Those of you who follow my blog know I have mentioned to
bring you the story of Star and her puppies and today is finally the day!
It is a long story so I will do my best and split it to several
parts to avoid confusions.
The First Night
On the day „D“ Star had all the typical and usual signs of
getting ready for delivery of her litter. But she never went into the labor
described in books – with contractions and breaking of the birth water and that
confused me. I believed we have still time left and went inside the house to
make her whelping box ready. A bad feeling growing in my guts forced me back
out of the house shortly, to find Star nervously running in the kennel, with a
pile of vomit on the ground. Unfortunately, I found also remains of a puppy
there… This has never happened before in my twenty plus years of breeding
siberian huskies.
After the tragedy, about which we will never know exactly
what happened and why, Star settled in her neat whelping box in my office and
gave birth to a tiny little girl, that weighed only 250g, but looked very
healthy and lively. The little one settled quickly to her mom´s nipples and
which then showed signs of starting milk production. Everything looked quite normal.
Being used to different lengths of intervals between puppies
from our different females, not being surprised at several hour gaps, I was
alert but not stressed. Star looked calm and showed no signs of discomfort or
distress.
Several hours passed and despite Star looked like she´s
done, her huge belly was telling us there are several more puppies in there.
Again my intuition started to send me signals. I called a
vet I trust to consult with her and to find out if we would ever need to, only
hypothetically, do a c-section, if it would be an option at her clinic, distant
350km from us. I know Annette is a great, dedicated vet, very responsible, with
the interest to help her canine patients, experienced with sled dogs as she and
her husband have a distance racing sled dog kennel too, and I also knew Annette
would not charge the incredibly high amount that the Swedish veterinary
clinics and hospitals do.
Those are some scary amounts that we have had to face (and
pay) in the past, that have sucked our emergency and later on even the regular
household budget funds. Babeli´s c-section six years ago of 14.000SEK
(2500USD), Chisana´s c-section of 22.500 (3.500USD), Canuck´s wrong diagnosis
and worthless treatment by unskilled staff, that led to losing him (which is
something I have not yet been able to get over), and which costed 17.000SEK
(3.000USD).
I have become a little paranoid and really afraid of „what´s
next“ over the years. This is a definite downside of living here.
So yes, I was quite worried as my inner sense kept sending
those signals that something is not right, despite everything looking just
fine, Star behaving totally calm and my trusted vet thinking the logical way
that as long as the female appears ok, has no fever, eats, drinks, has no
strange discharge, no strange behavior, pain, etc. The logical explanation and
my ratio also said „just wait out till the morning“.
Day Two
The night was long and sleepless. Not only did I guard Star
for any signs of continuing delivery, but her 14,5 years old mom Babeli got
very sick and needed a lot of my attention.
In the morning I didn´t want to waste any time. I knew we
need to make an X-ray asap to see what is going on inside Star´s huge belly so
we heated up the truck as it was over twenty below, packed the pool that serves
as whelping box, with fleece blankets and made sure it´s nice and warm for the
tiny puppy, and made the journey to the vet clinic in Stromsund. The vet was
kind to find time for us and in no time I had the picture in front of me. There
were at least seven more puppies waiting to be born and one of them was stuck
in the birth cannal. The need for an immediate c-section was in order and Star
was given IV fluids for the way. We discussed options with the vet as to which
animal hospital would be the best to do the surgery, considering travel
time - two were between 3-4 hours drive
away and one would take who knows how long over the mountains, with the weather
getting worse.
The nearest was Ostersund, some 100 miles and about 1,5
hours drive from Stromsund. We were told to get ready for a 25.000 surgery
(about 4.000USD) with a possibility to pay in three parts.
When I called Jachym on the way, we immediately agreed that
priorities are in this order:
- Star
- then her born puppy
- then the rest of the litter
- then we worry about finances
We discussed that I could sell my sled if need be and we knew
that the race season was over. Now all our energy, focus and money went to Star
and her puppies.
We had no idea these worries will be the smallest ones of
all….
The Surgery
When we arrived to Ostersund Animal Hospital, they were
ready for us. They took a quick blood test to see if Star´s calcium levels are
good, listened to her heart and found her in excellent shape, ready for the operation.
When they walked with her down the hall towards the
operation room, a very strong fearful feeling ran through my body. I guess
again my intuition was telling me things were not good.
