Pawcurious: With Veterinarian and Author Dr. V

Celebrating the truth that pets make people better.

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Hour 24: SuperBrode is my hero

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We are all inspired by our pets- to be kind, to give a little more than we take, to play hard and snuggle a ton and enjoy every little moment in life. They encourage us to connect with one another. And they push us to do a little more.

Last week, an hour before closing, a family came in with a 4 pound, 10 week old poodle puppy. She was vomiting, had diarrhea, and no history of vaccinations. They had just enough money to confirm the diagnosis of parvo. Her white blood cell count was 1, meaning the parvo was in her marrow. This was bad. Very bad.

The little dog was very very ill. Her prognosis was poor, but rather than euthanize her, the family agreed to relinquish her so that we could at least give her a shot at life. One night, I said. She will have one night at least.

A dog that critically ill should have a blood transfusion. Things go downhill very fast in those conditions. But, we’re not an emergency facility and we weren’t equipped to do anything remotely like that. And who would donate, anyway? It was the end of the day.

You know where this is going, right?

The shaved places explained.

It wasn’t well done, mind you. The circumstances were far from ideal, the equipment jury rigged and dug out of the back of the broom closet where we keep stuff that never gets used. But at that point, what did we have to lose?

I came in the next morning, cringing as I looked into the iso ward, expecting a dead puppy. Except she wasn’t dead. Brody, meet your damsel in distress.

pup

Despite all odds, she survived and will be discharged tonight. Brody’s Beasty Blood saved the day! (Don’t worry, I made up the indignity of donating to him in spades. In buckets.)

Brody is my hero. Already, at 5 months old. How I love him.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

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Comments

  1. What a touching story, and a wonderful thing for both you and Brody to do. I’m proud to have been a part of your blogathon!

    And I totally won.

  2. Go Brody!! Superpuppy extraordinaire!! I’m so happy the poodle made it. Well done Dr V, you made it too 🙂

  7. WOW! What an wonderfully unexpected ending. I noticed the bald patch in the SuperBrode post. Brody rocks!

    Best of luck to that little poodle and to all the dogs – big and small still looking for their forever homes.

    Thanks Dr. V

  8. Perfect ending to a fantastic blogathon – Dr.V and Brody, you are both inspirations. I’m standing in line now for the superhero calendar.

  16. yay! totally perfect ending for a good fundraiser! I am glad the little doggie made it. Mine is chewing on a bone in front of the fire and any minute will realize I am eating pepperoni and will come and dive bomb my lap. Congratulations Dr. V!

      • It’s just a little eerie b/c I might be dragged into a lawsuit… regarding a maltipoo… bought from a pet store… came down with parvo. Fortunately I am not on the other end of the lawsuit, only a witness, but it just adds one more interesting facet to my life right now. 😉

  19. And I forgot to say, congratulations on a great save. My big tough older brother adopted a young dog from the local shelter and had him for almost a month- long enough to really bond- when the little fellow died, probably from parvo. One of the only times I’ve heard him cry. He really does love dogs. It’s great to see the little lady beat the odds with Brody’s help.

  20. My heart is soaring! Brody the lifesaver. He deserves a medal, but I think the cape works in a pinch 🙂

    And you deserve buckets and buckets of medals for your amazing work and quick thinking. And of course for this blogathon.