Nena, a very sweet three month old puppy, came into the Galapagos Clinic after not eating for three days. The poor puppy was very weak, with yellow diarrhea, a terrible eye infection and pale, yellowish gums. The Doctors ran a blood test and discovered that her red blood cell count was critically low – at a level considered to be fatal. The team quickly asked the owners to bring their bigger dog to the clinic so that they would be able to do a vital blood transfusion. The owners complied and Nena received a life-saving donation of blood. As her condition was so critical, the Doctors decided to keep Nena in the clinic over the coming days for observation. In addition to the blood transfusion and the standard deparasiting treatment, Nena was also on intravenous fluids and antibiotics, as well as receiving eye drops for her infection.
Over the next hours, Nena developed bloody diarrhea, filled with worms. As she had already been deparasited, this was somewhat to be expected… But it was what came out the next day that was truly horrifying…
On a short walk the next morning, Nena passed what was just a huge ball of dead, intertwined worms! The poor puppy had been full of them, causing her a great deal of pain and doing a lot of damage to the tiny, growing body. It was quite clear why Nena was in such a bad condition when she arrived. Little Nena stayed five days in the clinic, under constant observation. Whilst continuing to receive IV fluids and antibiotics and eye drops twice a day, little Nena also received a lot of one, often under-valued treatment; good old fashioned TLC. Nena was hugged, loved, pet, snuggled and cuddled every day by the Darwin Animal Doctors team, and by the end of her stay, was a happy healthy puppy.
Nena had done a full 180 degree turn-around; she had gone from a severe case, to a puppy with a bright future. Thank you to the Darwin Animal Doctors team for such dedicated care to yet another critical patient.
