Peppa Updates: The Emotional Road

It’s been 3 days since Peppa’s life saving operation. She still isn't really eating or drinking. Her food is blended for now, as her mouth is still painful from the dozen or so teeth extracted last Saturday. She slurps 3 or 4 mouthfuls of food, another 3 or 4 mouthfuls goat's milk and that's all she needs to keep her going the entire day. She doesn't seem to need water.

The core of our work is rescuing strays. With Peppa, a purebred Schnauzer, her similarities with a stray dog are heartbreaking. One wonders how long she was on the streets. Or did she have a family who didn't care very much for her, fed her food and water as and when they remembered to and didn't even bother to groom her, notice that her teeth were all rotten and that she was peeing blood? Was she used as a home-breeding dog? We will never know. All we know is that her emotional scars are deep and the road to her emotional healing is going to be a long, winding one.

Peppa spends her days either sleeping or staring out the front door of her foster home. You feel her pain and longing. She misses her family, even though they didn't treat her well. She seems to long for the outdoors, which again convinces us that she did indeed live like a stray for a while before being picked up and rescued.

No joy in her eyes

With her stray lifestyle, over the years her stomach has shrunk, and her body has gotten used to it. This explains why she doesn’t seem to need to drink water and she doesn’t know how to eat from a bowl. The foster uses a plate and tries to hand feed her but once she has had her 4 mouthfuls of food, she's done with food for the day.

Her foster has also noticed that Peppa has some separation anxiety. She needs to have a human or dog within sight. If there isn't one, the poor little girl will panic, howl and wail. We hope this diminishes as she gets stronger. 

Cute little Peppa loves to snuggle in the resident dog's bed and he graciously gives in to her

Peppa is very tough. By the second day, she was no longer whining and crying in pain, although she is still on pain killers, oral gel and antibiotics. Her physical pain she has learnt to cope with, probably something she has lived with for a long time.

Her teeth are nice & clean now after her dental. She needs to have some oral gel applied on her gums twice daily to soothe her pain.

Her sterilization wound is now nice & dry

Tomorrow we take her to the vet again, to check on her sterilization wound and the stitches in her mouth. All we can do for dear little Peppa right now is to ensure that we try our best to teach and encourage her to eat and drink, like what a normal dog should be doing, and to give her lots of love, and hope that the emotional road is not too long for her.

Email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg if you would like to help Peppa in any way.