We received a call last night at 9pm asking for help and advice
with regards to a senior abandoned Chihuahua, found roaming the streets in
Jurong last year. When Mark found her, she was dirty, smelly, terribly hungry
and thirsty. It seemed as if she had been wandering the streets for a while.
Mark took her home and noticed she had a lump on one of her nipples. He took
her to the vet and found out she had breast cancer. He paid for her surgery to remove
the lump and also spent the next 3 months looking for her owner by putting up
posters, but to no avail. She was not sterilized and not microchipped.
When he first found her, she would only eat plain bread. Was
it because that was all she was fed on? He named her Na Na as he later realized she loved bananas. Na Na looks to be about 8 to 10 years old.
Few days ago Na Na stopped eating, became listless and
leaked pee. She also started drinking a lot, her stomach looked swollen and she
started vomiting. Mark took her to a vet where she was given antibiotics and
sent home. But her condition did not improve. In fact, she looked more listless
and so Mark took her to another vet where blood tests and an x-ray was done. It
showed that she had closed pyometra. But Na Na also had water in her lungs,
pretty bad heart murmur and an enlarged heart. The vet did not dare to operate
on her as it was too risky. So Mark took her out of the vet and sat in the car
with the drip still on Na Na, desperately calling friends for help and advice.
Finally he called HOPE but by then, it was 9pm and most of the vets were either
closed or closing. Na Na was in critical condition. She was on a drip, in their
car, with nowhere to go. Her breathing was laboured and it was unlikely she
would make it through the night.
We were put in a critical situation; it was a matter of life
and death. There was no time to ponder on whether we wanted to take on this
case, or if we could even afford to help.
We called our regular vet but as it was closing time, there
was only one vet on duty and she was attending to another emergency case. We
pleaded with them to see Na Na but the receptionist said she had no idea what
time the vet would be done with her emergency. In the meantime, our volunteers
were frantically calling other vets to ask if they could see Na Na. After an
hour, we finally found a vet that would see Na Na and as Mark was on the way,
we received a call from our regular vet saying that the Dr was done with her emergency
and had kindly agreed to see us, even though it was way past closing time. We
were truly grateful. We detoured and headed down.
The vet examined Na Na, who was still on drip and lying in a
plastic tub. She looked as if she would go anytime. Her abdomen was swollen and
painful, she was leaking pee and running a slight temperature. The vet told us
that it was unlikely that Na Na would make it through the night. An emergency surgery
was needed. It was a high risk surgery as Na Na’s heart may not be able to take
it but it was between the devil and the deep blue sea. If we didn’t go ahead
with the surgery, Na Na would die soon. So we agreed and the vet quickly
prepared to proceed with the emergency surgery. It was 11pm when we left the
clinic.
We waited till the wee hours for updates from the vet. She
called at 1am to say that she had removed Na Na’s uterus; any longer and it
would have ruptured in her stomach, killing her. We were thankful for the vet’s
passion and willingness to see us and work late into the night to save Na Na’s
life.
Today Na Na is still listless and not eating. The next 48 hours are crucial.
We hope she will pull through and be able to live a happier
life.
Na Na’s bill is estimated to be about $3000/-. If you can
help with Na Na’s vet bills, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg
