Rescuing Bobo: Reaching out Beyond Myself
For those who aren't familiar with my
background, just a short review of the last years. After my husband's brain
surgery in 2010 which left him completely paralyzed on one side, I had to end
my career and also put on hold my activity within my animal rescue organisation
Three Spotted Brothers Shelter (Trei Frati Patati), taken over by Amicii Dog Rescue in 2014.
A year later I went back as a volunteer-administrator of the shelter till
the point my mother got terminally sick and had to quit my endeavor for
good. Somehow life assigned me with the mission of family personal nurse,
a role that is still active at the time being. Aside from that, I have my 5
dogs, complemented by undesired "living gifts" brought
by people in my neighborhood once in a while.
Opening
This a story of two puppies; one of
them is a special case.
The two black mongrels appeared on my alley last February. On a cold rainy evening.
Whoever abandoned them was certainly
missing humanity within his or her heart.
A neighbor of mine informed me by text
message that someone threw some pups in my yard. I rushed outside but the pups
were rather further. Even when I still had 6 more dogs inside and there were
these two ladies walking one Bichon each but waiting for me to pick the
puppies, either one wouldn't assume the responsibility of taking them home,
just praised me by "bless you".
Those coffee beans eyes looking around
helplessly, those tiny little figures all wet and trembling, clinging tightly
to each other as if they were one body; it's a scene to which I am not immune.
Unfortunately for me most of the people in my neighborhood are, and that's how
I end up having an overcrowded home many times. Although at that moment I
wasn't thinking of that, I just knew I had to take the muddy wet puppies to a
warm place, bathe and feed them. It's just that I had no puppy food as most of
my dogs are older. No milk either, no open store close by, nothing to feed them
with ..., that was what I was reviewing rapidly in my mind. Fortunately one of
the ladies offered her kid's milk portion from school. Well that saved me for
the night! And the puppies!
Sandy
Shortly before the pups landed with
me, I saw a post about a small size very friendly female wandering alone on the
streets. And it was cold and snow outside but yet again, no one offer her more
than a notice on the local Facebook page. I took a risk by taking her inside as
my previous foster-pups had all distemper; but there were also menacing dangers
outside and in these cases you have to go for it. However never thought that
this sporadic episode would attract another one and I'll end up by having a
full house in a very dog unfriendly neighborhood.
Sissi and Bobo
The morning after Sissi
and Bobo’s arrival, I've noticed the differences between the male and female.
While everything seemed to be just fine with Sissi, several facts caught my
attention on her brother. Firstly the strange shape of his head immediately got
me thinking of hydrocephalus. In addition to this, his left eye was bigger than
the other (exophthalmia), and the right one was colored in blue (heterochromia).
And before long I figured out he was almost blind. He had also difficulties of
keeping his rear legs straight while he ate, and instead of stepping on paws he
was using the lower bones (metatarsus) that were pretty much curved.
Comparative to his sister, he was much smaller and pretty wobbly.
All these clear facts led
to the conclusion that poor Bobo was to be a special case.
Of course I went out for
help on FaceBook!
I received some puppy food
for the beginning but I knew I had to take Bobo to the Cluj's specialists to be
visually examined as soon as possible. I did ask for a ride to Cluj as I had no
money, but I got no response. So I had to wait to raise funds. Ever since I no
longer administrate the shelter, people think of me as managing my own shelter
from my home. However the only income in our family is my
husband's disability allowance and no matter how hard I try to stretch it,
the money doesn’t reach from one month to another. So the unexpected arrival of
these new pups has turned into a financial burden to us. The luck came, as in
other times, from my old Swedish friends from Dogs
Looking for Home Organisation to which I can't be more grateful; and from few other
friends in US and UK! Thank you ladies!
And that's how the long series
of trips to different veterinarians began.
