Rescue after Rescue (5/5): Teddy

We frequently work with independent caregivers to spay their charges and render needed medical aid, with majority of their charges being street dogs. On this fateful afternoon, we got a call from one of our dedicated caregivers that she had with her a cat with a broken leg. The worker from a factory approached her for help and she kind-heartedly took over the cat. She has been caring for and sterilizing the street dogs in her area for over a decade but is honestly helpless when it comes to cats. We asked her to send the cat direct to the clinic.

Teddy is a ginger and white boy estimated to be only about two years old. The vet diagnosed the cause of his injury as either having fallen from great heights or that he was hit by a heavy object. The latter was more likely given the environment he lived in. Teddy though in pain, was still affectionate and kept meowing for attention. It was a very clean break as advised by the vet, and a metal plate had to be inserted into his left leg to let it heal in place.

Teddy’s surgery has already been performed and a kind fosterer has taken Teddy in to be fostered for six weeks under cage rest. He can already stand but movement has to be restricted. He has also been tested FeLV negative and sterilized at the same time. The clinic staff found him to be a loving boy with no issues in wound cleaning and feeding of medication.

     

Same like with Thumper (http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.sg/2015/07/rescue-after-rescue-45-thumper.html), Teddy will be up for adoption once he is better! Are you looking for a feline companion? Let Teddy be the one!

=========================================================================

With the multiples rescue cases pouring in, our vet bills are at an all high these few months. We appreciate any bit of contribution from each and everyone of you, and also need your sharing to spread the word about adoption for Nugget, Thumper and Teddy! Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you are able to help in any way, thank you.

Rescue after Rescue (4/5): Thumper

“Thumper” is a fictional rabbit character from one of Disney’s cartoons Bambi. We have our very own canine version Thumper too, and he is named so because of the resemblance of his ears with the rabbit!

Thumper is an innocent young puppy who greets everyone with wags of his thin long tail. He can be carried, manhandled in any way and not even resist. How can such a sweet boy survive being a stray? But every stray caregiver will have such dogs and we only have endless worry for them – be it being abused or being caught by dog catchers for being too trusting.

Thumper in happier times before the attack

That fateful weekday evening, Thumper was attacked by a pack of five big adult dogs. What crime did he commit? He simply went up to a contractor whom he recognized to happily greet him. The attack was triggered solely by jealousy and pack instinct. We will not say the five dogs were vicious but Thumper as the weaker and lone dog was unfortunately deemed as prey to them. The two volunteers who happened to be present, together with the contractor, fought off the big dogs and finally managed to get them to release their grip on the helpless little boy. The humans got injured too in the process but poor Thumper was already drifting in and out of consciousness by then.

     

Thumper's multiple bite wounds L

We had to rush Thumper to the nearest clinic for emergency treatment and resuscitation. He was already in a state of shock and he had sixteen puncture wounds. There was only wound cleaning and temporary stitching done at the first vet, and we transferred Thumper to our regular vet for professional treatment. The next day upon being warded at our regular vet, Thumper underwent a surgery over three hours. The side wound was actually a stomach muscle tear and not fat layer damage as initially diagnosed. It was an incorrect diagnosis of minor injury and the temporary stitching got infected but luckily our regular vet managed to set everything right.

    

    

    

Thumper being transferred to our regular vet 

One of Thumper's bigger wounds

A few days later, we visited Thumper and what a great progress he has made. His smaller wounds have all dried up and closed, and he was a much happier boy. We are thankful he was still as affectionate and goofy, and the clinic staff likes him a lot. Thumper will still be warded for a few more days as the vet just wants to ensure the swelling of one of the bigger belly wounds subside a bit more to make sure there is no muscle injury.

Thumper still as affectionate

  Thumper "borrowing" the clinic dog's bed!

We have luckily found a fosterer for Thumper so that he can have a clean environment to recuperate from his wounds. And for sure, he will be up for adoption once he gets better! J

=========================================================================

With the multiples rescue cases pouring in, our vet bills are at an all high these few months. We appreciate any bit of contribution from each and everyone of you, and also need your sharing to spread the word about adoption for Nugget, Thumper and Teddy! Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you are able to help in any way, thank you.

