Sherbet: The Will to Live
Little Sherbet was rescued on the 27th October 2021. Sherbet was lying in the dirt very listless and lethargic. TEARS was contacted and when we saw the pictures, the TEARS Mobile Clinic was dispatched with Animal Welfare Assistant Xolele Qhoki responding to fetch Sherbet.
Once at the TEARS Veterinary Hospital, Sherbet was assessed by the TEARS Veterinary Team who found her to be completely dehydrated and lethargic. Her temperature was 34ºC and death was coming! Her vitals were checked and treatment began immediately — warming her, administering a drip and checking for any tick-borne diseases.
Her blood smear showed she has chronic ehrlichiosis and her blood count level was sitting at 19%!! We started the veterinary treatment immediately in the hopes she would respond over the next 24-hours. Sherbet also had been diagnosed with both types of mange called sarcoptic and demodectic mange.
That night was scary. We monitored her drip and kept her warm with snuggly heating pads. She was force fed a special recovery liquid donated by Virbac called Nutribound. Although her little body was very much lifeless she still showed the will to live in her eyes. Every time we looked in her eyes she gave us hope that she was fighting and that we would get through this!
The following morning, Sherbet showed a slight improvement but her breathing was still of great concern. After more testing, the Team discovered that her Haematocrit level had now dropped to 15%. At this point we needed to decide to give her a blood transfusion or wait another 12 hours to see if her own little body starts to repair her blood levels.
By the late afternoon we started to see a slight change in her gums from pale to a light pink and this was a good sign that she is starting to respond. We continued the force feeding, I/V fluids and giving her lots of TLC!
By the third day, Sherbet was starting to sit up and eat a little food by herself. All through this she was always showing the will to live through the look of eyes! One week later, we started see the little puppy in her with her starting to wag her tail and walking around slowly following us everywhere.
Sherbet received twice weekly medicated baths to treat her mange at Vienna’s Village and is also being fed on Hill’s Pet Nutrition Puppy Food to give her the best nutrition she needs to make a full recovery and to grow into a strong and healthy puppy. Simparica treatment made an incredible difference in treating her mange.
Three weeks later, TEARS Operations Manager who is fostering Sherbet has a little champion running around the house chasing and playing with her dogs and cats — barking for her food and giving the best Puppy kisses you could ask for! Sherbet has the nature of a Labrador and is a very well rounded little puppy who will be best suited for a busy home with lots of children and other pets!
📝 https://tears.org.za/dog-adoption-questionnaire/
☎️ 021 785 4482
✉️ adoptions@tears.org.za
🌍 www.tears.org.za/dogs
