Boots: beating rickets
At six weeks old, little boy Boots and his sister were rescued from absolute squalor off streets of Ocean View in Cape Town on death’s door. Lethargic, severely dehydrated and malnourished, underdeveloped for their age, full of demodectic mange, worms, fleas, ticks and intestinal parasites; things weren’t looking good for Boots at all. But worst of all, both puppies were suffering from debilitating rickets due to lack of vitamin D and calcium; their prognosis looked bleak. Their arrival at TEARS promoted expensive emergency medical intervention to save them.
In the early days, they were so ill that we believed that they were suffering from parvo. These tiny fighting spirits pushed through and continued to get a bit better and stronger each day. In the TEARS Welfare Clinic for two weeks, Boots had to endure regular splinting before he has his sister were able to go to foster care. Because of being kept indoors during early development the lack of vitamin D led to secondary nutritional hyperparathryoidism. Boots’ treatment included sunshine and good wholesome food. Boots’ splinting continued on and off for a month before he was able to gain more confidence with his mobility.
With the very worst behind him, Boots was ready to find a home! The Welfare Clinic caught him up on his injections and saw that he was chipped and sterilised. TEARS puppy staff spent time rehabilitating and socialising him. He was ready for a home and we were excited to tell his story. Boots’ new family wandered into TEARS and fell in love.
With our supporters’ contributions, TEARS is able to go the extra mile for puppies like Boots and his sister who wouldn’t have had a chance without this extra funding. In Boots’ case, we spent well over R6000 in special prescription food, expensive bandaging, medication and veterinary care.