Kimball (which means warrior, brave, and noble) was found roaming around the local grocery store that my daughter works at. My daughter posted two pictures of this hungry, mangy mutt on Facebook, in hopes that someone would come rescue her. I had this feeling come over me and I immediately knew I needed to help. I told my husband I was going to rescue this dog and showed him the pictures. While I
was loading up the biggest crate I had, the mobile vet passed by my house. She was on her way to the location (not far from my house) for her once a month, low cost clinic. I said in my head "oh look, there goes Dr. Hubbard". I left to go pick up this helpless, starving dog. When I got there, I almost lost it. The pictures did not show just how bad she really was, and it took everything I had to hold back tears when loading her in my truck. I remembered seeing Dr. Hubbard go by my house, so while sobbing, I called my husband and told him I was taking the dog there. Her skin was so bad, and she was so emaciated, that I fully expected the vet to say that we needed to put her down. She didn't though. Dr. Hubbard saw the same thing that I did when I saw this dog. Determination to live. While I waited on the vet to come back with all her meds, I decided to name her 'Kimball'. Dr. Hubbard said that she thought Kimball would be 1000 times better in a week and I could take her home. Kimball got two shots and some oral meds and we were on our way to the house. After I got her home, I gave her a bath and she laid on the back porch. She was so weak that she barely moved at all and I would have to help her get up to go potty. She ate and drank just a little, but the next day, she took a turn for the worse and had to be hospitalized. She stayed at the vet's office for a total of 5 days. The first 48 hours Dr. Hubbard stayed with her, non-stop. She ended up being on an IV for 4 days. The 5th day, she did good without the IV. With her eating, drinking and going potty, like she should, Dr. Hubbard let me pick her up. Her mange was so bad that just about every inch of her skin was infected. Her white blood count was over 40,000 and it shouldn't have been over 12,000. The first month was focused on getting the infection gone. She would get daily baths and medication, twice a day. The second and third month, we focused on getting the mange under control. Again, she got daily baths and medication. Finally, the 4th month, she was well enough to get spayed. We still don't know how she made it. It was indeed a miracle. She made a full recovery within 4 months, with the exception of some bald areas, from severe scarring and open wounds that she had. She is finally able to be the big, goofy Great Dane, that God made her to be. A very special 'thank you' goes out to all of you that helped with donations of money and/or supplies. And for all the prayers. I couldn't have done it without you.
