Franklin was adopted as a rescue puppy with a multitude of medical issues. His breeder didn’t want him and was going to euthanise him , so we took a risk and adopted him. We took him straight to our local vets where he was diagnosed with a liver shunt, seizures, pug myopathy and bladder stones. We were beside ourselves, so many complicated medical issues for such a small puppy (12 weeks old), but we were already smitten with him and vowed to give him the best life he could have.
After a long and exhausting medical journey which included blood tests, x-rays, CT scans, and a not so positive outlook, we ended up with Dr Andrew Marchevsky at SASH.
WOW… how amazing. As overwhelming as it all was, he was able to give us hope and a medical plan for Franklin.
Within weeks he was admitted for his first operation – repairing the liver shunt. 1 day of surgery and 2 days in ICU, the doctors and nurses were absolutely amazing. The operation was a success, and home we went with a strict diet (tough with a pug with his big beady eyes begging for some of our dinner..!)
Next up was the spinal issue. We were lucky enough to be able to see Dr Patrick Kenny, Specialist in Neurology, who assisted with a diagnosis and who gave us all our options. By this time Franklin was having trouble with strength in his back legs and walking , and we considered operating, however with no guarantee of success we were booked in to see the Sports Medicine team as a first option.
Dr Naomi Boyd was equally amazing spending so much time explaining and demonstrating what exercises we could do at home daily with Franklin to strengthen his legs and slow any further deterioration. He was measured for a wheel chair and home we went.
After just 6 weeks completing the exercises with Franklin – the difference was amazing. He was back to walking like a normal puppy (almost – we still needed the doggy pram to get out and about.!)
During all our visits and phone calls to SASH at both North Ryde and Central Coast, the question we always asked was “is he in pain and will this next procedure cause him pain?”. We were always reassured both physically and emotionally that we were doing to the right thing for our miracle puppy.
Fast forward 3 years, 4 operations later (including desexing, the liver shunt, a broken leg and bladder stones), Franklin is a happy go lucky (very lucky), very spoilt little pug.
We are so thankful to everyone at SASH for making our experience as first time dog parents with a special needs puppy so smooth and reassuring. Franklin is so lucky to have been able to see and worked with so many special people.
