The lovely Mr Schnitzel, or Little Sausage as his foster mum would affectionally call him, was surrendered to us at around five weeks old, as he was extremely poorly and his owners were unwilling to pay for any more treatment for him and were sadly going to have him
put to sleep.
After taking just one look at him, we realised he was seriously ill, he was pale, lethargic and had very little fur. He appeared to have what is called The Strangles – an uncommon skin condition that mainly affects puppies and causes the muzzle, eyelids and face to swell. If untreated, it can be life-threatening.
So, we rushed Mr Schnitzel, at the speed of light, to Cavan Vets in Oxley. Here they immediately put him on a drip as he was extremely dehydrated due to being unable to drink for so long, thanks to all the swelling around his mouth and face. The vets decided to keep the poor little soul in, as he was completely lifeless. They gave him antibiotics and steroids …and we waited.
Life and death
We were all worried sick for him, those few hours were basically life or death. If he didn’t respond to the treatment soon, he wasn’t going to make it.
Signs of improvement
Luckily, after a few hours, Mr Schnitzel started to show some signs of improvement and we were able to collect him. Due to him being so unwell, and the skin condition being highly contagious to other animals, he was taken to an emergency foster home that had no children or other animals. He was lovingly cared for day and night, with special attention given to his eyes, as the infection had started to affect them. If the eye area wasn’t kept clear constantly and the eyes got too badly infected, he would lose his eyesight. He was also given medication and a bath twice a day and was given a special puppy heat mat to keep him warm, as he was still so very young and very sick.
After around 10 days, Little Sausage had started to make an amazing recovery, thanks to his emergency foster mum. His skin condition was clearing, and his eyes looked so much better. He was taken to his new foster home where his new, experienced foster mum introduced him to her three resident dogs plus, her two foster dogs! (We think she likes dogs). Her wonderful canine companions immediately took on the roles of mom and dad and taught Little Sausage how to play, toilet and generally behave like a puppy. He’d spent so little time with his doggy mom that he was lacking all social and behavioural skills.
Mr Schnitzel would visit the vet weekly, where his antibiotics and steroids were adjusted as he grew and the vet could see an improvement in him every time he was seen.
The pawfect ending
Eventually after around six weeks of medication he was given the all-clear and then, a week later he moved into his Furever home with his new sausage brother Dillon and his new
mom and dad.
His foster family love and miss him terribly but do receive regular updates on how Mr Schnitzel is getting on. They are delighted with his progress, watching him go from a lifeless, very poorly puppy to the mischievous outgoing little man he is today. And that is why we keep doing what we do, knowing that we are helping animals, when they can’t
help themselves.
Mr Schnitzel will soon be old enough to be neutered and then he will be officially adopted by his new family. His recovery really does show he was the little sausage with the huge personality - proving size really doesn't matter!
Good luck our 'Little Sausage'.