"Sophie's story"
I would like to share a story with you about our 2 1/2 year old Sheltie Sophie.
Sophie got lost on December 7th. We put out signs, offered rewards and searched and walked miles looking for her. The Overland Business Association sent a �Sarah� alert for her the day after she got out advising many citizens and business owners of Overland to be aware that she was missing. Signs were posted at local schools, stores, restaurants and vet offices, and went as far as have 2,500 automated calls made to inform people in the area that she was missing. All of these efforts didn't make any progress. We could not give up and kept searching. We went weekly to St. Louis County animal shelter to see if she had been picked up and kept updating the posts on Craigslist and STLToday. We also put ads in the Localite (our local paper) for several months. Enough time went by that we all just thought that somebody had her and wanted to keep her for themselves, but we had the hope that someday someone would take her to the vet and they would check and see that she had a microchip and belonged to us.
On February 28th, we got a call and were asked if we had lost a dog named Sophie because he had her and she was in bad shape and needed immediate medical attention. She had spent the last three months on her own, out in the extreme cold and wet weather that we have had since December 7th. When she got out she weighed
27 lbs and when she was taken to the Animal Emergency hospital she weighed 11 lbs. Her body temp was below readable on a thermometer and it needed to be at 101-102.5. Her white blood cell count was down to almost nothing and her PCV was 11. But the rest of her bloodwork looked pretty good considering. Her red blood cell count was so low that she needed a blood transfusion. A vet tech at the hospital brought her Great Dane � Doc� in to give blood and after Sophie was stable enough to move she was taken to Chesterfield Valley to the animal hospital so they could do the transfusion and handle the critical condition that she was in. She was septic and very malnourished. We were told that luckily her kidney and liver functions were still good, so they said everything that she has is treatable. They now have her blood stabilized and her glucose and potassium levels are in the normal range. The next morning she was responsive to her name and she tried to bark a little bit. Her body temp was up to 100.7 and she was eating with help. As of March 3rd, she is able to sit up and walk with assistance and even wants to go outside to go to the bathroom, but is still extremely weak. She is still a long way from being fully recovered, but she is doing very well and we are all amazed with her progress. This is the most incredible story and it seems so surreal and is happening right in front of us. She will be in the animal hospital for several more days or so and the vet said tonight that it could be a year before we see a complete recovery. The vets are touched by her story and said she is a miracle and that she was found just in time that she was probably only hours away from death. She is a tough little dog, and is fighting so hard to get better!
A friend suggested we share this story with you. If you would like more information about Spohie and this miracle we�d love to share more.
Bob & Tammy Young
Overland, MO 63114
rdyung@swbell.net
RECAP as of 3-15-10
On Monday 3-15-10 Tammy and Bob Young brought Sophioe to the Animal Emergency clinic for us to see her. She has gained over 5 pound back and looks great. A normally shy girl came right up to me as if to thank me for helping her. Times like these are what makes my job so great. Three of our 4 dogs are blood donars and they have helped other dogs over the years by giving blood for transfusions. Here here to Sophie and her determination to keep going and for all the staff at both hospitals that helped Sophie pull through this.
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