Harper. Puppy Love

Since our last update, we’re glad to share that Harper has been discharged from the vet and found a foster willing to give 100% towards her care. Harper is still quite young and susceptible to infection so it is preferable that she’s not kept at the vet for too long. Her current foster is a dedicated caregiver and we are thankful to the foster and the support of the foster’s family so that Harper has a loving environment to heal and grow in.

Harper also had a consultation with Dr Jean Paul Ly of Animal Recovery Veterinarian Centre kindly sponsored by a HOPE supporter! Dr Ly first checked out Harper’s mobility problems. After looking at her x-ray, videos of how she crawls and through observation, he concluded that she was most likely born with a broken spine. This means that poor delicate Harper must always be carried carefully, with minimal movement. If you gently touch her spine, you can actually feel the deformity on her back. We still have hope that her bones will fuse properly as she grows to give her a better chance at walking normally in the future.


At Dr Jean Paul Ly's clinic

Thankfully, she appears not to be in pain at the moment. Cheerful and active, she tries all the time to walk, but her legs always give way and she topples. It saddens us to see her like this and we have been researching to see how we can help her. Dr Ly suggested that we leave her spine problem be for another month as she is still very fragile.

 

Brave Harper had her first vaccination

 Harper also had laboured breathing (suspected to be pneumonia) but fortunately it stabilised. At a return visit to Dr Ly four days after the first, she was given the all-clear! In other good news, the callous on her chest has dried up and the scab fallen off. The ulcer on her eye has also disappeared and she no longer tears.  Now we can all see little Harper’s “knowing eyes”, as Dr Ly commented. She is now in good condition for her first vaccination! We will also start her hydrotherapy sessions when she is 3 months old; we are holding off acupuncture and massage to a later stage as advised by Dr Ly. Hydrotherapy to start after she turns 3 months old as she is still unable to regulate her breathing well and we don’t want to risk her getting water in her tiny lungs.





Teething and learning to play with puppy toys



Back at home, Harper is every bit the lively puppy! She’s teething and has grown a preference to chewing on fingers rather than the toys we bought her. She also crawls all over her room, biting things and basically being the puppy that she is J We gave her her very first shower on Vesak Day – a quick warm shower as we couldn’t risk her falling sick!

 



Baby Harper's very first bath!



 

 

Harper still needs help with peeing and pooing though. She can’t control her bladder, and so would dribble urine when she crawls and when we carry her. As she cannot urinate on her own, we squeeze her belly 4-5 times daily to get her to express her pee. At the moment she uses a lot of pee pads, wet tissues, towels and newspapers, especially pee pads which we use to line her play area, flooring (so she doesn’t slip) and when we wrap and carry her. We’re always running low of supplies and would greatly appreciate donations. If you have any new towels or peed pads to offer, please contact us!

 

Non slip flooring for baby Harper

Harper will crawl and poo, but she is a very clean little puppy and has never dirtied herself. She will make little sounds to inform you that she has poo-ed and ask you to change her pee pad. As recommended by Dr Ly, Harper is on a special hypo-allergenic diet together with baby formula milk, papaya, lots of supplements for her bones and lingzhi for building immunity. This keeps her stools soft so that it can come out easily as she does not have the strength to push out the poo. This diet has been working well in maintaining a soft poo consistency which we will keep to for now.

 

Harper can stand for more than 10 seconds, especially when she is eating

 

Much stronger and bigger now

Harper’s various conditions may or may not improve with time. We’re doing our best to provide her with what she needs and of course lots of love! Life as a stray with no food and shelter is hard enough. Life as a stray puppy is even harder – Harper would have been defenseless against bigger dogs, abuse from humans at worksites and danger from trucks who cannot see her on the roads. With Harper’s handicap, we cannot imagine how she would have survived if Mr Aziz had not sought help for her… and so much help she has received! Thank you to all the kind souls who wrote in to offer help; we could not have done it alone without your support.

Watch how Harper tries to walk  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw7k4zVQVNc&feature=youtu.be

Harper still needs

·     Funds to support her daily living – supplements, soy milk formula, pee pads, new towels and food (she is not allowed treats as that might affect her bowel movement, causing constipation thus bacterial infection in her stomach).

 

Most importantly, Harper needs a loving family who will adopt her and give her the love and care she deserves for being such a brave little fighter.

If you can help, please email Fiona at Fiona@hopedogrescue.org

 

Thank you everyone for your kindness, generosity and compassion – we rescue dogs every day, and usually it’s the older dogs – dogs that have led a lifetime of pain and suffering on the streets – or old abandoned dogs. Little Harper, despite her miniature size, has been a huge inspiration to us. Her determination and courage has inspired us tremendously to continue with our rescue mission.

Written by Liw Yiling. Video by Nicole O'Neil. Photography by Buven

 

Meet Harper and Cotton

 

For donors and supporters who wish to meet Harper and Cotton, they will be at Doggiestyle Café this Friday to meet and thank you for loving them!

To all who visit Harper and Cotton at Doggiestyle Café this Friday, may we request that you have a drink or two at the café, even dinner perhaps, as the owners of the café have kindly allowed us free use of their café, and we hope to support their business in return.

 

COTTON



Date  :  7 June (Friday)

Time  :  7.30pm to 8.30pm only

Venue  :  Doggiestyle Café (23, Serangoon Central, Nex shopping mall, #04R-72, Singapore 556083)

If you would like to donate food or basic necessities for Harper, please bring it down this Friday. Please note that these are the only items that Harper requires :

1)        Pee pads (to be shared with Matthieu)

2)        Brand new towels (as her immune is very low thus we would like to avoid used towels for now)

3)        Newspapers (to be shared with Matthieu)

 

4)        Wet tissues (to be shared with Matthieu)

 

 

 

5)        Isomil Soy Formula (from supermarkets)

 

6)        Ultra-Hypoallergenic Diet for Sensitive Dogs (from Animal Recovery Referral Centre, 466 Serangoon Road)

 

 

7)        Puppy toys, she is teething

8)        Harper is not allowed to eat treats for now, but should you wish to donate treats to our other rescue dogs, that would be most welcome. Please do not give us half eaten and opened treats. We don’t mean to be ungrateful but sometimes the treats get moldy by the time we pass it to our poor rescue doggies. 

Thank you everyone for making our rescue work possible. See you this Friday!