Lurcher left for dead makes ‘spectacular’ recovery

A lurcher puppy left for dead at a shopping centre car park has made a “spectacular” recovery after three weeks of intensive care at a County Dublin practice.

Coco was 18 weeks old and weighed less than 7kg when he arrived at MyVet Lucan suffering from severe vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. He was also suffering with parvovirus, which he was not expected to survive, but staff at the Linnaeus-owned clinic were able to save his life.

Playing a part

Coco was treated by vet Kirsty Clayton, joined by MyVet’s HR and operations manager Bernie Courtney, who checked on him regularly throughout his treatment.

Ms Courtney said: “Being a passionate animal lover and a sucker for the most vulnerable, I decided that I was going to play my part. I joined the team in barrier nursing him during the day, and I visited him every night to give him that little bit of extra care and attention in the hope that it would contribute to his survival.

“I came back into the clinic every night at 10pm and tried to coax him to eat. In the early days there was a lot of coaxing, but not a lot of eating. Then in the middle of week two he took two slices of ham from our animal care assistant Sadhbh McGivern and that’s when we knew he was going to pull through.

“After that I planned his midnight feast each night and he had anything from boiled steak mince to rotisserie chicken, in conjunction with his gastrointestinal puppy food. He loved it and it got to the point that he expected to see me every night, so I couldn’t miss a single night in case I disappointed him.”

‘Worth every minute’

Ms Courtney continued: “When he had finished shedding the virus and was safe to be around other animals, I took him home to build him up, get some weight on him and do a bit of basic training. This is what I did for my two weeks’ annual summer leave this year and it was worth every minute.

“His weight on entry to the clinic was just under seven kilos, so he was very, very underweight and emaciated. In the three weeks he spent with me he gained almost four-and-a half kilos in weight, was crate trained for sleeping at night-time, was toilet trained, and learned how to sit and stay.

“Coco has now gone to his forever home with a friend of mine and is the luckiest, happiest puppy. “