Dawn ARPH #14636
URGENT!!!! Dawn needs your help!
This morning, we brought our newest ARPH rescue into the program...Dawn...and immediately rushed her to the emergency hospital. At just 3-5 years old, she weighs a shocking and absolutely heartbreatking 13 lbs - far below what she should for an adult female Aussie. She has a body condition score of 0, is too weak to stand, has pale gums, and is vomiting bile and blood.
The diagnosis? Severe emaciation, dehydration, anemia, and parvo.
Dawn is now fighting for her life. She needs a blood transfusion, monoclonal antibody parvo treatment, a feeding tube, and around-the-clock critical are hospitalization to have a chance at survival. This will be an uphill battle, and despite her guarded prognosis, we still want to give her a fighting chance and hope that she can pull through.
Due to the severity and extremes of her conditions, the first 48 hours of ICU and stabilization care is $8500-$10,500. Please consider donating to her medical fund. Every dollar helps give Dawn a fighting chance. If you can't donate, please share her story - it could save her life!
Your donation will help ARPH to continue to provide critical medical care for Dawn. You can donate by using her personal PayPal button located below. A PayPal account is not needed. Donations can also be mailed. Any donations exceeding Dawn's expenses will be reserved for other ARPH dogs in need.
Please click on the PayPal button to help save Dawn!
Dawn updates: (Follow her updates with photos and video on ARPH's Facebook page)
Apr 25
Yesterday was the last day of isolation for her and she is enjoying her freedom. It’s very hard to get a good picture of her because she is never more than a few inches away from me. She was especially helpful with our new door wreath! We still have some hurdles to get over but everything is heading in the right direction.
Apr 18
Dawn had a very busy day yesterday. She has been out of the hospital for 9 days now! She had her first vet visit. They weighed her and did some blood tests. She has gained about 2 pounds since her first intake weight. She is still anemic and her counts aren’t yet where they want them to be but we are trending in the right direction.
She got some vitamins, some antibiotics, and permission to increase her food intake! Woohoo! They want her to get more fluids so will get some chicken broth added to her water to encourage fluids.
The best news of all was that she is heartworm NEGATIVE!! She was told to get lots of rest, drink lots of fluids, and come back to see the doctor next Wednesday.
She’s already started on the rest and fluids.
Apr 12:
Dawn is very happy and loves food, people, and stuffies. She adores feeding time but thrives on scritches and love. She is still on multiple small split feedings throughout the day, and doing well.
She will go for blood work and a recheck on Wednesday. She is still all skin and bones but starting to feel like there is a little more to her with a regular feeding regime. All in all, just positive news and good vibes all round.
Apr 8:
We would like to extend our utmost gratitude and thanks to the dedicated ER team at Flower Mound Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center for literally saving Dawn’s life and providing 24/7 care for the last 5 days.
She had a slew of Veterinarians and skilled support staff dedicated to her survival, and we are so appreciative! This includes:
Dr. Lindsey Hattaway, Dr. J. Aaron Gruben, Dr. Matt Cortez, Dr. Karen Bratcher Atkinson, Dr. Dallas Angove, Dr. Kyleigh Campbell Darby, Dr. Alec DaPra
And the countless technicians, assistants, and receptionists that all helped in her journey.
Also - our endless thank you to every last person that donated or contributed in some way. This girl needed a lot of support but she ended up developing a huge fan club full of love and community. You each played a part in Dawn’s journey.
Lastly, thank you to all of our ARPH volunteers who have given of themselves in so many ways, to make stories like this a success. I’m always so amazed about what we can accomplish together.
Apr 8:
Dawn went to her foster home!
Apr 6
The night ICU tech had sent an update around 1:45am.
The tech said:
“Her personality is starting to emerge. She is being very insistent on wanting out of the kennel and when I wouldn’t let her, she gave me pouty eyes and looks, as well as heavy sighs.”
