A Baby's story
In the early morning of May 11, 2010 a white shepherd gave birth to a littler of puppies. The second puppy born was not much bigger than a Tater Tot with little arms and legs with all his tiny digets in order. He was born purple, cold and seeming lifeless. After three hours and this little boy still clinging to life and slowly growing pinker and active his owner wanted to give him a chance. The only problem was he was 1/3 the size of his siblings and too small to nurse and that required special care for a baby this small and delicate. His moms owner called us and asked us if we would take him into care, because she knew he did not stand a chance with the larger siblings and would die. She also had learned we had knowledge and experience with very ill and frail animals needing special help around the clock care.
Zooey can be seen with his litter mates at about 7 hours old. This photo taken by his owner and sent to us before surrender shows how truly small he was. Its a wonder he made it this long. If his mother would not have been in such good health and vetted, this puppy would never had made it this long. He is the tiny guy at the top of the photo between his litter mates. It will give you an idea of how truly tiny he was compared to his siblings.
This photo of Zooey was taken when we went to pick him up and bring him into care. Zooey was taken straight to the vet to be given a brief exam and to pick up feeding tubes so that we could feed him every two hours a diet of rich pasteurized goat milk. He was not able to latch on when we first picked him up 12 hours after he was born. This was Zooey and his brother.
Zooey was quickly changed to a preemie nipple & bottle, these nipples are used for fragile babies who have difficulty eating. Zooey did very well and has developed a fantastic appetite! He started eating 4cc every two hours and its grown as his needs change threw his development.
I just have to show you his very own milk mustache, He loves his bottle. He is on 3 hour feedings now around the clock, we still stimulate him every 2 hours to potty and keep notes of his progress. He loves his fleeces that are changed every feeding to help keep him clean. He is doing well and is very active, he knows our smell and what that means.......MILK!!!!
Look how he has grown in two weeks. The girls at Dr. Valeries take turns loving him up and photos. He fell asleep while being held on his second visit to the vets. He goes for checkups and is doing good. He eats about 1.5 ounces now every three hours. We have changed him to a regular bottle nipple because his nose is growing and we also take him to visit his mom and siblings to compare his growth and to allow him to get a little mommy nurturing and suckle from her. She really does not have any milk for him left but he gives it all he is worth. Its a shame that he would die if he was left back in his mothers care. His siblings are HUGE at about 5 pounds and he is so tiny at just 1 pound. But he is active, his eyes are starting to open, and he is looking more and more like a snow white polar bear cub. His nose and pads are getting black. He does not like being on his back now, he wants all feet on the floor. He's got a wonderful little attitude and I truly hope he would survive and be excepted into some type of therapy work to give him more purpose. A fighter like this should have a more special place to tell the world "Hey I made it and together we can make it."
This photo was taken 6-2-2010 Look at the size difference! WOW and to think we feel he is big until we visit the mammoths that are his siblings. His former owner is glad that he is doing well and surviving so far. She allows Zooey to visit and nurse to help provide him with antibiotics from his mom and wants to see him survive as much as we do. She is glad that she gave him a chance threw surrender. His eyes opened and he knows what his bottle looks like and whimpers when he sees it. If I knew how to use the You Tube I would show you how he pigs down his bottle!
Zooey Up Date:
Zooey went to visit Dr. Valerie on 6-3-2010 because he has had some difficulty having a bowel movement and we wanted that looked into as well as his normal check up. All his vitals are good, nice belly tones and he was a wiggle butt and it was hard to examine him until Dr. Valerie gave him a few more sips of his bottle and a good burp. They gave him a warm bath to relax him in hopes of a poo, but all he did was relax and go to sleep.....If Dr. Valerie was not holding him he would have slipped under the water and not woke up. he enjoyed it that much! While he was relaxed she was able to get a good listen to his heart. She found that he has a heart murmur, It could be a simple murmur that will close up as he gets a few weeks older, or it can be something called a Patent Ductus Arteriosis. Its repairable and 90% of all who have it will survive full lives with surgery with no limitations. The bridge (vein) connecting the two large arteries has to be clipped so the blood flows the right way. So this could be why he is so small. The murmur / over work with his heart is using up his nutrition and once we can repair it, he will balloon to normal size. So right now we do not know if its a genetic anomaly or a fluke and it rea;;y does not matter, all that matters is that this fighter is healed and lives. It could be a simple murmur that will close up as he gets a few weeks older, or it can be something called a Patent Ductus Arteriosis. Its repairable and 90% of all who have it with surgery have normal lives with no limitations. The bridge connecting the two large arteries has to be clipped so the blood flows the right way. So this could be why he is stunted. The murmur and over work with his heart is using up his nutrition and once we can repair it, he will balloon to normal size. So right now we do not know if its a genetic anomaly or a fluke. Just wanted to let you know. Dr. Valerie said he was beautiful and said these things happen, its fixable but will cost quite a bit...................He would have to have something like a light heart operation. They don't open the heart they just clamp the extra blood bridge so it flows like it should, but because they open his chest thorax muscle that's considered major.