Rescue after Rescue (3/5): Ricky and his neighbour Rain

Ricky
Ricky has a very unique look among so many street dogs we meet – he has a scruffy body which makes him look lion-like. Apart from this, he is friendly even to strangers. When we met him for the first time, we could already pat him. Thereafter, he will always be waiting for us during our routine feeding and happily greet us with a swaying butt. Ricky was also one of the lucky few whose factory actually bothered to care for and look after him and tend to his day to day needs. We did advise his factory to keep him safe and off the streets as Ricky lived in a high culling area and can easily be taken away.

One weekend when we went to look for Ricky’s neighbour Rain (see story below), we found Ricky lying listlessly under a container truck. The worker told us he has been like this for the past few days and it was getting worrying. We thus brought Ricky to the clinic for a consult.

Various tests were done on Ricky and even an x-ray but nothing wrong was detected. Ricky was heartworm and tick fever free and his kidney, liver and blood count was good. He also stayed overnight at the clinic for two nights for monitoring in case there was something wrong with his immune system, but the only diagnosis was dehydration though the vet feedbacked there were multiple bite wounds on him. We heaved a huge sigh of relief though we do know we might actually sweat upon seeing the bill later! Ricky has been sent for sterilization and vaccination and thereafter returned to his factory where his workers have been asking about him whenever they see us.

    

Rain

Sweet Rain lives a few factories away from scruffy Ricky. She has a tipped ear so in all normality, we assumed she has been sterilized since a tipped ear is an indication of being neutered for street dogs. But when we saw her with a swollen vulva one night, our jaws dropped. The boys were also after her! Was she on heat? Or did she contract TVT like Chloe who was from the same area (http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.sg/2015/05/chloe-and-her-innocent-puppies.html)? We had a few cases whereby the dog had already been infected but did not show any signs yet. After sterilization and some time after when the symptoms started to show then we will know and then render medical aid to him/her.

Rain’s factory workers were curious as to what did we want with her as they confirmed that she has been sterilized. They were as bewildered as to why the boys were after her since she has already been fixed. We managed to convince them we meant no harm and on that very weekday morning Rain was in our hands, straight to the vet she went.

The vet did a thorough vaginal examination and did not find any lump so TVT was ruled out. A higher possibility was that the spaying was not properly performed and Rain has retained ovaries – that is why she came on heat again. We monitored Rain’s condition for some time and her vulva swelling did go down. It thus confirmed the vet’s suspicions of Rain having retained ovaries or otherwise, we might have to look at other conditions like vaginal infection but that should not attract the males to her.

    

We hated to have to send Rain in for sterilization once again as it was double the stress for her (and unnecessary too) but it needed to be done for her own good. Rain is finally properly sterilized and will be litter-free for the rest of her life. J
 
=========================================================================
 
With the multiples rescue cases pouring in, our vet bills are at an all high these few months. We appreciate any bit of contribution from each and everyone of you, and also need your sharing to spread the word about adoption for Nugget, Thumper and Teddy! Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you are able to help in any way, thank you.

Rescue after Rescue (2/5): Di Di

Affectionately named Di Di by one of our volunteers P who has been caring for him, the origin of Di Di and siblings are unknown but the factory told P they took pity on them and took them from another industrial estate to put in their factory to care for them. Nonetheless, the conditions they stayed in were less than satisfactory though they had the basic needs like food and shelter. Some factories deem this kind of environment adequate as they are street dogs after all and they are known to be extremely hardy. This is highly debatable and often, medical care is minimal or even non-existent.

Di Di and siblings when younger

P went down to the factory as often as she could and also to bathe them almost every weekend with another volunteer E – this was the best she could do while she tried to rehome them. However, Di Di started showing signs of falling sick and being anaemic. P thus brought Di Di to the clinic.

The vet diagnosed Di Di with a strain of tick fever Ehrlichia and advised Di Di had a dangerously low blood count – he needed a blood transfusion urgently. It was a working day and multiple calls were made. Finally, a suitable blood donor came forth! We will like to thank the owner of J-Boy who kindly allowed J-Boy to help save Di Di’s life.

