Puppy 14

This tiny little pup was brought to the Mdzananda Animal Clinic by his owner along with 14 other siblings. By the time they arrived at Mdzananda 7 of the puppies had already passed away. Within a few hours the other pups one by one passed away. Puppy no 14 was the only little one that survived. We really can’t say why the other puppies died. At first we were afraid it was Parvo, which sometimes affects the heart muscle of young dogs but the fact that this little one survived, makes that unlikely. All the puppies were covered with ticks and fleas and very anaemic. In such young, small puppies the amount of blood lost to these parasites can be enough to cause death. Due to the parasites living on the pups our first action was to dust them with tick and flea powder. They were all also heavily worm infested, so much so that when Puppy 14 was dewormed the round worms were crawling out through his nostrils. After being at the Mdzananda Animal Clinic for over a week, even with treatment he still had severe diarrhoea. The diarrhoea was most likely caused by a combination of poor gut bacteria, injury to the gut lining due to the worms and malnutrition. Often when animals have been starved or malnourished they develop diarrhoea when they start eating properly which is why food should be introduced in small quantities at regular intervals. He received probiotic powder to help settle his tummy. This poor little pup also has two hernias. Much like humans, dogs can suffer from hernias. An inguinal hernia is a condition in which the abdominal contents protrude through the inguinal canal or inguinal ring, an opening which occurs in the muscle wall in the groin area. The hernias will need to be monitored until he is old enough to be sterilised and will then be repaired at the same time. The fact that this little guy survived is made even more amazing by the fact that he was the smallest and weakest when the litter arrived at Mdzananda. Puppy 14 has been adopted and his owners have been told to bring him for sterilization and hernia procedure when he is six months old.