What a little diva! Dare I say… do I detect even a little bit of side-eye?!?!
We are ready for a big personality!
Here is the medical update from this morning… and it’s CONTINUED GOOD NEWS!
No longer neutropenic, white blood cell count back to normal. This is huge!
This allows them to lower the number of antibiotics she’s currently on
No diarrhea in 24 hours
Still eating on her own a bit!
Magnesium normal, electrolytes normal
Red blood cell count a little lower today than yesterday, Hematocrit is at 20.8 (could be dilutional due to lower IV fluid rate) - will recheck at 6pm. Still no risk of transfusion at this time.
No clinical signs of anemia
Fecal came back positive for hookworms and coccidia. Treating with Fenbendazole and Albon. This certainly didn’t help her situation. Will need fecal follow-ups in future, etc.
Increased weight! 5.73kg originally - now 6.42kg (they weigh once/day at midnight)
Still want her to be away from other animals, perhaps an ex-pen setup with puppy pads (not going outside.) Needs her own set of bowls. They will be giving her Rx food to go home, a written Rx, plus the EmerAid.
When we got her there, her dehydration level was 10-12% paired with anemia. The doctor said she was definitely on her way out, as “those levels are incompatible with life.” We got her just in time!
If she stays stable as-is, or continues improving, discharge TOMORROW AFTERNOON!
Apr 5
I am very excited to share some amazing updates today. I spoke with her primary emergency doctor and here is a recap of our conversation.
Strong signs of improvement in multiple ways:
SHE IS STANDING! Still wobbly, and not for
long increments, but she is definitely giving it her all.
They increased her trickle feeding by doubling the dosage beginning yesterday evening. She is doing well with that.
Eating on her own is HUGE! She ate some on her own last night and they are about to try again. She did get a little “urpy” after eating, but nothing concerning.
One of our biggest concerns for her is “re-feeding syndrome” (def: a potentially fatal condition that occurs when a severely malnourished or anorexic dog is re-introduced to food too quickly, leading to dangerous metabolic and electrolyte imbalances). Due to this, they have been closely monitoring her electrolyte and specifically Magnesium levels, as we don’t want to see the Mg levels dropping. So far, all of her levels have remained normal.
Her CBC is also showing signs of improvement. Red blood cells are stable at 24%, and they are seeing regeneration (which is AWESOME!). White blood cell count is still slowly improving as well. Neutropenia is still present (low number of neutrophils in her blood, which they are responsible for the body’s immune system to fight infections, bacteria, viruses, etc) but her monocytes are high, so that’s good and can help the neutropenia.
They are continuing with multiple courses of antibiotics - at the end of the day, we need to get rid of big, bad bacteria from the parvo.
Yesterday, she went almost a full 24 hours without any diarrhea, but she did have an episode this morning at 4am. None since.
They are also seeing an improvement in her hydration levels, allowing them to lower her IV fluid rate. Doc was very happy with her improved hydration status.
All in all, they are VERY happy with her progress so far. When considering potential discharge in the future, there are two benchmarks they would like to see:
Continued improvement in white blood cell count
Ability to continually eat on her own
Apr 4:
Our girl is a FIGHTER (see video in comments). She survived the night, and while she still isn’t standing, we are seeing the light start to return in those eyes.
Medically… this remains a long journey. She may need another blood transfusion, her lab results still aren’t fully stable, and she is having occasional parvo “accidents” … but they are taking EXCELLENT care of her. They said if she messes, she always tries whatever strength she has to move away from it… precious girl.
It’s safe to say this baby has gained a lot of fans, and I know you are all eager for updates - please know that the staff is very busy and works incredibly hard… so they send media when they can but obviously this is not their main priority, which I’m sure we can all appreciate and understand.
All of that said, she is still definitely not out of the woods by any means. Due to the severity and extremes of her conditions, she requires around-the-clock care in the hospital isolation ward that is incredibly expensive. We appreciate all of the support we have received so far.