Thank you for saving my life J-Boy!

After the blood transfusion, Di Di rested in the clinic for a couple of days before we had to transfer him to a boarding facility for recuperation and medication. Di Di is still at the boarding facility as of now but he is so much better than before – boisterous and playful. He is certainly very grateful for a second chance at life and we also hope things will only get better for him from here on! 

     

Look at how cheerful and playful Di Di is now!

=========================================================================

With the multiples rescue cases pouring in, our vet bills are at an all high these few months. We appreciate any bit of contribution from each and everyone of you, and also need your sharing to spread the word about adoption for Nugget, Thumper and Teddy! Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you are able to help in any way, thank you.

Rescue after Rescue (1/5): Nugget and Buddy

We had an influx of rescue cases flowing in over the past few weeks we could honestly barely cope. Practically, we do know we cannot save everybody, every single dog on the street. But if you happen to see an unwell dog in front of you, can you walk away? We are unable to. Be it a major problem or a minor one, if a minor ailment can be rendered medical attention in time, one more precious life is saved as well as further health complications. We try our best.

Nonetheless, all these require time, labour and funding. With our few on-site volunteers dutifully tending to their stray charges as always, we have also been actively working on TNRM (Trap-Neuter-Release-Management) on a restricted part of the island, which makes our manpower even tighter and more limited.

We need your help, be it with adoption, volunteering or funding our medical cases in any way you can help us with. Finding dedicated volunteers has never been easy, but our team has been kept running strong in working towards the ultimate goal of lessening the number of strays on our streets.

=========================================================================

Nugget

During one of our routine feeding sessions close to two years ago, we picked up this tiny little tri-colour puppy struggling away for his life in a deep wide drain. His sibling has unfortunately drowned but we managed to scoop him up in time before he suffered the same fate. He was just palm size then and very young – only a few weeks old. The fosterer named him Nugget.

Nugget has been rehomed a couple of times but was returned, as the adopters cited separation anxiety problems which means he cannot be left alone at home. Nonetheless, he grew into a handsome young lad. Unluckily, the fosterer recently found a growing lump at his throat. We sent Nugget to the clinic and the clinic managed to squeeze out what was in the lump while Nugget was under sedation. However, the vet was only able to see soft tissue for now. An ultrasound will be more appropriate in this case to actually diagnose his condition but we kept it on hold first due to the high cost. Meanwhile, Nugget was given an antibiotics injection which will last him about two weeks and thereafter a review will be scheduled again.

The photo is not very clear but can you see the lump at Nugget's throat?

Buddy
Buddy – a name given to this young lad before he breathed his last. We did not want him to go off unloved and unknown. We wanted him to know that though we did not manage to save him, we will remember him. Though Buddy was initially brought into the clinic for a different condition, his cause of death was similar to Brownie’s (http://www.noahsarkcares.blogspot.sg/2015/06/chloes-update-little-brownie-whom-we.html).

Buddy sustained a bite wound from an adult dog at his abdomen one Saturday afternoon. It was not a very deep wound but it just would not stop bleeding. He was brought into the clinic but further tests revealed serious underlying conditions – Buddy was severely anaemic and also he had fluid in his lungs. The vet suspected he could have accidentally consumed rat poison but he being a stray, we would not know what they have eaten or came across prior to us taking them in.

Buddy’s condition deteriorated after he was transferred to the hospital due to it nearing evening time on a weekend. The vet suggested a blood transfusion for him but as we were scrambling around for another blood donor (we just had a blood transfusion done for Di Di: http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.sg/2015/07/rescue-after-rescue-25-di-di.html), Buddy decided to give up. He was gasping for breath and we had to say goodbye to him. Rest well Buddy. Run along with Little Brownie when you meet him at the rainbow bridge!

Goodbye Buddy..

=========================================================================

With the multiples rescue cases pouring in, our vet bills are at an all high these few months. We appreciate any bit of contribution from each and everyone of you, and also need your sharing to spread the word about adoption for Nugget, Thumper and Teddy! Please email us at noahsarkcares@gmail.com if you are able to help in any way, thank you.