does not trust people. He has an ongoing fear that he will be hurt. We don’t know what type of abuse Billy endured before being rescued. He is not comfortable with anyone being behind him and he does not like to be touched on his hind end. Billy tends to be proactive in his defense. This makes vet visits challenging. It was one of the hurtles in getting to his initial diagnosis. He would need to be sedated with most visits to the ER which is not optimal. Billy is on several medications to quell his fear and anxiety. Billy has come a long way. For context it took Billy almost 18 months to trust his foster dad. Still today there are things that will trigger him in his current home environment.
With much thought and concern, the rescue had decided that Billy should not be adopted out. We feel it best for Billy to remain in the care of his current foster home where he feels most comfortable and safe.
We just don’t want to rock this boy’s world and put him in a place where he feels he has to protect himself (real or imagined) With that said Billy is officially a Forever Foster with IEBR.
Billy takes a host of medications both for his anxiety and his GI issues and is on special food. If you would like to support Billy’s care please support our fundraiser events or donate here http://iebrdonations.bigcartel.com/
We will continue to post about Billy here on our page.
