Monday, November 23, 2009

A Rare Blood Disorder

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This story was written by Puppy September.


Hello! I am September, one of the 7 rescued puppies.


All seven of us have been treated like we’re the most precious creatures on this planet. We have been eating well and have never seen such delicious food in our lives. Real good food. All we do is eat, sleep and play – the life that puppies truly deserve We heard the humans saying that we were very sweet and adorable. For the first time in many weeks, we sleep without a care in the world, we play like little monsters in our foster home – our new safe and secure playground.


Puppies sleeping


Two of my siblings still have slight diarrhea and some blood in their stools but it seems to be gradually clearing up. One morning, all seven of us were packed into two large pet carriers and we heard our foster saying that they were taking us to the Vet to see if our blood levels were at a safer level, if our gums were more pink and we could then be microchipped and receive our first vaccination.

We arrived at Mt Pleasant (Sunset Way) and were seen by Dr Leslie Teo. We were all on our best behaviour while she checked our gums and said we were very sweet. With proper regular meals and nutrition, our gums were now a healthy pink and she vaccinated and microchipped all of us. It hurt a little but we didn’t mind. We now knew these humans meant us no harm as we had never felt so loved in our entire lives. We began to trust humans.

After I was microchipped and vaccinated, I heard Dr Leslie saying I was bleeding a little from my microchip wound. She put a bandage over the back of my neck and told the foster that all of us could go home. We were all of two months old.

By the time I got home, I was feeling slightly sleepy and drowsy. I heard the foster say that my bandage was soaked in blood and she changed a new bandage for me. I must have fallen asleep... When I awoke, my bandage was changed for the second time and I heard that I should be taken back to the vet. I was losing too much blood. It was evening by then.

By dinner time, my blood level was dangerously low. Dr Leslie had gone off duty and I was seen by Dr William Chan. He said I need an immediate blood transfusion or I would not make it through the night. It was at this moment that Dr Chan informed Aunty Lynda that I had a rare blood disorder. This means that my blood could not clot, (To read more about blood disorders for dogs, please click here: http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/7696.asp) which explained why I bled continuously all day.

They called Aunty Lynda and informed her to bring a dog down to donate some blood to me right away. Aunty Lynda rushed down to the vet with two dogs – who were waiting to be adopted; Shin, a husky and Junior, a cross breed. In order to donate blood, the dog donor must be between two to five years old, 25 kg and above, be on Heartguard and fully vaccinated.

Blood samples were taken from Junior but Shin refused to have his blood taken. He seemed afraid of the needle. I lay in the cage at the vet, blood slowly flowing out of my tiny wound and I was feeling more drowsy by the minute. After what seemed like eternity, the blood sample results were ready. Junior’s blood did not match mine. Aunty Lynda was extremely worried and I heard her on the telephone, desperately calling as many people as she could, asking them if they could please bring their dogs down to the vet immediately to see if their blood matched mine and if they could save my life.

It was 8.30pm and the clinic was closing. Dr William Chan advised Aunty Lynda to transfer me to Mt Pleasant (Stevens Road) as they would have a Vet on duty throughout the night, in case my condition deteriorated further. By this time, Aunty Fiona had arrived with Aunty Ruth.

The three Aunties made more desperate calls for help and it was agreed that Aunty Lynda would carry me to her car and drive me to the main hospital, while Aunty Fiona would bring Shin and Junior home, and bring Mei Mei (http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.com/2008/07/mei-mei-lovely-lady.html) and meet at the hospital. Aunty Ruth also rushed home to bring her dog, Kori, to see if she could donate blood to me. (http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.com/2009/03/koris-adoption.html) Aunty Ruth’s sister, Ester, would also come with her dog, Kiro and Aunty Rachel would bring Prince. (http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.com/2008/10/from-rags-to-riches-princes-update.html)


Mei Mei going through the blood test



Kori going through the blood test



Kiro going through the blood test



Prince going through the blood test


By the time everyone had rushed home to fetch their dogs and made it to the clinic, it was past 10pm and I was already in a deep sleep. The Vet on duty at the hospital, was Dr Cheryl Ho. Having lost too much blood, I was extremely weak, lying motionless in my cage, oblivious to all the commotion happening around me. It was heartwarming to see all these Aunties desperately fetching various dogs to the hospital to see if they could help. It was like a Noah’s Ark dog gathering of a different kind, with many of the dogs adopted from Noah’s Ark and most of these dogs had similar backgrounds to me, where all of us came from industrial estates or construction sites. In all, seven dogs arrived at the hospital to help me.

