SET APART: LuLu, Her Litter, and Parvovirus

Tina

Written by: Mark Bernazzoli

We at Last Day Dog Rescue have some more sad news about a whole litter of dogs that need our help…ours and yours.

Let us introduce some adorable Labrador/Shepherd mix pups, all babies of LuLu, and named after singers:  Elton (John), Elvis (Presley), Dusty (Springfield), Olivia (Newton-John), Ringo (Starr), Petula (Clark), and Tina (Turner).

This whole family was about to be euthanized when it was rescued, in total, by a Foster.  Mother and pups arrived in a crate, as sweet as could be, and completely unaware of what danger they were in for.

It was discovered and quickly announced to the Foster that one dog in the group transferred tested positive for the dreaded and indiscriminate Canine Parvovirus -- a disease that turns the gastro-intestinal tract into a liquid quagmire of pain and suffering.

The babies were quickly quarantined and vaccinated with hopes that it would be enough, soon enough.  In fact, everything looked so good for them, and they were so irresistible, that they all had applications in place and were set for adoption!  But, their last visit to the vet for worming and a final check-up was the day that they began to sicken.  At first, everyone chalked it up to a reaction to the wormer, but a few hours later they received the diagnosis – Parvo.

One by one they began to falter.  A desperate scramble to get them on Tamiflu (which is known to help with complications from the virus) and an emergency trip to the veterinary clinic ended with Elton, Olivia and Tina being the sickest, with white cell counts as low as 400.  Dusty and Petula have pulled through, but Elvis and Ringo are fading fast.  They are all being monitored very carefully.  Thankfully, LuLu is healthy, but very concerned over the whereabouts of her babies.  There will be transfusions and medications and slow recoveries in store for all these poor babies.  And prayers.  Many, many prayers for each of them and for their team of veterinary professionals.

Unfortunately, in all our efforts to save dogs from shelters, we always run the risk of finding one infected with Parvovirus.  In fact, the high contagion rate of Parvo is one of the prime reasons that shelters will not keep dogs for very long – puppies are frequently killed upon arrival.  Frighteningly, just one week’s exposure can result in a full-blown case, which will spread from animal to animal with lightning speed.

Too many shelters lack the funding necessary for the highly expensive course of treatment for Parvo, and the cost of saving just one litter of pups can close a rescue organization down.

That’s what sets Last Day Dog Rescue apart.  Because of our relationship with our veterinary team, we are able to take in animals no one else will, get them treated, and still have the unbelievably compassionate luxury of paying later.  But the bills still come, thousands of dollars worth, and if those expenses mount too high we fear that even the best of intentions and relations may cost the lives of so many other dogs in need.

What will set you apart?  Are you as concerned as we are?  What can you do to help?  What can you spare to save a life?  Every donation, no matter how small, helps to chip away at our obligations.

Consider joining forces with a group of friends, relatives and co-workers to sponsor even one pup’s treatment.  Ask your employers if they have a matching gift program in place.  Start a fund-raising effort in your office or neighborhood, not just for these dogs but for ones past and future who still and will need whatever you can offer.

Most importantly, please do something.  If all you can do is to pass the word along to someone who can help, then that will set you both apart.  And as your efforts expand, person by person, we’ll be able to say that we made a difference, together; that our love and compassion help saved these puppies, and however more may follow.

Thank you today, yesterday and always, and remember that you are in our hearts and minds and prayers.  Please, in kind, remember us and Elton and Elvis and Dusty and Olivia and Ringo and Petula and Tina and………



DONNY’S PLIGHT - Love met with abuse, repaid in love

Written By: Mark Bernazzoli

Unfortunately, we have yet another story to tell…one that both incenses the mind and enflames the heart.  This is the story of Donny, a pure-bred, 3 month-old Labrador Retriever pup who was turned in to a shelter with a leg so badly broken that it would require extensive emergency surgery.  There is no way of telling how so young and otherwise healthy a pup as Donny came to this infirmity, and Mr. Owner (the suspected abuser) wasn’t offering any explanations.

Donny was accepted without delay and transported immediately to a veterinary practice.  X-rays confirmed a particularly nasty break at the knee of his front leg, and he underwent surgery to repair the damage, complete with pins. 

On what promised to be the upside to Donny’s sad story was his placement in a wonderfully loving foster home where he began his convalescence.  But, three days later, he began vomiting and his stools were very loose.  Another veterinary exam and testing revealed some of the worst news any dog lover wants to hear – The “P” Word…Donny had canine parvovirus.

As of this writing, Donny is in Intensive Care, refusing food and weakening quickly.  Two blood transfusions should be improving his condition, but he is still losing weight at an alarming rate.  But, don’t you know it?  This little fighter is still mustering up the energy to greet his caretakers with a smile and a wag of his tail.

Donny’s chances are not the best -- not what anyone would hope for so sweet and loving a dog -- but we will not give up on him.  WE can’t.  It’s simply not what we do.  We’ll see this baby to health, or we’ll see him to as comfortable an end as possible.

As dedicated as we are to our mission and to Donny’s recovery, we still need help – more so in these cases than in many others.  We ask your support, through prayer, and through tax-deductible charitable donations to cover his mounting vet bills (now at $1,200, and counting). 

It’s a tough time out there for all of us.  We have our families and our pets to think about; our mortgages and car payments and grocery bills.  But, we have our health, and we have compassion, and we have the ability to make a difference -- even small donations add up to large amounts. 

Please, give what you can.  Ask your friends, your family members, your neighbors if they can offer something, too.  Check with your employer – many companies have Matching Gift programs. 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again:  “Anything helps…except doing nothing.” Please help Donny, and countless others with special needs

Spreading Hope, Saving Lives

Written by: Mark Bernazzoli

The volunteers at LDDR tirelessly comb through rescue newspapers and pages, phone messages, e-mails, letters, and the web to find and transport dogs to safety, to veterinary visits, to (and exchange among) temporary and longer-term foster homes, to community events for greater exposure, and finally to adoptive families.

When you see the dogs we feature it's frequently because they are in multi-dog, transitory foster homes until a longer-term foster or adoptive home is found. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't save a dog or a cat to give them a happy life knowing how so many of them have been treated, what they've been through; but many compassionate people aren't sure they can handle a pet, themselves.

We understand that -- we all have/had our own pets and know how they can change a household. Bringing a pet into your life requires careful consideration:

• Do I want a willing, but thumbless "child" who will never go off to school or move out?
•  Can my studio apartment accommodate my 100+ pound Newfoundland?
•  Do I have a fenced yard so my Jack Russell can run his little heart (and huge energy store) out, daily?
•  Exactly how much weight do I want to lose while being walked by my Great Dane?
•  Will dried dog drool match the sumptuous leather interior in my Mercedes?
•  Will I wake in the middle of the night and be able to summon up my inner Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Spock, Florence Nightingale, AND Dale Earnhardt as I try to determine which houseplant she ate, where's she's hurting now, how ALL of THIS came out of THAT tiny body, and get her to the emergency vet before she explodes again?
•  Do I want to spend my vacation as a sexy, AVAILABLE (!) Carribean Queen on a beach in Jamaica, or as a party of two at a mountain cabin with a wet-muddy-tickridden-happy-as-a-clam Spaniel and a case of good wine?
• And imagine just how pleased Mom will be when my Retriever and I show up for Christmas in matching outfits, our twin suitcases in hand?

I joke because we must. You cannot raise anything (a houseplant, a garden, a pet, a child, a husband) without a heart and a good sense of humor...otherwise you'd see aforehand the lunacy of your desire and never commit in the first place. But remember, though every creature in your life is it's own challenge, it's own work-in-progress, it always pays off in the end...all except for the husband...(and you still decided to get him.)

