:: Animals Taiwan Diary ::

Sugar came to us early this year, a puppy found in the mountains near Daxi/Sansia, emaciated, wet, cold, with a fever and a badly broken leg. She was barely two months old.

She was taken to the nearest available vet for emergency treatment and remained there in intensive care for the next two weeks, too sick to undergo surgery to correct her broken leg. She was also found to be a parvo carrier, but had so far not succumbed to the disease.

After settling the rather hefty bill at the Sansia vet, AnimalsTaiwan transferred her to the Jia Ching Animal Hospital on Nanking East Road, where she was further assessed. It was decided to operate on her leg, to reset it to enable her to walk better.

She ended up undergoing three operations to put it right, staying at the vet for about three weeks, and running up further bills. But she is an extremely lovable and brave little girl, and we decided she was precious enough to warrant the outlay.

Sugar recovered beautifully, and after fulfilling the required - and rather lengthy - quarantine period, was soon snapped up by a kind foster family, who agreed to care for her until a permanent home could be found. But, of course, they fell in love with her, and they decided to adopt her themselves.

Everything went very well, with Sugar winning everyone’s hearts with her sweet nature and gorgeous looks. Then she got sick - pneumonia. She was rushed to the vet, where she stayed in intensive care for another couple of weeks.

Sugar is sweet, but she’s also tough; she beat the pneumonia, and returned to full health, leaving only another costly bill behind.

Just when we thought she had finally beaten poor health and was destined for a full and loving life, tragedy struck; Sugar collapsed, paralyzed from the waist down, her brain permanently damaged from the trauma it had sustained from overheating in the hot summer months. This time she was rushed to NTU Veterinary College for tests to determine what could be done to save her, but the vets there felt that her crippling brain injury was permanent and nothing could be done for her.

We were devastated. But Sugar wasn’t giving in, so neither were we. We decided to take her back into our care, so she could get the very best treatment when it was needed. Despite her crippling paralysis, Sugar has been our most playful dog here at the AnimalsTaiwan holding centre. She play fights all day (when she’s not being cuddled, of course), and her favourite playing partner? Ariel, our little wheelchair-bound lady!

Sugar always gets on with life the way it’s presented to her. She is never sad and lives her life to the full. But having two very stiff legs jutting out underneath her made her posture poor, her mobility limited, and her legs prone to scratches, sores, and infection.

While at the AnimalsTaiwan vet (YangMing Veterinary Partners on Tienmu East Road) for an eye infection, Sugar demonstrated to Dr Yang how much she loves to scoot around, despite her handicap, prompting Dr Yang to suggest something quite radical: we could remove Sugars paralyzed legs, and she could then get around by balancing on her two front legs, as she was almost doing already. This was quite a decision to make, but Dr Yang is usually right, so we agreed. We’d come this far with her, and we decided that the surgery would be money well spent. Sugar was taken in for her operation last Thursday.

Well, it’s not often that Dr Yang calls me up, but that evening, just a couple of hours after the surgery, he did. “She can walk! She is walking now!” Fantastic news! Sugar had taken to her new situation beautifully, putting all her weight on her front legs and walking around the clinic like she’d been doing it all her life.

What this means is that Sugar is now able to go outside with the other dogs at exercise time. She can run out to greet visitors, as she loves to do, and learn to become housebroken. It also means she is now far more likely to be adopted - something we are all dearly waiting for. A very kind Japanese donor has offered to purchase a wheelchair for Sugar, so she can go for long walks with the other dogs, so things really are looking up for this sweetest of little dogs - and bravest.

Let’s hope her dream comes true and someone will see her for all that she is rather than what she doesn’t have.

If you have a place in your home and heart for young Sugar, please do not hesitate to contact me today. Everyone needs a little Sugar in their life! She is so deserving of a good home, and now she is no more difficult to look after than any other dog - yet she’s so unique! Sugar is also available for sponsorship - contact me today for details at sean [dot] animalstaiwan [at] gmail [dot] com.

In my next post, I’ll be introducing you to many of our most recent rescues and how they came to be in AnimalsTaiwan’s care.

Until then, have a great week!

Sean