02/03/2022
Urgent Plea for help - PLEASE DONATE - PLEASE SHARE
In November last year, a family found a pup about 5 / 6 months old in a rural area, covered in wounds and bites, and very afraid of people, especially men.
That caring family picked him up then drove to all the rural properties nearby, there weren't many as the area was out of the way, to see if anyone owned or recognised him, but none did. After a week of trying, Arty came to us.
It took some time for his body to recover from all the wounds which were kept clean and treated.
Putting on weight didn't take that long because Arty loved food and would eat as much as he could get, he devoured meaty bones like a lion so the freezer always had a bag just for him.
Learning to trust took a bit longer, but he conquered that fear and made a lot of friends.
Probably the longest out of all was to learn to sit and even longer to learn to sit! 😂 a week of intensive training at a friend's house certainly helped, but he certainly tried their patience as well, as only Arty could do!
Eventually one of the locals met him and off he went on trial adoption to a home only a street away.
On Thursday the family contacted to say that there was something with Arty and an appointment was made for Friday with Palm Vets.
Picking him up from his adopting home, it was immediately evident that something was wrong and he was sick, but no idea what it was.
The vet also had no idea when she saw him as well, he had lumps that had grown rapidly. Some tests were run which didn't help and answered no questions. The course of action was to give him a range of broad covering antibiotics and see if there was any improvement as other test results would take days to come back.
So Rachelle took him home and from Friday night through to Monday morning she cared for him constantly, grabbing only a couple of hour naps in between.
Friday night he ate happily and had his tablets. Thankfully his very high fever broke around 3.30am Saturday morning and he got up to move around, drink water and his demeanor improved. Throughout Saturday lots of little meals were given, he got up drank water, moved around, and that night he had dinner and tablets happily.
Saturday through the night he seemed to not want to get up as much but was still doing ok.
Sunday morning he fought against having the tablets and then threw them back up again.
As Sunday progressed, Arty slowed down again, lying near Rachelle as she worked while watching him. That day and night, in the hope of tempting him to eat, Rachelle cooked up small portions of all sorts of food that normally he would have just inhaled. Opening every type of canned food didn't work, same with different choices in dry food. Apart from water all he would accept is puppy milk.
Monday he was driven straight back to the vets, still no idea what's going on, it was decided to put him on a drip for more intensive treatment in the hopes that one of them would start working, and stay the night with the vets.
It was a surprise for everyone that on Tuesday morning, Arty was still with us and greeted the staff with the wag of a tail.
Tests done Tuesday showed some improvement, but we were still waiting for results from the first ones. So again it was decided to leave him on the drip at the vets for the night.
On Wednesday when Rachelle got to the vets, they said he had declined somewhat and took her through to see him.
As soon as Rachelle saw him, she said that she knew straight away that the kindest thing to do for him was to give him his angel wings immediately, that when she walked in Arty raised his head and looked at her and she knew immediately that he wanted to let go. The vets quickly arranged this and as Rachelle sat beside him in his cage, patting him and telling him that he was the very best boy and he could let go now, the vets helped that happen.
Afterwards the vets said that the pathology report was through finally, it still wasn't conclusive but they thought one very real possibility was an unbelievably aggressive form of cancer, rare as it was, but rarer in a young dog.
If conformation of cancer had been possible on Friday, then Arty would have been given his wings that day.
But having no idea what was wrong, Rachelle went with the vets suggestions and everything possible was done to give him the best fighting chance that he could be given, around the clock care, as well as a lot of love.
The photos attached are of Arty at that time when he was finally ready for adoption. Rachelle has photos of him from Friday through to Wednesday but rather than share them, this is how she wants him to be remembered, bright, full of way too much energy, the rascal about to find trouble and enjoy himself, the young boy who had overcome fears and injuries to grow and thrive.
We are heartbroken to share this story, we want only happy endings each animal, but sometimes (especially in the face of cancer) the only thing we can assure is the freedom from pain quickly and that we are there until the absolute end, by their side, never ever letting them face it alone.
The vet bills for Arty are close to $2,000.00. This amount is added on top of the recent desexings of cats (like Mary and her babies, and another 8 that are in foster and care) and vet visits for health check ups on a few others) we are now facing a vet bill just over $4,500.00, plus our usual running costs & no income.
We need your help, the animals need your help & we need it now!
Darwin Animal Rescue
BSB: 633000
Account: 160483871
Or PayPal: [email protected]
