Please help BRQ help Pearl!
Two kind women saved Pearl when she was found, left for dead, in a ditch in the country. Pearl was completely emaciated and had very bloody bowel movements. The two women took her to a few vets without any success at clearing it up. As the symptoms grew worse, Pearl's health deteriorated.
On July 31st, Pearl found her way to Boxer Rescue Quebec.
BRQ got her into our vet right away and the vet agreed that this little pup should be hospitalized. We needed to figure out what was wrong with Pearl and fast - there was not much time. She was skin and bones and had no strength to fight with. Her body was not retaining any nutrition. It seemed that her intestine was very thick and she could not absorb any medications orally - she needed to be on i.v. She had xrays done to see if there were any blockages that could be causing her problems - nothing was found. We did blood work to check her kidneys, pancreas, liver - everything was normal.
Pearl spent the night at the clinic.
We got a call the next morning to say that Pearl's condition had worsened overnight. The vet suspected a problem in the intestine and the only way to be sure of it was emergency surgery. Because Pearl was so sick and so weak, there was no guarantee that she would make it through the surgery. We were devastated but it was her only hope! BRQ gave the vet the green light and Pearl went into surgery that day. For that whole day we all held our breath and prayed that Pearl would make it. And then the phone rang! Pearl had made it through the surgery!
But that was only the beginning of Pearl's journey.
They did not find the suspected problem in her intestine so they took a biopsy and sent it out to the lab. Unfortunately the bloody and liquid stools persisted which meant that poor Pearl was not able to retain anything from her food. They suspected IBD, which would be a very bad thing at Pearl's young age. Pearl remained hospitalized for one week while she recovered from her surgery. Slowly she was put on real food again, and kept hydrated and stable while we waited for the biopsy results.
Finally the results arrived - it turns out that Pearl has ulcerated colitis - which means that she has ulcers on her colon. There has been success treating this with antibiotics, which we have started. Pearl has been released from the clinic and is now recovering in her foster home. Her foster mom, Joanne, has learned to give her injections of antibiotics, which Pearl receives daily. We will see over the next two weeks if the antibiotics help her - so far so good! Pearl is gaining energy and we are doing our best to help her gain some weight too!
We will continue to fight for Pearl and do EVERYTHING in our power to help her become the healthy bouncing boxer that she was meant to be!
Boxer Rescue Quebec is currently trying to raise funds for Pearl's vet bills - which are currently at $3000. As a non profit organization, we depend on the public's support to help us through tough times like this - every little bit is greatly appreciated! If you would like to help sweet Pearl, please click here to donate. Or email us with any questions.
We will be posting updates on Pearl's progress - so please stay tuned!! Thank you for reading!!
Update!
We just wanted to update you all on Pearl, as well as thank you all for your donations toward her vet bills. She is doing great! She will have to stay on the antibiotic Baytril for the next year, but at least it is doing it's job. She has gained over 8lbs now and has great energy. She is playful, strong and boisterous. Her foster mom Joanne's daughter, Grace, taught her how to go over an agility jump - we have a video that we will upload shortly.
And some even better news! Pearl was adopted this weekend! A close friend of BRQ, boxer lover and previous adopter, Pat, has welcomed Pearl into her family. Pearl is now a sister to former BRQ boxer, Bindi, and senior boxer Archie. Pat is able to be home with her all day. Pearl has settled in and is enjoying her new family, and running on her very own 100 acre horse farm! Pat promises to send photos as soon as her daughter visits and shows her how :0) Pat is committed to keeping on top of Pearl's health, and is one of the best "Boxer Moms" around. We are thrilled for Pearl!
We will be updating Pearl's page this week with photos taken just prior to her adoption, and that video as well.
Thank you all so much for all of your positive thoughts! And thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those who donated towards Pearl's vet bills - we could not have accomplished this without you all!
