A Walking Skeleton and a Unexpected Cure: Sir Walter’s Unbelievable Turnaround

Sir Walter is a Potcake who was starving on the streets of the Bahamas. His jaw was broken, and he could only open his mouth about one centimeter. It’s hard enough for a street dog to survive, but when food was available, Walter could barely eat it. This poor boy was literally starving to death.

When our friends at BAARK! took him in, he weighed just 31 pounds and was a walking skeleton. On top of that, he had Ehlichia, Anaplasmosis and a bad case of heartworms. They don't have any orthopedic or dental surgeons in the Bahamas, so we took him into FUR.

Since we brought him to Florida and into FUR, Walter has slowly but steadily gained weight. We took him to see Dr. Holloway at Veterinary Dental Specialties, where a CT scan confirmed that his jaw was essentially frozen shut.

We had a plan for surgery, but before we could move forward, Walter vomited and aspirated, causing pneumonia. His surgery had to be postponed.

In the meantime, something completely unexpected happened.

Tommy Bahama, another Potcake who came to us with three broken legs and a dislocated hip after Hurricane Dorian, taught Walter to sing for his dinner. Before every meal, Tommy sits patiently and waits while his kitchen staff prepares his food. And waits. And waits.

As soon as the spoon hits the sink, Tommy runs in circles and barks. Even though he hasn’t lived on the streets for seven years, Tommy is still so excited to get a meal that he simply can’t contain himself. Walter started watching Tommy, and his excitement was contagious. Before long, Walter decided to join in.
At first, Walter let out a little squeak when his meal was ready. A few days later, the squeak became a little yelp. Eventually, the yelp became a bark. Little by little, Walter’s jaw started moving.

We were actually concerned that he might have rebroken his jaw, so we took him back to Dr. Holloway. She repeated the CT scan and gave us some incredible news: Walter doesn’t need jaw surgery anymore. His jaw is opening on its own.

Dr. Holloway believes the original injury may have caused fibrous tissue near the fracture that restricted the movement of his jaw. Somehow, Tommy teaching Walter to sing for his dinner became his physical therapy. Little by little, Walter’s jaw opened farther and farther. Today, it is functioning normally. We went from thinking Walter would need major surgery just to be able to open his mouth normally to finding out that he doesn’t need surgery at all.

Tommy says, “You’re welcome!”

A Rough Road Ahead
Walter is now up to 56 pounds, his hair has grown back, and his Ehrlichia and Anaplasma are treated. Unfortunately, he still has an uphill battle ahead. The danger is that Walter has a very heavy heartworm burden, and one of the worst heartworm coughs we’ve ever seen.

We went back to ECoVETS for another echocardiogram with Dr. Bartles, and because of the severity of his cough, she sent the study to a cardiologist for review just to be safe. The cardiologist confirmed that Walter can undergo regular heartworm treatment.

Walter is at Palm Valley Veterinary Center getting his first heartworm injection today, and he’ll receive two more injections next month.

Now we have a different problem: keeping Walter calm and quiet. During heartworm treatment, activity must be severely restricted, which means we definitely do NOT want Walter singing and running around for his dinner. After everything it took to teach him to use that jaw, now we have to convince him to settle down for a while. It’s going to be a tough 60 days as he goes through treatment.

Once Walter is safely through his heartworm treatment, he will still need to go back to Dr. Holloway for dental work. He has several teeth that are broken off at the gumline and will need to be extracted. But first, we need to get him safely through heartworm treatment. We are incredibly excited that Walter’s jaw is functioning normally and that he no longer needs surgery, but we’re very worried about the severity of his heartworms.

Please keep this sweet boy in your prayers. He has already overcome so much, and we want nothing more than to see Sir Walter make it through this next chapter and finally put the hardest part of his journey behind him.

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Sick and injured animals need help fast. Every donation helps, but Monthly donors give us flexibility to respond immediately when there is an emergency. When there is a hoarding case or a hurricane, a dog with a gunshot wound or a cruelty case, we have to act quickly. We don't have time to run a fundraiser, and wait for those funds to get to us. Your monthly donation can help us save lives again and again. Learn more at: https://www.floridaurgentrescue.org/donatemonthly

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Florida Urgent Rescue is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and is rated in the top 1/10th of 1% of all nonprofits nationwide. FUR earned a Four-Star Rating on Charity Navigator with a score of 100%, and a 2025 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency by Guidestar. FUR is also rated as a Top Nonprofit on Great Nonprofits.