A Small Puppy Gets a Big Village

Josephine TempongkoDogs, News5 Comments

Looking at the small, adorable 5-week-old puppy, you would never know that she had a serious underlying medical condition. Coco B Pebbles, as she was affectionately named, was a spunky, curious puppy. She came in from a partner shelter in the Central Valley that didn’t have the resources to provide the care she would need before she was old enough to be adopted.

Just a few hours after Coco B arrived, she was sent to a foster home where she could get the important socialization she needed while waiting to grow big and strong enough to be available for adoption. Coco B was a happy, sweet puppy. She loved being held by the family’s kids, and adored the resident dogs in the house. It seemed that the Boxer mix puppy had a bright future ahead.

But after a few weeks in her foster home, her foster family noticed there was something unusual about Coco B. What they thought at first was a normal learning curve for potty training a puppy started to seem a little different. Not only did she seem to have trouble mastering potty training, they noticed that she actually just seemed to be dribbling urine on a regular basis.

Our medical team thought it could possibly be some kind of infection causing the dribbling, so she was started on antibiotics and sent to another foster to finish out the treatment and be monitored for progress.

Coco B adored her next foster home as much as the first one. She was an active girl now – at 8 weeks old, she was quickly learning from the resident dogs around her and her friendly, spunky personality was shining through.

Unfortunately, Coco B continued to leak urine almost constantly. Her foster family gave her a diaper to wear so that she could continue to have free access to their home and enjoy everything the family’s two resident dogs enjoyed. The two bigger dogs loved her almost immediately, and her foster family was thrilled to be able to help Coco B while our medical team tried to figure out what was causing her issue.

Coco B came back to our medical center for the day for some imaging to see if we could determine what was causing the leaking. After reviewing the ultrasounds, the team had a strong suspicion that she had an ectopic ureter, a condition where the kidney and the bladder are not properly connected, and instead the ureter (tube) brings the urine further down the urinary system, which can cause infection and incontinence.

To confirm the diagnosis and fix the issue, Coco B Pebbles would need a CT scan and a surgery with a specialist, both of which would be costly. Altogether, our team estimated it would cost somewhere between $7,000-$9,000 to repair the issue and give Coco B a chance at a normal life. We wanted to give her the best chance we possibly could, so we turned to our community for help.

We told Coco’s story on social media and asked for donations to help cover the costs of her scan and surgery. The following day, her condition was confirmed by a CT scan and we scheduled her for surgery with a veterinary surgeon that specializes in ectopic ureter surgeries. Meanwhile, our community was showing their support for the sweet puppy. Over a hundred incredible people donated to Coco B to help give her the care she needed. Her foster family shared the fundraiser all over their own social media and asked their followers to help the puppy they loved so much.

Our supporters raised thousands of dollars for Coco B’s care. A few days later, she received the surgery and it was successful. Our entire team was relieved and so grateful to everyone who stepped forward to help Coco B. Now, she would have the bright future we’d always wanted for her.

Coco B found an amazing home soon after she recovered from surgery. Her new name is Maggie, and she has a big sister named Kona who is doing a great job showing her the ropes.

Maggie’s new family says she’s fitting into their family perfectly. Maggie and Kona play all day and she’s already showing signs of being a super smart dog. Despite her challenges early on, she’s getting the hang of potty training.

We’re so grateful that we were able to be there for Maggie when she needed us most. And we couldn’t have done it without your help. Thanks to everyone who donated, shared her story, and rooted for her, Maggie has the life we always knew she deserved.

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