Back to business...what you MUST know is that there are a number of ways to help --

• become a volunteer in the organization,
• train to be a foster yourself
• adopt and be ever glad you did
• make a tax-deductible donatation to keep the operation sailing
• spread the word by talking up an animal which seems perfect for a friend or family member
• just plain ask blessings for these dedicated volunteers and pray for these animals' continued salvation and happiness.



Roscoe Before



Anything will help...except, of course, doing nothing. Please visit http://www.lastdaydogrescue.org/ to donate, foster, or adopt. Someone is depending upon you. Thanks from all of us to all of you!



Roscoe After



To mail us a donation, make payable to Last Day Dog Rescue and send to us at:

Last Day Dog Rescue P.O. Box 51935 Livonia, MI 48151-5935 Fax: 734-786-0729

To sponsor a specific animal, write his or her name on the memo line.



To donate to one of our special needs dogs' online ChipIn 







From Helpless to Heroine - One Dog Fighting the Odds

FROM HELPLESS TO HEROINE –

One Dog Fighting The Odds

Written By: Mark Bernazzoli

Tater and Tot…two joyful, loving sisters who should have been enjoying the love of their owners and each other in the prime of their lives.   Should have…

But, they weren’t.  They were found and rescued from a short-term, high-kill shelter in Ohio after living a rather shabby life as outdoor dogs, bearing litter after litter of puppies, bereft of the kind of love canines crave and, frankly, need to thrive. 

This particular shelter, though it searches tirelessly for foster homes, lacks the funding needed to give little more than food, water and a cage to those dogs unlucky enough to find themselves there.  The folks, here, at Last Day Dog Rescue (LDDR) were not only fortunate, but privileged, to collect Tater and Tot and number of other dogs during a rescue mission to shelters all over Ohio.  These abandoned “babies” were all fortunate, too; all except for Tot.

LDDR took these little refugees to a veterinary clinic where each was examined, vaccinated and given a clean bill of health, then deposited in loving transitory homes to begin their wait for foster and adoptive families.  It is LDDR’s policy to keep siblings dogs together, whenever possible, and over the next two days as Tater flourished, Tot began to decline.

She was seen by a second vet, given fluids and medication for a high load hookworm count and a staph infection on her abdomen.  Late that night she started passing bloody diarrhea.  That’s when her "new family" recognized her biggest health issue – canine parvovirus.   They took Tot to a vet in Milford, who confirmed their fears -- her reading was low.  Factoring this in with the hookworms, the staph infection, and being underweight, her prognosis was sketchy, at best.  Yet, she struggled on.

Within twelve hours, her white cell count went from 3,000 to 600, and her weight from 12 lbs. to 7lbs. in just a few days.  Anti-nausea meds weren’t working and her liver was malfunctioning.  She was listless, in great pain and losing blood as the parvo ran its course inside of her.  

Fourteen days, two blood transfusions, numberous courses of anti-nausea drugs, and ‘round-the-clock care brought Tot back from the depths.  She now greets folks as they visit in her isolation room, her tail wagging, her head resting up under an arm when held.

Tot’s not out of the woods…not just yet, but she’s fighting, and she wants her caregivers to know it.  But at least her diagnosis, once bleak, is now bright, pending several weeks of rest, re-nutrition and continued recovery.  

Tot is due home from the vet in just a couple of days and along with her healing body and ever-brightening spirit come thousands of dollars in medical bills – bills we need to pay…somehow.

“So where’s the happy ending?” you ask.  Well, that chapter hasn’t been written yet.  You, however, can help us to write it.  Please, consider carefully what you can do to help – through prayer or by spreading the word of our continuing mission, through a charitable donation or by fostering/adopting this brave little girl when she’s fully well again.

Neglect and disease do their very best to break these innocents, every day, but there is nothing so strong as the heroic Spirit of a Dog, any day.  

To ChipIn and help little Tot, please click HERE.