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Monday, Aug. 18, 2008

Pet Tales: ‘Miracle’ pups thrive in Nipomo

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Dolores Mullikin of Nipomo sent me this story about her two “miracle” Labrador retrievers, Drifter and Faith:

“Drifter is a miracle of courage. He underwent total amputation of his left front leg and shoulder in 2002 to remove a peripheral nerve sheath tumor—a rare, aggressive form of cancer. Surgery saved his life and he cheerfully adapted to life as a three-legged dog.

“In the summer of 2006, Drifter became paralyzed and could no longer get up or move around. X-rays showed severe calcification of his neck and upper spine. Our vet didn’t think surgery would help him. She said all we could do was rest him and give him time to see if his body could heal itself. She sent us home with some pain medication and suggested we do physical therapy with him to maintain his range of motion and muscle tone.

“Drifter could barely move at first, but after a few days of physical therapy he began to crawl around. As he progressed and got stronger we converted an old wheelchair into a walker, christened ‘Drifter’s Chariot,’ for the next stage of his recovery. The wheelchair gave his body support and allowed him to ‘walk’ again.

“After a few weeks of increased exercise and walks in his wheelchair, Drifter made a miraculous recovery! He could get up and walk around on his own again. Life resumed as normal for him. It’s been almost two years since he became paralyzed, and he is still going strong and loving life.

“Faith is a miracle of survival. She was the biggest puppy in her litter and was

born with a huge cleft palate. She couldn’t nurse and would have died without assistance.

“My daughter and I took turns feeding Faith a goat’s-milk mixture every two hours around the clock. We had to feed her with a nursing syringe, drop by drop, so that she wouldn’t aspirate on the milk. She thrived on the milk but fell behind her littermates in size. She slept in a box with a heating blanket pad and a tiny teddy bear to snuggle up to. She would fall asleep, sucking my finger, after being fed.

“Weaning was difficult, but once she was on dry food she caught up in size with her littermates. Faith is a big, beautiful girl with a funny, quirky personality. She is my ‘money dog.’

“When she was spayed, the vet was surprised by the size of her cleft palate. She said that most dogs with such a large cleft palate don’t survive, but Faith had the will to live. She’s over 4 years old and still has a passion for sucking on teddy bears — we call them her ‘sucky bears.’

“I feel really blessed to have and love my two miracle dogs.”

•••

Here are some upcoming animal events in the county:

• Second Chance at Love

Humane Society will hold Adopt-a-Pet events from 9:30 a. m. to 12:30 p. m. Saturday at the Templeton Farmers Market. For more information about Second Chance at Love or dogs available for adoption, visit www.secondchancelove.org.

• The National Stock Horse Association will host its fourth annual Snaffle Bit Futurity at the Paso Robles Event Center in Paso Robles. For more information, visit www.nationalstockhorse.com.

If you have pet stories, photos or news of a local event that you’d like to share, e-mailPost a comment at sanluisobispo.com/pettales.