Puggles & Pitties

Sleepy Karma

I got to meet Karma tonight!

She was asleep in my lap the whole time I was there but I snapped a few pics of her anyway. You can see the entire album here:

She’s very sweet, gave me a few kisses. She’s also very small, fit nicely in a lap and is easily carried. I’d guess she’s less than 40 lbs.

I brought her some chicken breast that I cooked last night but she wasn’t much in the mood for eating.

Poor girl. I’m eager to see  her true personality as she starts feeling better. Please keep your paws crossed for her!

Wow, we have got one sick little girl on our hands.

So, as fate would have it, this dog’s name, as given by her previous owners, is KARMA. Ironic, no?

I just got off the phone with Dr Kristen Van Maele of Animal Medical Center in El Cajon. She’s the doctor who performed the surgery on Karma yesterday.

First, to clarify, Karma does NOT have torsion, the twisting of the stomach. She had dystocia, which simply means “difficult childbirth.”

However, Dr Van Maele said this is one of the Top 3 worst c-sections she’s ever seen. Karma also has peritonitis, which is a generalized infection in the abdomen cavity. She also had a severe infection in her uterine wall. Some of the puppies in her uterus had mummified, which is why they were not able to be born. One of these had become lodged in the birth canal.

Dr Van Maele performed the c-section (the babies had died in utero because the owners has waited 2 days to bring her in for help) and the ovaro-hysterectomy (spay). There are now drains in her abdomen so that the infection can drain and she’s on IV antibiotics.

The biggest concern is that they were not able to remove the entire infected uterus. Apparently in order for the rest of Karma’s lady bits to function properly, they need to leave part of the birth canal in the dog, including a “stump” of the uterus. They removed more than they usually do, but were still not able to remove every part that was infected. There is a chance that because this infection remains inside her, she will become septic and die.

Additionally, Dr Van Maele advised that most dogs who have abdominal drains have a severe drop in their protein levels, to the point where they require 1 – 2 plasma transfusions.

Dr Van Maele had not known at the time of the surgery that we had taken over care of the dog. She said had she known she probably would have recommended euthansia at the time Karma was already under.

She has a long road ahead of her and still may not recover. The Chip-In will in all likelihood need to be increased to cover an extended hospital stay as well as the transfusions. They are faxing a new estimate over and we will update this page as soon as we receive it.

Please keep Karma in your thoughts and prayers, and thank you for all of your help and good thoughts.

OH – if anyone is interested in making a donation directly to the hospital, they are:

Animal Medical Center
http://amcofeastcounty.net/default.aspx
(619) 444-4246
600 Broadway Ave
El Cajon, CA 92021

Please reference Kelly Gibson / Karma.

If you’d like to donate via ChipIn, here is the link:
http://pugglesnpitties.chipin.com/pregnant-pibble-emergency-surgery

Thank you!!

We received a call from our vet’s office today. A client had brought her very pregnant pit bull in because “something was wrong.” It turns out the dog is suffering from torsion, where the stomach flips over itself. This needs to be surgically corrected or the dog will die. She also needs to undergo an emergency C-section because her body can not undergo the stress of childbirth.

The owner can not pay the $1200 quoted and was declined for Care Credit. She agrees to relinquish the dog to a rescue.

Enter Puggles & Pitties…we were the only ones who answered our phone this morning, and we can’t let her die because of a very treatable medical condition. We have commited to paying for the dog’s care so that she receives the immediate treatment she needs. Once she’s feeling better, we’ll go assess her temperament. If she’s a dog we can accept into the program, we will. Otherwise, we are still commited to sponsoring her medical care.

Please – we need everyone’s help on this one. A completely unexpected medical expense like this is insane, we had no business agreeing to this, but the vet basically said it was us or she was going to be euthanized.

If you can spare even $1, please donate at this Chip In:

http://pugglesnpitties.chipin.com/pregnant-pibble-emergency-surgery

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and so does this angelic pibble mama, who didn’t ask for any of this.