Follow up from Street Project - (part 2)

The update this morning (24/9/08) from Sarah regarding Princess was dim. During her double surgery (c-section & sterilisation) 2 puppies were found still inside her but unfortunately already dead. Princess is suffering from a serious internal infection that was in her uterus and caused her to have an abortion. This would explain why she was so overdue on the birth of her puppies, why they were dead and also the dark green/black liquid and discharge. This infection has spread into her blood stream. As her uterus was removed during sterilisation we are now dealing with the infection in her blood stream. These kinds of infections can be picked up from a number of things including tick fever or other diseases. As street dogs are generally not vaccinated they run a much higher risk of contracting these serious and at times fatal diseases.

The concern for the doctors at Purpoon Clinic was that she had stopped eating or drinking and was quite distressed. Having just lost all her puppies she was suffering from emotional trauma and being in a strange place with all new faces certainly didn’t help the situation. If a dog stops eating & drinking it generally means the infection is very serious. They were keeping her on a UV drip to keep fluids in her and also treat her infection.

I immediately felt the urge to be by her side to give her a familiar face, love and comfort. I arrived at the clinic early afternoon and found Princess attached to a UV drip and looking rather depressed.

Upon getting a whiff of my familiar scent she immediately sat up and looked perkier & brighter. Once I opened her cage & stuck my head in I was greeted with many wet kisses from her and I knew right away that I’d made the right decision to take a break from my busy day to come & be with her.

I was successful in feeding her some water so suggested to the doctor that I attempt feeding her some food. She immediately gobbled it all up and myself & the doctors were thrilled as this now changed her situation to looking more positive.

Mmm… that was good!

I sat with Princess for a while patting & stroking her which seemed to give her great relief. She especially enjoyed the complimentary body massage (my dogs rave about it)!

After discussions with the doctors we decided that if another feeding was successful she could be transported to the Care for Dogs - rescue shelter. A phone call later in the day from Sarah informed me that she was already at the shelter. What a relief. Princess will now reside at the shelter for the usual 1 week sterilisation after care. The Care for Dogs team at the shelter are also currently treating her infection orally with a pain killer, double anti-inflammatories and double antibiotics. I will be visiting Princess at the shelter regularly during the week to help keep her spirits up and monitor her progress.

Princess bears some of the usual war scars that street dogs wear. The wound on her ear that you see in these photos are apparently from a previous accident. Although it still looks unpleasant it is now almost healed and all her hair should eventually grow back.

Princess will return for a check up at the clinic in 1 week. If all is well then I will return her to her friends and neighbourhood. Keep a lookout for an update.

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We now have the wounds attended to and 3 of the 4 females sterilised…. 1 sterilisation to go, continue the flea control and then we can start on the vaccinations.

If you haven’t already done so, you can read more about this street project by clicking on the below links

Street Project (part 1) - Assadathon Rd.

Street Project (part 2) - Assadathon Rd.

View location of these dogs with Google Maps here …