The Story of Love

This is a story about love – our love for the pets in our care and a dog named Love.

Love was extremely emaciated. Dr. Patrias said she literally had no more weight left to lose before she died. She was only 8 and a half months old, but due to the condition she was in, it was hard to determine her age right away. Dr. Patrias examined her from head to toe, looking for any more signs of abuse, neglect, or illness.

Her extreme emaciation meant she had a loss of muscle mass and her little body had a hard time walking and standing.  She was lacking in mobility in her back legs, had an arched back, and had two breaks in her vertebra. In addition, she had some loss of fur, scrapes, redness of the skin (we believe to be consistent with a collar and tethering).

Love was also pooping pure blood. As a result, she was put into quarantine just in case she had a deadly disease like Parvovirus. This required staff to gown up in full PPE for her care. As we watched her further over the next few days, we noticed her poop included sticks, bark, and other strange objects — things she had been desperately eating just to try to stay alive.

We ran bloodwork, fecal samples, and a variety of tests. We found out she had infections in both her ears and Giardia, an internal parasite. But there was some good news, too. Her parvo test (among other diseases) came back negative and she was able to come out of quarantine (she still had to remain quiet and as immobile as possible due to her breaks and weakness). Her bloodwork results were not good but all items not within normal limits were due to her malnutrition and body condition. In addition, radiographs showed that cage rest would be enough to heal her breaks. We gave her a bath in antibacterial soap to remove all the feces and debris stuck on her. She was prescribed medications, was put on a strict diet program (also to prevent refeeding syndrome), and our medical staff constantly monitored her.

Throughout all of this, Love remained consistent in her attitude and affection. This girl was a love-bug! We were as excited to see her each day as she was to see us. We carried her for potty breaks when she was too weak to walk herself. We sat with her to watch her eat every single calorie she deserved. We cuddled with her so she would know human affection and feel safe.

Over her time with us, she went from 19 pounds to 33 pounds! Once she gained that weight, she was able to move around without stumbling. Her infections and parasites cleared up and she was beginning to become an active puppy. After a month and a half of our dedicated care, she found her forever family!