Summer and her Babies
Last Updated 08/03/09

Summer, her buddy and their combined 18 puppies we living under a trailer on an ant hill. The trailer of the people who "owned" this family was being re-possessed (shocking as they sound so very classy), so they then dumped all of them at the Collin County Animal Shelter.  Another group stepped up for the mom and her 12 babies while Summer and her 6 puppies waited for help ... but no one came.  

 

They were there for so long that Mama Summer accidentally killed one of her babies by stepping on her in the run at the shelter ... so she was down to 5 puppies.  (And if you think these Mama dogs aren't as tuned into their babies as humans, you need to spend some time with them - this was torture for her!)

 

The whole family was put on the euthanasia list for July 14th ... and Collin County Humane Society stepped up to take them in just in time. 
 

Mama and all 5 babies were covered in pustules and infection from the ant bites. Molly, their foster mom started them on antibiotics and cleaned their wounds daily. They were gaining weight, playing and acting as normal puppies should!   At this point we thought they were on the road to recovery ... but their health started deteriorating suddenly and quickly. On the 20th they tested positive for Coccidia, but their stool only worsened with the treatment. They re-tested the whole family and then found Giardia too. It was at this time that the mom started limping on her back leg. The vet suspected a calcium deficiency and recommended Rimydal and Supplements.  But soon her puppies started twitching and Summer's limped turned into full blown seizures.
 

Mama and all 5 puppies have distemper now ... they are all on several meds in an effort to save their lives and are given Vi-Pro every 15 minutes, treatment on the nebulizer 3 times a day and antibiotics 3 times a day. Some are needing to be force fed and syringe fed pedialite. Molly and CCHS have spent just under $1000 treating them thus far and do not see a light at the end of the tunnel.  They are still holding up hope that they will pull through, but that is not going to be without additional expenses incurred.  And, if they do not improve, CCHS is looking at another $800 to euthanize them humanely and in the care and presence of someone who loves them.

 

What has happened to this family was 100% preventable at so many junctures!  While we cannot go beat up the people that did and prevent them from ever owning another "pet," we can do everything possible to save this family and get them through the hell they have been through to and into a better life.
 
If you or someone you know can help CCHS save this family, you can go to the website www.CollinCountyHumaneSociety.org and click on the donation link or send checks to their vet Parker Animal and Bird Clinic at 2129 W Parker Rd (Ste A) Plano, TX 75023 (be sure you put in the subject line donation to CCHS). Any help is greatly appreciated by them, even $10!
 

Thank you for considering helping this family ... Molly has carried the torch in showing them that there are some good humans out there, but now she needs the rest of us to step in and help her get the rest of the way!

Molly's UPDATES
(08/03/09): It was with a heavy heart that I had to make the decision to put Summer and one of her babies to sleep this morning. They were humanly euthanized after they lost all control over their bodies and were only able to lay there twitching and seizing. We will hold out hope for the other 4 and will not give up until they do...

(8/04/09): Seizures for two of the puppies worsened as the night went on. The became disoriented and appeared to be hallucinating because they were growling at the air and trying running circles to escape something they thought was chasing them. One of the pups was dead when I checked on them at 7am this morning. The other two were not far behind so I took them into be euthanized so they wouldn't have to suffer any longer. We are down to one puppy... "Little Puppy" is what I've been calling him. I gave him a bath, his meds, put him on the nebulizer and made him a new room away from the place where he watched his family dying around him. He had a light twitch to his paw today and a little sneeze, but other than that seems to be doing okay (he is eating and drinking on his own still...). I will keep everyone posted.

(08/05/09): Little Pup is doing okay. He has spurts of energy where he wants to play and he is still eating/drinking on his own! He is having normal BM's still too! But... he is still having mild twitching and still taking meds every 15 minutes (of my waking hours), nebulizer 3 times and day and antibiotics 3 times a day. Time will tell... in the mean time, here is a pic of him chilling with one of my furkids:)

(8/07/09): He was doing great yesterday! His energy was up... he was playing and acting almost like a normal puppy (aside from the tiniest little leg twitch that was only visible when he laid down). He had a big dinner and with in 5 minutes he had a very bad episode. His entire left side of his body was twitching and he was yelping in a rhythmic pattern. I gave him a 1/4 a tab of the valium to help calm the tremors and his nightly meds. In the morning he still had a slight head twitch but nothing compared to what he endured last night. He is playing today... but not as well as yesterday...

(08/11/09): Well it looks like our little Miracle boy is on the road to recovery! He is only having minor episodes where his right leg and head twitch at night and in the morning when he is sleepy. He is gaining weight rapidly and growing strong! He visited Dr Mark Bussan on Sunday to get a puppy chiropractic adjustment along with Infra-Red Laser bio stimulation and AlphaSonic Soundwave Therapy! Dr Bussan also gave us two types of supplements to help his organs and brain tissue repair within! You can click on his name above for a link to more info about the work of Dr Bussan and his contact info.

He is no longer on the nebulizer and his meds are down to twice a day w/ the supplements from Dr Bussan given with his food! Below are a few pics of him today on his potty break:) I've been calling him Harry Potter because of the scar on his forehead that probably saved his life. Had he not had that infected ant bite and been on meds right away... he might have fallen hard and fast like the others. It's just a small dot above his right eye on the pics... but it was a mess just two weeks ago! Stay tuned for updates!

(8/23/09) Well, unfortunately I have some bad news today... per Dr's orders we started trying to wean him off his antibiotics last week and w/in 48 hours he spiraled downhill quickly. He now has a constant twitch to his head and left side that causes him to literally fall over when walking. He has spurts of energy where we can run around and follow me around the house... but those moments are getting farther apart:( He is back up to the antibiotics three times a day and the homeopathic meds as often as possible. He is also on prednisone now (which was started to help wean him off the antibiotics... but doesn't seem to be making much of a difference). He is still eating and drinking... so that's a good sign. But with his lake of coordination, he has lost weight rapidly as he falls into his food/water bowl when trying to eat/drink. Which is just heartbreaking to watch especially after he has come so far! To top it all off, because he has been on antibiotics so long, he developed a fungal infection of his ear, cheek, chin and chest. He began taking meds and creams to help get rid of the fungus too! So... only time will tell if he is going to be able to pull through this roller coaster ride... I will keep everyone posted.

(8/25/09) We had to make the heartbreaking decision to put our little man to sleep today:( The decision was not taken lightly, but we felt we were being selfish in keeping him alive when his suffering was evident. His head was shaking in such a way that he would hit it against the ground. His neck was so exhausted from all the twitching that when we picked him up he just went limp and laid his head back like a new born baby because he had no strength left to hold his head up. We gave him valium to help ease his pain so we could get him through the day until my husband was able to get home early to say his good byes. He fought a long hard battle with an ugly virus. We had many many ups and downs and we really thought he had reached a point where he was on the road to recovery. Little did we know, the worst was yet to come:(

He will be missed in more ways than he probably knows. It gives me some peace to know that he is with his mama and siblings now and of course that he is no loner in constant pain. We did everything we could to help them make it though this, but unfortunately we couldn't do enough to save his life.  Thank you all for your support, donations and well wishes. It has been a heartbreaking journey with a devastating ending... but we must move forward as there are many many other dogs and puppies in need of our help.

We love you little man and will miss you so very very much...