Blood samples were taken from all seven dogs, to find a match for me. Each blood sample taken, was a cost incurred to Noah’s Ark. It was not cheap, but I heard the Aunties saying they would do all they can to help raise funds to help me. The results would take half an hour. The Aunties were hungry and tired as many of them had rushed down straight from work to help me.

My fosterer arrived at the hospital and immediately rushed in to see me. She stroked and spoke to me while I lay sound asleep. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she told me that I would be alright and hoped I would make it through the night. Why was she so upset? I had a tough childhood and I had been saved from the grasp of death, why would I now give up on life just when things were looking brighter? My 6 siblings and I are all survivors, and I WILL make it through the night.


Weak and barely able to move


The blood results were out and the Dr DID find a match with Kiro’s blood. So it was decided that Kiro would donate his blood to save my life. Aunty Lynda and Aunty Fiona thanked all the volunteers as they wished me luck and kissed my limp body before they left. My body was extremely swollen and bloated as blood continued to slowly ooze out from my microchip wound. By now, my gums were extremely pale and my breathing laboured.

Aunty Lynda sent Mei Mei home, while Aunty Fiona and Aunty Ruth stayed at the hospital to be with me. Aunty Ester then took her dog, Kiro, into the consultation room to start the blood donation process. Kiro was a strong and brave dog, he stood firmly as blood was drawn from his neck. The process was painful and one full bag of blood was needed. There were times when Kiro looked weak, as if he would faint, as blood was drawn from him, but Aunty Ruth & Aunty Ester praised and encouraged him to be strong for my sake.


Kiro's blood being drawn


After a long painful process, a full bag of blood was drawn from Kiro. The blood was immediately brought over to my cage and the transfusion process begun, with Kiro’s blood slowly flowing into my limp body. I heard Dr Ho telling my fosterer that there was no guarantee that my body would accept the new blood. It would take up to 3 days to know if my body would accept or reject the new blood and to not get their hopes up just yet.


Kiro standing brave and strong as his blood was taken


After Kiro had rested for twenty minutes, it was again decided that another bag of blood would be taken from him, just to standby for me. Poor Kiro, already weak from the first blood transfusion and slightly scared by the experience, was again brought to the consultation room for blood to be drawn from the other side of his neck. As Kiro’s blood flowed into my tiny body, I heard the foster saying that my gums were less pale. I was still in a deep sleep, not having any energy to even open my eyes.


Blood transfusion being done...look at how small I am, and my body was extremely bloated.



Unaware of everything that was happening around me



Look at the swelling on the back of my neck, just from the tiny microchip. The abscess needed to be drained out.


Kiro’s second bag of blood was kept on standby for my use, after the first bag was done. Kiro was carried to his Mommy’s car as he was by now, weak and pretty scared of being in the hospital. He was bleeding slightly from his neck but all he wanted was for his mommy to take him home.

It was way past midnight when Aunty Ruth and Aunty Ester left with their dogs. Aunty Fiona and my fosterer kissed me good night before they left and said they would come and see me the next day. As I drifted off to sleep, I could feel my strength returning to me . . . .these humans are nice . . . . .

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Be strong sept baby.. i pray for u.. i believe you can do it. A new life is waiting for you

Unknown said...

Was this an effect of the microchip, or the poor pup had a blood condition? Really would like to know. Or was this poor puppy effected to this degree due to the microchip??

Axel Mongrel said...

Thanks for reading our blog - the poor pup has a blood condition.

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