Off the streets and on the road to recovery
“Staff worked so hard to get him back to where he should be and he spent some time in foster care to continue this"
Pluto came to our Hobart Home in April this year as a skeletal stray who staff described as “very close to death”.
You could see all his ribs, every ridge of his spine, and his hipbones jutted out like old wooden posts on a rotting pier. He was a distressing sight.
Even more distressing, on arrival his poo contained fabric and bean bag filling — what lengths was this severely malnourished Great Dane puppy forced to go to in order to survive?
Our veterinary staff ordered that Pluto be started on tiny meals to prevent refeeding syndrome. This can occur when a malnourished dog’s body has been deprived of nutrients. When the body tries to metabolise nutrients again, severe shifts related to electrolyte deficiency can cause dangerous complications, including seizures, cardiac and neurological symptoms, and even death.
“Pluto was believed to be about six months old when he came in,” our foster care co-ordinator Melissa said. “Staff worked so hard to get him back to where he should be and he spent some time in foster care to continue this.
“He stayed in foster care until he was adopted as he needed to continue to gain weight and his diet was very important — it had to be a high-quality food. He gained more than 11kg with us, and this needed to continue.
“He has learned that food is a regular meal — he had five small meals a day — and that he could slow down and enjoy his food.”
All the time and effort paid off for Pluto, as he was adopted less than a fortnight after he became available. He’s now called Scooby, and weighs 54kg.
“Scooby has fitted in perfectly with our tall people family!” his humans told us. “Thank you all so much — he’s absolutely gorgeous.”