Firstly Bobo has been
suspected of having hydrocephalus. Just as I feared! So he had to
have his brain X-rayed. But nothing conclusive was to be seen. Then
I took him to a neurologist. A beautiful young lady concluded there
is nothing neurologically in his wobbliness but most likely it's a lack
of vision matter. So I went for an eye specialist; this
one said that the swelling of his left eye is most probably caused by glaucoma,
but being a small pup can't be explored with the medical equipment yet. The
good news was that Bobo wasn't completely blind but the vet couldn't establish
exactly how much he does see. He recommended that we return when he’s older.
Somehow none of these
explanations satisfied me. That’s because Bobo remained unwell. Especially
during the nights he was agitated and kept whining as something was troubling
him. I didn't know where to look for answers, but I felt there is more to be
explored.
In time, as his sister
grew up beautifully and svelte as a gazelle; Bobo rather looked like a sumo
wrestler with heavy foot due to his out of space elbows and stiff rear legs.
His walk was loud and slouched. A weird rasping noise made by his bones could
be also heard. Also the middle of his spine was curved, which made him looked
crooked.
At this point I felt we
have to visit an orthopedist. I did some research to look for the
best specialist and again asked for funds. My Swedish friends once again
assisted me in this project. When we finally got an appointment, the vet took
several X-rays of different parts of Bobo's body. In the end,
his bitter remark got me pretty rattled: "never have I seen such a
defective dog, so far!" And explained to me in each picture the many
problems of the poor pup. Practically there were no normal joint; each
of them (hips and elbows) was out of its normal place and plated instead of
being rounded, rubbing the bone on bone and creating the squeaking sound. The cause
of the severe dysplasia couldn't be known, however it is
mainly congenital and less as a result of poor nutrition.
The vet recommended good
food and a proper diet not to get overweight, as any extra stress on his bones could
be harmful. In the same vein, his muscles seems to be atrophied as
he can't walk properly and doesn't get much exercise either. While his sister
is doing laps to the yard and upward back to house, Bobo is very much afraid of
stairs. He managed though to climb up, but descending seems to be pretty scary
to him. Sometimes I give him a lift but as he grew pretty large (15 kg+) my
injured back warns me with a severe pain along my right leg each time.
Being still a pup
(approx 7 ½ months old) any medical intervention can be done only after the
bones stop growing. What will be needed? Most likely prosthesis. There is a
huge risk of developing arthritis or arthrosis, very painful for the poor
boy; and that is why surgeries are a must. Unfortunately none of this intervention
can be done in Romania!
Bobo will need treatment
and long term support, consisting of joint and anti-inflammatory supplements.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to procure anything so far. I saw this
natural US product which I think would be perfect for him, but I need help to
get it to Romania: advanced-hip-joint-chews-with-glucosamine-msm-chondroitin-turmeric.
Few weeks ago we went
back to the clinic, this time for an eye check. We managed to get an
appointment with a visiting optometrist from Hungary. We have been told that
this vet usually comes to Cluj's clinic (Biovet) only once or twice a year.
There is a great need of eye specialists in Romania as there are only two in the
country; one at the Veterinary University in Cluj, where we've already been and
the other in Bucharest. But both of them use old mechanical devices that are
not very accurate. We had taken the opportunity for a digital scan (again with
my Swedish friend's participation). The very friendly vet was the one who
finally helped us to put together all the information we had regarding Bobo's
"defects". His diagnosis: "inoperable congenital
cataract", most likely as a result of toxoplasmosis of
Bobo's mom during pregnancy.
This was the last piece of the puzzle, and we
finally understood that most of our pup's health issues were congenital
malformations due to a nasty parasite called Toxoplasma gondii that
affects the fetuses both in humans and animals.
My torment and my dilemma
I have to admit I’ve
fallen for this pup!
Occasionally,
compassion/sympathy towards a defenseless being can easily turn into something
more complex. Looking deep into my soul
I found reasons why I became so profoundly connected to Bobo; some almost
beyond the threshold of imagination.
In December 2016 I've lost
my iconic dog, Freddy - the full-hearted mirthful dachshund. The distress following
this episode left a heartbreaking wound. And I had the feeling that this hurt
will never go away.