Never before had I let a dog go to the surgery room with
that kind of feeling, but everyone assured me Star will be just fine. The
veterinarian even came back after Star fell asleep after the sedation, to ask
me for my permission to take Star´s uterus away in case it starts bleeding or
it´s not in the best shape. I totally agreed, thinking it would be anyway
Star´s second and last litter.
Nor the vets nor I knew, there will be not much options.
After some more time I heard the familiar sound of a new
born puppy. The first cry! And shortly one of the nurses came and brought a
gray white girl, very lively and strong looking. My dog handler Katka who came
along with me and was a great help during that night, and I started to work on
drying and warming up the puppies. The next two came right after, almost all
three at the same time. We had full hands and the feeling, seeing all these
strong and lively puppies, was very euphoric. After the three grays came a pure
white one, a bit lifeless so I got to practice my resuscitation skills,
swinging the puppy, sucking water out of it´s mouth and nose, and eventually I
used a drop of Rescue Remedy from Bach Flower Essences, which „woke“ her up
quick. I could feel the anesthesia from her breath, and I guess that is what
kept her „sleepy“. I am so happy I carry Rescue Remedy drops with me everywhere
I go! J
The very last puppy was a red! Haven´t had a real red puppy
in a long, long time! She was totally fine and joined her sisters in a special
„kennel“ we got for them, shortly.
It was a busy time, rubbing, drying and taking care of all
the puppies and Katka and I had all our hands totally full with this job. I am
so glad that she is an experienced vet assistant and I an experienced breeder
and dog person. It would have been totally overwhelming for a beginner.
We were happy with these five little miracles and waited for
the completion of the surgery when a nurse arrived with a serious face and
handed me a cell phone. She said the chief vet, the owner of the hospital, who
was not on duty that night wanted to talk to me. I felt like I swallowed a big
rock as I immediately knew something was not good with Star.
I heard his words as if from a far distance, as if in a
dream or from under water. He said Star was unfortunately not doing very well,
and that it´s possible she´s not going to make it. There was a massive bleeding
that the vet team was working on stopping at the moment and she lost a lot of
blood, causing her blood pressure going extremely low. He told me they were
giving her a blood transfusion but the chances are fifty fifty, because they
had only one blood type in the blood bank and only two units of it. He said
Star will need at least two units but if it was the type Star can´t accept, she
will die. He asked me if I could bring one or two of our dogs or knew any dog
owners around Ostersund who could bring a larger dog to donate blood. I quickly
asked how much time do we need to get the donor here, knowing I could never
make it under 4 hours going back home and back. He said the soonest the better
and with that I didn´t want to waste any more time and went to immediately
employ my brain who could I ask for help.
It was one of the most difficult moments in my life –
fighting the desperate tears, the shock the thoughts of losing my Star, the
thoughts of six orphaned puppies to feed and raise, and trying to stay calm and
focus on finding a donor. I realized our friends Karsten and Eveline lived
about an hour drive and had some big, strong siberian husky males in good shape
so I called them immediately. Eveline, bless her heart, agreed to immediately
pack two dogs and come, but also offered that I might want to try other mushers
Jonny and Nadia, who live only 10 miles out of town. They were unreachable
though, so Eveline and Karsten took two of their dogs and sat in their car,
calling me on the way that they drive as fast as they can. The roads were
slippery and the weather was cold and I was hoping they will have a safe drive.
They made it to the hospital exactly five minutes after the
chief vet appeared (he came from home to talk to us personally) and told me
they managed to stop the bleeding once they took out Star´s uterus and that the
blood transfusion from the first unit seems to be accepted by Star. He said her
blood pressure was stabilized for now and that he now believes she will make
it.
I felt like my knees are not going to hold me for long. On
one hand a huge relief to hear these words, on the other one, the alert mode
that kept telling – it´s not over till it´s over.
Another hour or so has passed, during which Karsten and Eveline´s
husky boys were weighed and a blood transfusion specialist arrived to discuss
with them the risks of donation and to take charge of further steps of the
blood transfusions and testing.
One of the nurses came down to say Star got the anti-sedation
and will be slowly waking up. During all these hours, we had no chance to feed
the puppies which worried me a lot too. But they were warm and didn´t show
signs of being week, which was incredible, especially with the first born
little one whom we let nurse from her mom in the truck just before we arrived
to the hospital, about five hours ago.
