Amber!

We are happy to bring you Amber's story, thank you for taking the time to read about her. She is currently under the care of Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue (GCDR). As told by Kim at GCDR:

"Amber is a approximately 4-5 year old cropped fawn female. She was found as a stray in a field in Louisiana with her 12 newborn (mixed) puppies. Animal control took her to the shelter and contacted GCDR. After the legal hold time, GCDR came and picked her up on Monday December 23rd. She was taken immediately to SSAH for an exam, heartworm test and the usual. Her puppies all received an exam as well. Amber was direct positive for heartworm. Dr. Teresa Gernon commented on the fact that her discharge was still bright red, but told me to just keep an eye on things. Her temperature was 102.4 and we left with her brood and some antibiotics in case her temp started to rise.

On Christmas Eve, I noticed her discharge was increasing along with some clotting. I took her temperature and continued to monitor her. She was being an excellent mom to her puppies, eating enough for 12 and all around doing quite well. Christmas Day brought the usual holiday merriment with family coming to our house (when you have 21 Dobes in residence, travel is ruled out!). Around 2:00, I went to let Amber outside and noticed that she was not her usual spunky self over "Mama go outside?". There were also profuse amounts of blood on her bedding. She would not eat her lunch. Her gums were white as a sheet. Her attitude was drastically different than it had been just 2 hours before. I went to change out her bedding and found it soaked through to the tile floor. I called my vet in Baton Rouge.

To avoid the four hour round trip drive and because I knew Amber was in serious trouble, I tried the local emergency clinic in Mississippi. I got a recorder! I was able to contact a local vet that I had been referred to, however he thought Amber's situation would require much more than he would be able to offer on Christmas Day. He referred me to a veterinary specialty practice in Louisiana. I called Dr. Scott Gernon back and he agreed to meet us at the clinic. SSAH has whole blood as well as plasma in stock, not to mention I trust them explicitly, so we loaded up and headed for Baton Rouge.

Pictures of Amber's Puppies!!!

Upon arrival, Amber's PAC cell volume was 10%. She was without a doubt seriously in trouble. She was continuing to hemorrhage. A whole blood transfusion was given and her PAC cell volume was brought up to 20%. The following morning, however, Amber was hemorrhaging again and in serious trouble. Her PAC cell volume had decreased to 12%. Blood typing and cross matching were performed and Amber was transfused again. Dr. Scott performed an emergency spay using a laser to remove all causes of bleeding and try to determine if she might have a retained placenta which would cause her to bleed. There was no retained placenta, leaving us with the most likely diagnosis of vWD. We sent in a vWD titre. After transfusion, Amber's PAC cell volume returned to 17%. On Friday, her PAC cell volume was up to 20% once again. The goal is for her to reach the normal levels of 35%, and then she will be discharged. Amber continues to nurse her puppies and take excellent care of them. I'm thinking we should have named her 'Trooper!' "

We're asking for your help with Amber's recovery. You can use the PayPal link above to make an online donation, or you can always mail in a donation. Also remember to visit our Current Auctions page where you will find some great eBay auctions we are running to help all of our SNDobes. We thank you very much for anything that you can do for mom!

UPDATES

January 15th, 2003 (final update*)
Amber's 12 puppies made their way to their new foster home(s) on Sunday. They are weaned and doing very well eating on their own. GCDR has teamed with an all breed rescue group. They will be placing the mixed puppies. (Rest assured all will be spayed/neutered before they go!)

Amber is doing very well. She still looks for her babies but I have explained to her that she did a wonderful job with them. (I mean 12 puppies!!) Now it's time for her to take care of herself! I cannot tell you what an excellent mother she was. Words would just fall short if I were to try. No matter how sick that girl was, no matter how weak, she *still* cared for her babies.

Once we feel Amber is back to tip top shape she will undergo heartworm treatment. She is a very sweet little girl. It has truly been a pleasure to have her at our place.

* Thanks to the great love and care Amber received, we're happy to say that her SND case is concluded. She will still be going heartworm treatment, which is being done under the guidance of GCDR. If you have any further questions regarding her adoption status, please them at Gulf Coast Doberman Rescue. We wish Amber and her puppies the very best, and we hope that they find new loving homes very soon!

January 3rd, 2003
Amber is doing well enough after her surgery though a close eye is still being kept on her. Amber's vWD factor is 14%, very low.

April 18, 2003 - Amber's pup finds a home!

We are happy to report that Amber was adopted by a wonderful family on 5/22.