August Patient of the Month- Cali!!!!!

This "cupcake" became her favorite toy.

Responsible breeders often live in the shadows of the dark stories of large-scale commercial dog breeding operations (puppy mills) where profit is given a greater priority then the well-being of the animal.

Cali in O2 chamber.

Our August patient of the month begins her story as a victim of one of these puppy mills. Cali, a white and tan English Bulldog had a very rough start. Her forever family found her at a local pet store known for their Teacup puppies. They fell quickly in love. On her adoption day, 11 week old Cali was energetic and sweet but had noticeable yellow discharge coming from her nose. Cali had been seen by a veterinarian to receive her initial vaccinations and approval for purchase through the puppy store. So, trusting that they were receiving a healthy puppy, they welcomed Cali into their home. However, in a few days, her symptoms had worsened and they knew they had been mislead.

Cali’s owners took her to their regular Veterinarian where bloodwork and radiographs (x-rays) were performed.  The x-rays showed severe pulmonary infiltrate in an alveolar lung pattern in the right middle and left caudal lung lobes. In short, Cali had severe bacterial pneumonia that required aggressive medical management and oxygen therapy.

For the nearly three weeks, Cali was a resident of the HAH. She received powerful antibiotics, oxygen (O2) therapy, nebulization and intensive nursing care. Because of her age, close monitoring of her liver and kidney values was imperative to ensure they could successfully process the strong antibiotics she was prescribed. For two weeks, she set up shop in one of our oxygen chambers where she received 24 hour oxygen therapy and watched the world through a Plexiglas window. Dr. Patterson monitored her constantly, adjusting her medications and treatments. She took x-rays and ran bloodwork to monitor Cali’s progress and waited for Cali to respond.  This battle was hard to win. Cali did not respond quickly to therapy. Alternative solutions had to be considered.

By now, Cali had spent more of her life with our HAH staff than with the family that adopted her. We loved her and along with her family she had a team committed to seeing her through this. It would take time and patience. After almost three weeks of care, Dr. Patterson cleared Cali to go home.

After one month of treatment for bacterial pneumonia, Cali is home and doing well. Her x-rays showed permanent changes in her lungs due to the pneumonia but her quality of life is great! To see her now you may not know she had such a rough start. However, the lack of initial care she received in the 10 weeks prior to finding her forever family was disastrous. It was in that time and due to a lack of consideration for the health of pets that Cali developed this condition that threatened her life. Thankfully, her forever family stood by her. We are pleased to have been a part of Cali’s care and to recognize her as our August Patient of the Month!

Watch this silly video and see how truly well Cali is now!!! Watch now!!!