I constantly dreamed about him until the two pups arrived in
my life. Then I had this peculiar dream of holding Freddy to my bosom and
embracing him tightly. It was the first time I felt him happy. And he
non-verbally communicated me: "I came back as I've missed you so much!”
It was impossible to
forget such a powerful dream!
It was the last time I
dreamed about him!
Meantime, few odd things
caught my attention on Bobo's behavior; a comportment that was... kind of
duplicating Freddy's habits. Looking for Lucy (Freddy's mom) first think in the
morning was one of it. The ardor with which he is dashing from one room to
another, seeking for her to clean her eyes, her teeth or the skin marks of her old
age (warts/papillomas) from head or neck, the wagging of his long tail when finding her, reminds
me so much of Freddy. The next on his favorite's list is our big Rocky, same as
Freddy's. Should I add that he also took over the role of my "personal
shadow" following me everywhere, even the loo? And oh, how he cries when I
go away..., simply heartbreaking! Freddy did the same. And besides these, he
loves to lick my feet; long time haven't been that pampered!
Eventually I've
opened up to my husband and he admitted that the peculiar idea of Bobo being
Freddy's reincarnation might be true after all. As fanciful as it sounds!
But this is the happiest
part of the story; what peace Bobo has brought to me after Freddy’s loss. The
less happy is Bobo’s special needs that require professional help. In addition
to this, being partially blind and having slow reflexes due to his wobbliness,
his constantly attempts to play along with the other dogs of our family ends with
injury; mostly for the older dogs, but that puts stress both on them and on me,
trying to guard them all the time. For this reason, poor Bobo is sometimes
ostracized by the pack, being avoided or warned by growls. The only one who
plays with him is his sister, Sissi, but weird thing she started to attacks
him. I realize she doesn't feel her brother has special needs. Much like the
kids within a family, and they all compete for mommy's affection; and once
there are differences, jealousy appears.
Leaving aside my ideal
situation, Bobo’s need make living with us not the best option for him.
Regardless the feelings we share for each other, knowing that I can't meet his
needs increases my own frustration. No matter how much I would like, I can't
make him the top priority of our family as there are so many external facts
beyond of any reasonable control, and I can’t neglect the needs of the other
dogs in our family.
I've been seeking for
help/solutions for months now, but everyone turned me down.
People are not willing
to take on such a special case while it presents a financial burden.
Nor are rescue
organisations willing to accept such responsibility, as the costs involving the
prosthesis interventions can get pretty high. Other's policy is not to promote special
needs dogs for adoption due to past bad experiences.
The vet has said that Bobo
doesn't have to be destroyed. He is a young lovable pup, full of life! I
couldn't do that, especially after having had a previous agonizing episode with
Freddy.
So what should I do?
I am struggling with this
financially and emotionally.
Where else should I seek
for help?
My idealistic side doesn't
want to give up counting on people's kindness.
Sissi will hopefully adopted
to Sweden. I can imagine her running freely on an open field or in a forest,
enjoying her new life to the fullest. I trust someone will fall for her, as she
is beautiful and healthy!
As for Bobo, no matter how strong our connection has become in these months, I am aware that our home is not the best place for him. He has shown a lot of improvement, and is a beautiful male dog. Even though his growth and development has caught up to his sister he still needs special care. We are now dealing with a nasty ear infection because of the heat and the humidity that affects long-eared dogs. Even with all his troubles, he hasn't lost his appetite nor his joy.
What is the perfect home
for him?
Without stairs for sure, so he can
easily go outside whenever he wants to,
for personal business or
fun.
And with open
space so he doesn't keep bumping on furniture.
Preferably not
within the city since walking in a noisy environment distracts and
upsets him.
A home with one
dog only, or less active family, who can spend time with
him as he is totally depended upon human's presence. Healthy people that
could lift 15 kg+ whenever necessary. Someone committed to fall in love with
a disabled pup, no matter of his special needs.
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