Rescued dog – Momma Mia’s story
Click on audio icon to listen to the music with the pet slide show.
By Racheal Sance; Dec 2, 2008
I rescued Mia off the side of the highway on November 12 in the pouring rain. Our vet thinks she is a young dog, but all her front teeth are worn down into the gums and her canines are broken off from scraping the asphalt road for food trying to survive. She was enormously pregnant when I picked her up and for the past three weeks we’ve focused on getting her nutrition, shelter, love, and clearing her of internal parasites.
Mia is so sweet and she has the most laid back personality. She likes all my foster dogs and everyone new she meets. She doesn’t have accidents in the house, but she does have a love for the sofa and climbs up every chance she gets.
Critically Ill
Yesterday, Dec. 1 she went into labor. She delivered 3 puppies within 30 minutes and after that her contractions didn’t produce any other puppies. I rushed her to a nearby vet and was informed her red blood cells were down to 20 when they should be at least 50.
Her life until now was the streets
Dr. Duhon felt she was run down as far as she could go from her life on the streets. She probably wasn’t fed dog food and had to scavenge for whatever she could get, she was probably never vetted, never had shelter, never given affection. She basically led a life of solitude just managing to get by and having litter after litter.
Dr. Duhon also said if we couldn’t get her to give birth naturally she would probably die under anasthesia. So she stayed at the vet and they pumped her full of everything imaginable to try and help her live.
This morning I called and they told me Mia is a wonderful momma, and that she delivered six more live puppies over the course of the night. I went and picked her up and brought her and her babies home. Now it’s just going to be a very loooong road to recovery. She has nine beautiful babies to take care of while trying to get better. Mia will need a lot of care over the next few weeks. Once her babies are weaned she’ll have to recover enough to be spayed and live through heartworm treatment.
If you can spare even a few dollars to help with Mia’s recovery, her vet bills or sponsoring one of her puppies we can surely use the help. Mia is just one example of what street dogs go through during their short lives. She knows nothing other than survival. I want to help her have a real life. I want her to live and be loved.
If we could all just spay and neuter our pets there wouldn’t be dogs like Mia out there living sad existences. If nothing else, please spread the word that spay and neuter is so important. Mia is just one, but there are thousands of others out there just like her.
For tax deductible donations make and mail your checks to Friends of the Shelter:
Friends of the Shelter
P.O. Box 351
Hammond, LA 70404
Designate donation to ‘Momma Mia’
Donations will go for Momma Mia in the care of…
Tangi Adopt A Rescue (TAAR)
www.taar.petfinder.com and http://tangiadoptarescue.wordpress.com/
Kentwood, Louisiana 70444
Email taar.rescue [at] gmail.com (remove spaces and turn the [at] to @)
UPDATE on Mia; Dec 5, 2008:
Mia is doing better. She’s still bleeding somewhat (after giving birth) but she’s eating well (now) and her 5 remaining puppies (she had nine) are getting to be fat little babies. They seem to be doing well, I haven’t lost one to seizures in two days now so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that these will make it.
Mia is such a good momma. I’m so proud of her. She comes out to sit with me in the living room for a few minutes maybe twice a day but as soon as she hears her babies cry she runs back to her room. She ran with me across the house this morning and tried to play with me. She’s been getting lots of food, treats, and TLC…
I’ll have her (updated) pictures up as soon as possible. My roommate has the USB cord that matches my camera but she’s in Baton Rouge so I have to wait to upload them. With school and finals I haven’t gotten a chance to do everything I need to.
Mia and her new puppies
Click on audio icon to listen to the music with the pet slide show.
UPDATE on Mia and her puppies; Dec 9, 2008:
Mia, has five surviving puppies. The medium bridle and the smaller fawn are females. Mia is doing so much better. I can see she’s gaining strength every day. She’s coming out more and she’s also trying to play with me. That tail of hers is beating holes in the wall because it never stops wagging when she sees me. She’s such a sweet girl.
The puppies have been having issues with their health. They are on antibiotics to fight massive eye infections. We wont know the extent of the damage until their eyes open. Basically our vet says it’s due to Mia’s poor health and lack of immunity. She also said The puppies that have had the infection so far will more than likely have scarring on their corneas but may not be blind. We just have to wait and see. I’m praying they wont have trouble with their vision. Other than that, Dr Duhon says they are fat and healthy and look wonderful. I want to thank everyone that has donated so far to Mia. She really deserves the help you are all giving her. I can’t wait for the day she’s healthy and happy so that she can play and start a great life and leave the one she had before in the past.
Mia with her pups
UPDATE on Mia and her puppies; Dec 16, 2008:
The pups are opening their eyes and they are partially blind (from the eye infections).
So far only one seems to be totally blind. Dr Duhon said give it two weeks and then we’ll know for sure. It’s so sad. Mia only ventured out once into the snow on the day it snowed. She’s a spoiled house girl now.
(I will update again ASAP)
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Momma Mia needs your help
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Momma Mia
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Help Momma Mia!
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Any amount of donation helps!
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Mia and her new puppies
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Mia with her pups
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Posted by tangiadoptarescue 
Posted by tangiadoptarescue 