I heard Star cry from the distance. I know waking up from
anesthesia and after a deep surgery is painful, confusing and very very far
from glorious, but this was a different kind of cry. I felt she was really
suffering. Star is a dog who never even squeeks out of pain, a real tough, a
bit rebellious, stubborn and mischievous animal. She never shows signs of pain,
weakness or suffering. Hearing her like this just broke my heart. I waited in
the hall and finally she appeared at the far end, walking dizzy, but being her
typical self, looking way better than what shape she was in, trying to walk
proud, pulling on the leash, and searching for her puppy. I do not cry on
public, but before I knew what I am doing, I found myself on my knees, hugging
my dog and crying like a child.
I still knew this wasn´t over, nothing was sure and anything
could happen. Star lost a lot of blood and needed another blood unite quickly.
We helped two nurses and the vet to settle Star down
comfortably on a blanket in the examination room where we waited with the
puppies, and they had to take a blood sample to analyse her blood type, as well
as to check her blood cell count. It was extremely low. But one great strike of
luck blessed Star – her blood type corresponded with the blood type the
hospital had in their blood bank. They explained that dogs have only two blood
types – negative and positive. And while one blood type can accept transfusion
of both types, the other one can only accept it´s own type. Star was of course
the more difficult one, so how lucky was it that the only blood units available
were Star´s type!!!
After testing the donor dogs the specialist decided that the
best for all the three dogs involved would be to give Star the second unit of
blood and if she accepts it and her total BCC rises to a certain level, they
will not, after all take blood from Karsten and Eveline´s dogs. Quite frankly,
I was too tired and too confused to gather all the information properly, but I
know there were some concerns about them due to their weight (ideally, the
donor dogs should weigh 30kg, which siberian huskies of course don´t) and some
more info.
We are and always will be deeply grateful to Karsten and
Eveline for their support and will to help, for their immediate response
without hesitation. The long distance mushing community has always been a great
example of camaraderie, unconditional help to each other and support. Thank you
so much Eveline and Karsten and also Barney and Dante for coming to help and
being there for Star!
The hours went by and the vets were checking Star´s
temperature, pulse and other vitals for any signs of reaction to the new blood.
Again, very luckily, she had no reaction at all and accepted the second unit
well. We let the puppies nurse from her, but I could see over the night that
the milk production was definitely not underway the way it usually is. I was
hoping that once we settle back home, everything will start to work out.
But now we were still at the hospital, Star was more and
more awake and got a can of pet food and some water to drink. After another
hour we were allowed to give her a bit of kibble I had in the truck.
The transfusion was finished and another set of blood tests
was made to see how much the total BCC rose since the last transfusion. We
were crossing our fingers for a good number which would mean Star is out of
immediate danger and could be released home.
I could take her out to pee, which she did quickly but
wanted to go back in with her family. All she cared about was taking care of
her babies.
She didn´t care that half night ago, she had only one and
now there were six of them. She did what every good dog mama does.
Her hematocrite level rose to 13, which we were told was the
minimum or border line at which they would let Star go home. I know that a well
trained long distance sled dog athlete in top condition has easily hematocrite
level of 50. That shows how extremely low Star´s dropped, considering the fact
that now, after accepting two blood units, we were celebrating a 13.
The saying that „blood is the most important liquid in the
world“ crossed my mind. The thoughts of so many animals needing blood
transfusions during surgeries after being hit by cars, eating a poison and
more, did not want to leave me. There are so few registered dog donors out
there. Ostersund Animal Hospital has only four registered donors who give
blood regularly few times a year for the blood bank. Then there are dogs needed
to come on call in situations like Star´s, which they don´t have.
So I decided that in spring time we will take our malamute
Cooper (who is well over the 35kg mark) down to the city for testing and see if
we could help somehow.
I still feel the need to thank whomever the donor (or
donners) of the two units Star received are or were, for saving my girl´s life.
And I feel the need to give back. To maybe help save another animal´s life
through blood donation from one of our dogs.
Around 2:00 am we were allowed to go home, we did some
paperwork, got emergency phone numbers and instructions what to watch for with
Star. The next three days would be the most crucial and if any complications
would arise, it would be then. We needed to check her temperature, appetite,
loss of energy, check her gums and ears for paleness and slow return into the
healthy pink (which would indicate her blood cell count going down again),
watch for any discharge, or blood in her stool, etc. I must say, I was not very
keen on taking Star and the six puppies back into the truck and drive 100 miles
through the woods home. I felt a lot more secure here at the animal hospital,
for I knew I would not be able to do much for Star shell she get anemic or get
infection.
