The pandemic has impacted many lives, keeping families apart, and our canine family members are victims of the situation as much as many of us are. Unable to return from overseas, Amos' and Chloe's owner had little choice but to leave them in the care of a helper and a frail 89-year-old grandpa who is unable to provide them with the proper care that they need. We had received a text from the owner about Amos on Chinese New Year Eve and had gone to retrieve him to take him to the vet.
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| Chloe at the vet |
Just as we thought we were in the clear with Amos, we received yet another text from the owner around 6pm on the very same day.
"Emergency with Chloe...dad says she has vomited blood," it read. The volunteer who had just returned from the vet barely had time to breathe before she was rushing back out the door to pick Chloe up and making yet another trip to the vet.
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| Badly matted and neglected |
Chloe was in a serious condition and was given emergency treatment at the vet. She had difficulty breathing and her stomach was very hard and painful to the touch. The vet did a rectal check for bleeding and found none so the blood might have come from the pee or the mouth as grandpa wasn’t certain it was blood from her vomit. Blood tests came back normal for red blood and white blood count. She was a bit anemic, possibly from vomiting blood, and her platelets were high, but glucose level was also normal. Chloe is a senior dog, estimated to be around 15 years old, so she also presented signs of chronic diseases. She has a grade 3 heart murmur with backflow present in both sides of the heart. Her heart is enlarged as a result. She will need to be on Pimobendan to manage the heart disease. Her kidneys are also showing signs of early kidney disease. Her stomach walls have also thickened which could mean chronic inflammation or could be due to her having ingested something toxic which would also have caused her to vomit blood. A scan of the stomach showed no signs of any foreign object but she will have to undergo an ultrasound of the stomach in 3-4 weeks time to understand the cause of the inflammation as it may be a sign of some chronic gastric issue, and even cancer.
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| Chloe had laboured breathing |
It has been a few days since she has been warded but Chloe is still not eating on her own and has to be syringe-fed a blended diet. She is also on a slow drip to treat her kidney disease. We are grateful to the vet for waiving the emergency charges as well as giving Chloe a trim to get ri of all her dirty, matted hair.
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| Badly in need of proper care and love |
The owner has surrendered both Amos and Chloe to us as she is unable to provide the dogs with the necessary care due to the physical separation. Both dogs are now in medical boarding while we search for fosters for them. The foster for Chloe will need to have experience in caring for senior dogs and/or palliative care and not leave her alone for long hours. If you have the know-how to provide an old dog with what she needs to live out the rest of her life comfortably, please consider fostering or adopting Chloe. To find out more, email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg.
Written by: Samantha