BTW Valerie said he was beautiful and said these things happen, its fixable but will cost and require a Speciality Hospital, Its not something she is able to do...................
We all hope for the basic murmur that will close on its own. If not we will have to raise funds to pay for a very costly operation to give one very active puppy the gift of life.
I took some photos and will get them posted soon. He did have a small poo last night after his visit and is drinking 1 part goat milk to 4 parts warm distilled water until he is regulated again.
BTW Valerie said he was beautiful and said these things happen, its fixable but will cost and require a Speciality Hospital, Its not something she is able to do...................
We all hope for the basic murmur that will close on its own. If not we will have to raise funds to pay for a very costly operation to give one very active puppy the gift of life.
I took some photos and will get them posted soon. He did have a small poo last night after his visit and is drinking 1 part goat milk to 4 parts warm distilled water until he is regulated again.
Update: Zooey is growing!
Well Zooey finally cleared out, and the poo plumbing is working well again. He has been introduced to canned puppy food mixed with his goat milk. We started him once a day for two days, twice a day for two days, then three times a day for a few days and we will continue to add until he has 4 meals a day of canned and his bottle a few times a day until his nose does not allow him to drink from it. Hopefully he will not want it soon and be totally on bowl feeding and drink water from a bowl also. He is going on 5 weeks and is about 2 pounds while his siblings from what I am told are about 6 pounds or better.
We have also introduced him to potty training. He goes out first thing in the morning, comes back in eats and goes back outside and given the command potty. After potty he gets a little treat ( a piece of soft squished biljack ) He likes being outside to explore. Its been wonderful to see this guy go from balancing life and death to where he is today. Although we have a long ways to go with this guy, he is doing very well so far. On his last exam, Dr. Valerie did not hear his murmur, but then again he would not stay still or quiet for her to hear his hear. He is a cutie pie but pretty onery when this little ball of activity goes to see his doctor. Needless to say, he is being very spoiled. He has a appointment with his Dr this up coming week. We will keep you updated with his progress.
We have also introduced him to potty training. He goes out first thing in the morning, comes back in eats and goes back outside and given the command potty. After potty he gets a little treat ( a piece of soft squished biljack ) He likes being outside to explore. Its been wonderful to see this guy go from balancing life and death to where he is today. Although we have a long ways to go with this guy, he is doing very well so far. On his last exam, Dr. Valerie did not hear his murmur, but then again he would not stay still or quiet for her to hear his hear. He is a cutie pie but pretty onery when this little ball of activity goes to see his doctor. Needless to say, he is being very spoiled. He has a appointment with his Dr this up coming week. We will keep you updated with his progress.
Update: 7-2-2010
Awwwwwww the little man is doing well. At his last check up with Dr. Valerie Olszak D.V.M. he was a wiggle worm and would not let her listen to his heart. He is very strong willed. Zooey topped the scales at a whopping 3.5 pounds which is way smaller than he should be for the breed and age that he is. Normally he should weigh between 8-10 pounds. He is active and trips over his own feet when he gets excited during play. He barked for the first time this week! It was so cute! We still remain hopeful that he will not need a heart operation and can become a service dog for the blind or trained as a therapy assistant. That is our goal for this puppy that was born as a failure to thrive. He will be 8 weeks old July 5th, he's such a big boy.
The teens who volunteer to play and walk dogs have a great time making him a little fashion statement with all the bows. You can see how delighted he is to wear purple......LOL
Will update after his next checkup this week.
The teens who volunteer to play and walk dogs have a great time making him a little fashion statement with all the bows. You can see how delighted he is to wear purple......LOL
Will update after his next checkup this week.
Zooey's 12 weeks old!!!
Awwwwwwww, they said he would not make it to this age when he was born, But this little guy is a fighter! Look at how beautiful he has become. he is developing his little boy looks and has a chewing fetish now. His best friend and foster mommy is Miss Nibs. Where ever one is in the yard the other one is not far. Zooey is still very small, although his photo's look like he is big. He weighs 4.5 pounds and has hit his growth spurt and is getting very long and leggy. He will be going back to see his Vet Dr. Valerie Olszak at the GrandValley Veterinary Hospital for a new check up in a week, we will see then how his heart is doing. LOL I do have to tell you that Zooey does not want to grow up, although he has 4 meals a day he suckles on shirts. Its really funny to see a puppy with a lovey and he enjoys it, even protects it. But that too must end, I could not imagine a full grown dog dragging a blankie around ever where he went just so he could suckle on it.
Anyway, here are some updated pictures of this wonderful baby boy.
Anyway, here are some updated pictures of this wonderful baby boy.