The Morning After
We got home at 4:30 am and now it was time to settle the
family back into normal, into their cozy whelping box in the warm room. Star
was restless in the car, panting heavily, and I was quite worried about her,
but as soon as we got home she calmed down, ate another small breakfast and
took care of her puppies.
Katka went to feed the dogs who haven´t eaten since last
morning, then I sent her to bed, while I stayed awake with the new family.
The puppies were nursing, but grew more desperate and within
couple hours it became obvious that Star has no milk left. Her production
stopped as her body prioritized the recovery and saving itself as it was in the
survival mode. Star simply had too much going on in her own organism since the
surgery and blood loss and despite she cleaned and took care of her puppies
wonderfully, she was not able to nurse them.
The smallest first born puppy cried a lot and I decided to
give it some light chamomile tea with honey for energy and re-hydration. I also
gave her couple drops of the Rescue Remedy and some REIKI, which helped to keep
her going, but in couple hours the problem was back. She was leaping for food
and her tiny body was getting weaker. Although she was wrapped and warmed up in
electric frote blanket, she was not doing better. I first though that we are
most likely going to lose her, because there might simply be something wrong
with her. But my inner feeling kept telling me to fight for her and I again
gave her more tea with honey and REIKI and she again got a bit better.
But now the white puppy started to leap and through it´s
head backwards with desperation. That moment I knew we were in another serious
trouble.
The Race For The Puppies´ Life
I found remains of powdered puppy milk substitute, expired
back in 2007. I remember using it some years ago with not very good results,
the puppies always got constipated with it, and I managed to find a way how to
make the milk a bit more digestible with the use of a bit of butter, but only
for a bit larger puppies, not half day old ones.
It was our only option though, so I had to try the milk
substitute anyway. For anyone un-experienced, this is a rather tough job to do.
If it was „only“ about feeding the puppies every hour or two, it would be fine.
A lot of work and no sleep, but fine. But the thing is that there are many
challenges before the victory of getting the puppies fed with the milk
substitute.
First of all, they do not want to accept the doodle of the
bottle. It is rubber, it smells rubber and it is too big or a wrong shape. Then
the milk itself tastes nothing like their mother´s milk so they spit it out
once they taste it, with most of their portion ending up everywhere around,
except where it belongs.
Although I have a collection of bottles and doodles for
artificial feeding of puppies, I always end up using a syringe. This is a very
tricky thing though and I warn any beginner in advance. If you press the
syringe too fast and in a wrong position, you can get the milk into the
puppy´s respiratory ways, which can cause suffocation and/or respiratory
infection, which most often leads into pneumonia. Basically un-treatable in such
a tiny puppy.
The risk is huge, but I had not many options if I wanted the
puppies to get fed and try to save them.
During the day I developed a system in which I held my left
index finger in the puppy´s mouth, injecting the milk slowly drop by drop into
their mouth. After some practice, they learned to suck on my finger as the milk
slowly streamed down their throat, so for them it felt very natural. My index finger was very very numb
after the day! J
Three puppies were no problem, accepting the artificial milk
rather well, the other three spitted and twisted and hated it. They reminded me
so much of their mom Star in her stuborness. Such tiny little bodies and so
much willpower and strength!
I measured Star´s temperature every hour, then every two
hours, and she was totally fine. She ate, drank, went out to potty, took care
of her puppies and looked more relaxed and energetic with every hour of the
day. Her skin was nice and pink, no signs of anemia.
The day was very long. Now I haven´t slept for two nights in
a row, or 48 hours. By night time the puppies started to show signs of
constipation. Whining, pushing, having hard times to poo, I had to help them
out with massage of their tummies with warming herbal oils and REIKI.
I continued to feed and check them every hour and a half,
which gave me about 20 minute cat naps in between. I was in my clothes all the
time, just crashing on the bed without blanket, for twenty minutes or so, then
the alarm clock woke me up and I went like a robot to the kitchen, prepared the
puppy milk, made sure the temperature is right, warming it up when it was
getting cold, feeding the puppies, massaging their bellies, cleaning up the
mess from the milks spitted out all over me and the room, and then I went back
for my next cat nap. Every second feeding I checked Star´s temperature and kept
eye on Babeli, the sick house dog, who now was luckily doing much much better.
I thought for myself that despite cancelling my racing
season, I am getting my dose of long distance mushing experience through the
sleep deprivation and I smiled for myself.
But I also knew that I wasn´t sure if this is going to work
out this way long term, with the puppies not digesting the milk very well.
