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When poor Spirit was picked up on July 13, 2008 in the temple
and brought to the Suvarnachad Animal Hospital in Bangkok, the
little girl was just skin and bones. The scale stopped at about
six kilo. Spirit was too weak to stand on her own feet and
neither was she capable of getting up by herself. Serious
malnutrition and dehydration in cooperation with open wounds,
ticks and fleas and a nasty blood parasite did their part to
push Spirits body to the brink of collapse.
Today on July 19, 2008 we have six days behind us and we had our
ups and downs with the recovery of little Spirit. The following
report may give you an impression how Spirit is doing and what
the current situation is.
Weight
In the first days Spirit was given IV fluids to get her system
running and to provide her with the necessary nutrients. The IV
was later stopped since it can have a negative effect on the red
blood cells she so desperately needs. However, Spirit developed
her own appetite and gained weight every day. Today she
confidently passed the eight kilo mark and we hope that she will
continue this development up to a weight which is appropriate
for a healthy dog.
Blood: Red blood cells
Spirit is infected with a nasty blood parasite and suffers from
serious anemia. Her red blood cells were seriously reduced to a
blood concentration of just 17% which is just shy of the most
critical level. Spirit received a blood transfusion and her
values climbed up to 29% which was good news. The following days
those values declined to 25% and now to 23%. The doctors
administer appropriate drugs to fight the parasite but
unfortunately this will only show effect in some days. Due to
the overall weak condition Spirit does not yet produce enough
red blood cells on her own and we must see how the next days
will work out for her.
Blood: White blood cells
Spirit showed a value of over 60.000 for white blood cells on
her CBC which is by far out of the range and points to a serious
infection or a side effect of the blood parasite. Spirit was
administered antibiotics and the value as of last evening is
down to less than 20.000 which is a clear improvement. We expect
that the drugs will further eliminate the source of the problem.
High temperature
Last night Spirit kept us alert since she developed quite a high
temperature. It was decided to cover her with cold blankets and
ice packs to help the body cool down without further drugs. She
made it through the night and her body managed the temperature.
This morning she was back to normal.
Open wounds
Spirit was admitted with a number of rather large open wounds
which in the meantime where cleaned and treated accordingly.
Today the vet told us that these wounds are much better and
started to heal quite well. This will further provide Spirit
with more leeway to use the forces of her body for other tasks.
GI and Urinary Tract
The hospital also made a lab test of feces and urine. The test
results show that she has quite some bacteria in the GI and
urinary tract which can be addressed by the antibiotics she is
administered anyway. Fortunately there is no diarrhea or other
irregularities at this time.
Psychology
During the first days there was no light in her eyes, she was
rather depressed and most of all tired. During these first six
days we had the impression that she is gaining the much needed
will to live and she already started to bark. Today she was
sitting in her cage with her head up and it was obvious that she
was alert, interested and in a rather good mood. We hope that
she will stay this way.
Weakness
Spirit will take quite some time to regain her strength and
build up her muscles. For the time being much of the remaining
strength is needed for the healing process but we see good signs
that she is getting stronger. But even with just about eight
kilos she is far away from being strong yet.
Other results
The good news is that the x-ray did not show any bone fractures
and the ultra-sound did not show any abnormalities of the inner
organs. Her liver and kidney functions appear to be on a normal
level.
We think that the next week is crucial for her recovery. Blood
values must improve and the overall condition must further
stabilize. Once she reaches this point with sufficient success
we are convinced that we can make her a beautiful girl again.
There will be much time and patience needed since Spirit was in
the worst of conditions. But we will do everything to provide
Spirit with the best treatment a dog can get and we sincerely
hope that God will hold his protecting hands over this weak and
maltreated body. |
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