12/30/2025
Fight Frosty fight!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Ten days ago, twelve fragile lives were placed into our care.
Today, we are grateful to share that eleven of the twelve puppies are stable, playful, eating, and continuing their recovery beautifully. Their progress has been a joy to witness.
One puppy, Frosty, remains critically ill.
He is still with us. He is still fighting. And because he is fighting, we are fighting with him.
Frosty's illness is more severe than his siblings' because his treatment began approximately 48 hours later. This is a delay that matters profoundly in a disease as aggressive and destructive as canine parvovirus. Parvo attacks the lining of the gastrointestinal tract and the bone marrow, stripping the body of its ability to absorb nutrients, maintain blood sugar, produce healthy white and red blood cells, and protect itself from infection.
In Frosty's case, this has meant multiple, simultaneous, life-threatening challenges... and an equally multifaceted medical response.
Here is what Frosty's care currently involves:
▪️Plasma transfusion - Frosty's albumin levels dropped dangerously low. Albumin is a vital blood protein that maintains vascular volume and supports healing. Without it, fluid leaks from the bloodstream into tissues, blood pressure becomes unstable, and recovery becomes far more difficult. Plasma provides the proteins his body is not yet able to make.
▪️Whole blood transfusion - His hematocrit (red blood cell concentration) fell to a level where oxygen delivery to his tissues was compromised. Whole blood restores both oxygen-carrying capacity and volume.
▪️Nasogastric feeding tube - Parvo destroys the intestinal lining, making normal eating painful, ineffective, and sometimes impossible. A soft tube placed gently through the nose into the stomach allows us to deliver nutrition controlled, frequent micro-feeds so his body has the calories and building blocks it needs to heal.
▪️IV fluids with dextrose - Sick puppies cannot maintain normal blood sugar. Dextrose supplementation prevents hypoglycemia, which can cause seizures, coma, and death.
▪️Aggressive pain control - Frosty is not only battling parvo, but also a fractured leg. Pain is physiologically stressful and impairs healing. Keeping him comfortable is not optional. It is essential.
▪️ Strict isolation and intensive nursing care - Round-the-clock monitoring, warming, cleaning, repositioning, feeding, medications, and emotional support.
Last night, Jaime from Pawlicious Poochie Pet Rescue, Dr. C, and our practice manager Krista were here until 2:30 a.m. performing emergency blood and plasma transfusions. One of Krista's own dogs served as a blood donor for Frosty... a literal act of giving life.
Frosty hears his siblings playing. His ears lift. His mother checks on him through the isolation kennel. There is a family here, a small one made of fur, and a larger one made of people. We are all committed to giving him every possible chance.
Skyway Animal Hospital is a general practice. But for over half a century, that has never meant "small medicine."
As one of the oldest veterinary hospitals in St. Petersburg, we stand on decades of knowledge, mentorship, and quiet heroism that has always existed within these walls. Time and again, this hospital has taken on cases that were difficult, resource-intensive, and emotionally demanding... not because it was easy, but because it was right.
We also want to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Stacy Nelson at VEG ER St. Pete, who has answered calls and texts at all hours, offering expertise, reassurance, and guidance throughout this case.
Many hospitals would have referred this case out. Many would have not have been able to quarantine and manage twelve parvovirus patients simultaneously. We chose to think creatively, collaborate deeply, and build the infrastructure in real time because these lives mattered.
We will continue to update those following along. Thank you for holding space for these puppies, for Frosty, and for the people who are walking beside them through this fight.
All hands.
All paws.
All heart.
❤️Skyway Animal Hospital