In Search of Milk
Another night during which I collected about an hour of
sleep in total was behind us. It was Friday morning and went to feed the house
dogs. I cooked lunch and decided that I need to do more before the weekend
comes. I needed to find another milk subsitute, because this supply wasn´t
going to last over the weekend. I also wanted to try a formula that the puppies
would strive on. Since their birth, they only kept losing weight.
And I most certainly felt I need to do something about
Star´s milk production. I just didn´t want to give up the thought „what if“ her
milk could come back.
So I browsed the internet and phoned elsewhere and in the
process, I found myself typing a message on Facebook, asking if anyone would
know about a nursing female that would be able to nurse six more tiny puppies.
I knew that in the least populated province of Sweden, and it´s least populated
county we don´t really have chances of finding a suitable nurse, as it is tough
to find one even in a city, but I anyway sent the message out to a few dog
oriented groups on Facebook.
In the meantime a Facebook friend from Australia read about
Star´s story, and she wrote me suggestions of the use of certain herbs that can
help to re-start the milk production, as she had a similar experience herself
before.
I immediately searched the net for herbs and herbal products
that could help. The question was where to find them and get them over here so
quickly. A week time of delivery from internet shops is great, but not in case
of starving one and a half days old puppies.
I also needed to get more puppy milk substitute which
was nowhere to be found in the little
town of Stromsund, except for a lamb milk substitute which the vets did not
advice to use due to low fat and protein contents.
By the late afternoon I opened my Facebook and found a
message from a dear friend I have not seen for a long, long time.
Malin wrote that she has a two years old siberian husky
female who´s puppies are just going to new homes during the weekend. Their mom
still had a lot of milk, although her puppies nursed from her just
sporadically, as they were fully weaned and ate meat and kibble.
I immediately called her and we both agreed that the best would
be if I came, picked Carla up and see if it works out or not. That was a
fantastic option as driving the puppies all the way down, taking them away from
their mom and on top of all, adding more work to Malin by bringing in six more
lives to take care of would be really a lot for all of us.
Malin and I are good friends and we share some similar
thoughs and philosophies on life and dog care and that made it easy for both us
to agree to give it a try.
I did not feel I could make that 400 mile round trip during
the night alone. I needed Katka to stay home with all the dogs and keep feeding
the puppies every two hours and so I decided to wait until the morning and
start driving during daylight.
The veterinary hospital was on the way so I made
arrangements to pick up a can of the milk substitute just to be on the safe
side. I also found a natural health shop downtown, which would be open on
Saturday and which I hoped would have some of the herbs stimulating milk
production.
Katka got her instructions on puppy feeding and I was so
fortunate to have our dear friend and „neighbour“ (living 20miles down the
gravel road) Ake to agree to accompany me if I shell start falling asleep. I
dont´ want to sound like a weakling, but I wasn´t exactly in the „Olympic
shape“ after four nights of no sleep and four days of stress and worry J
Carla
The weather of course had to give us an extra challenge,
just to keep me awake – gusting winds, snow drifts on the highway and icey
surface on the narrow roads in mountain valley where Malin lives. But we made
it and finally met Carla. And it was like meeting a sunshine. She was a small,
yet strong looking gal, a bit timmid towards the newcommers. She played with
her puppies and I could see right away what a good mom she was. Patient,
positive and friendly. „This could work out“ I thought for myself.
After a hearty chat and nice cup of coffee and cinnamon buns
it was time to drive back with a new member of our dog family.
When we got home, she entered the house and all the house
dogs greeted her as their own. It was an amazing experience. They accepted her immediately.
There was a unique feeling, atmosphere, hanging in the air. It felt very
spiritual. As if they knew. As if Carla knew. Everyone was in harmony as we all
were in a survival race.
Miracles Happen!
But something told me it will be fine, to try it out now so
I did. I brought one puppy to Carla, who was now settled on my bed. Katka held
her and I let her sniff the puppy, so
she could not bite it. She reacted as if it was her own baby. So I tried to put
the puppy to her belly to see if she would let it nurse and she did. The puppy
immediately found the source of the life giving milk and the rest is, as they
say – history. We had all six puppies fed with full bellies in few minutes,
with Carla being totally cool and content about it. What a true miracle!!!
Star had a bit different opinion though, which was something
I expected, so I was very careful when returning the puppies to her. As soon as
she smelled another female´s smell on them, she wanted to bite them. She was
angry. But I talked to her calmly and took only one puppy at a time away, and
she got used to the new situation during the night.
The next day we knew that victory was ours! Star went three
days without a sign of complication, the puppies were nursing real mother´s
milk, their stools returned to normal, they started to gain weight and Carla
loved them as her own. Miracles do happen!
Before I continue, I must express another huge thank you to
my dear friend Malin for trusting me enough to let Carla come to us and help
raise Star´s puppies. My gratitude is endless and my appreciation hard to
express.
Everyone fell in love with Carla. The house dogs (yes,
including the girls!!!), Granite, myself. She is one of the most kind spirited
animals and beings I ever met. She took on such a huge task – travelling so far
away to a place she´s never been to, to a new pack of dogs, new people, then
nursing six little puppies over again after her own litter. She settled inside
the house, befriended all three of our cats and kept charming us all. It was
very hard to let her go back home after the two weeks. I feel forever connected
with this little dog.
There were so many miracles happening during the entire
experience. Starting with the moment when the hospital had only two units of
blood and it happened to be Star´s blood type, and the only one she could
accept. Our friends having two dogs to donate blood and making it so fast to
the hospital to help Star.
Then the fact that the puppies, especially little Jodi and
Libby, made it through the starvation. Then the entire litter making it in
general. Star recovering. Finding of a nurse – in a perfect timing. Carla
accepting the puppies immediately. Those are all huge miracles that I am
stunned by every time I think of them.
We may be broke. We have had to sacrifice our racing season.
We need to come up with a way how to pay the vet bills that totalled to nearly
6.000 USD, a sum we do not have. But I still consider us lucky. I still see the
whole situation as a miracle with a true happy ending. And I feel truly blessed
to have wonderful folks who helped along the way.
There is one more miracle that happend during the journey. I
found a special herbal blend for stimulating milk production in the health shop
in town and started to give it to Star immediately, three times a day. Her milk
started to appear after about ten days!!! She started to nurse a bit when
Carla´s milk production after 10 weeks of total nursing went down, just in
perfect timing. Star has gotten so much milk between 3-5 weeks of age of her
puppies and has been nursing them since until today.
I will write a blog post describing the herbs, etc. so it
can help other breeders shell they ever get into similar situation. A huge
thank you to my Facebook friend Kim for her suggestions and intersted to help!
We named the six miracle, tough girls after tough amazing
female long distance mushers: Susan (Butcher – four time Iditarod champion and
a dog care ambassador), Libby (Riddles – the first woman in the history of the
Iditarod race to win, by going into a blizzard no one else dared), Dee Dee
(Jonrowe – top finisher and constant contender on the Iditarod, breast cancer
survivor), Aliy (Zirkle – the only female Yukon Quest champion, top Iditarod
finisher, dog care ambassador), Sigrid (Ekran – Norwegian musher, top contender
of all the world´s long distance races, rookie of the year on Iditarod, dog
care ambassador), and finally Jodi (Bailey – the only rookie musher in history
to finish both Yukon Quest and Iditarod in the same year, an amazing person,
inspiration and dear friend. We named the smallest girl, whom we find the
toughest of the bunch, in your honor, my dear Jodi!
We needed and still need to make sure the girls get extra
good nutrition and many immune system boosting natural supplements due to the
lack of those essential substances during the first days of their lives.
Since the girls were just a bit over two weeks old, we
started to feed them semi solid food, as they showed signs of need for more
nutrition. They are always hungry, which is a good thing – it´s going to make
good eaters out of them J
We supplement their diet with dried colostrum powder,
probiotics, powdered kelp and other supplements. They get chicken meat and high
energy kibble and sometimes oat flakes and eggs too.
I would like express our heartfelt thanks one more time to
(in no particular order):
Karsten Gronass and Eveline Koch
Malin Aspaas
Dr.Cecillia (I lost her last name) from Östersunds Animal
Hospital
Dr.Johann Brommee – the chief vet and owner of OAH, for
letting us come despite not having the money and working out a payment calendar
for us
Fjall Veterinar in Strömsund
EJs Health Shop in Östersund
Ake Nilsson
Katka Schanelcova - our wonderful dog handler/kennel assistant
And to one more great being and amazing dog – Carla
2 comments:
Wow, that was some extreme experience you went through in such a short time. I'm glad everything worked out for Star, the puppies, and you, despite the large bill you ended up with.
So happy everyone was at the right time to step in and save the puppies and Star. Carla was so sweet!
Lucy
What an amazing story! Whew!!!
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