Help Mila Heal: Support Her Recovery

Late on April 16th, we let our precious Mila out into the backyard to go pee before bedtime. We had no idea that there was a weak spot in the fence behind the shed, and she was lost into the darkness of night.

We have been searching for her tirelessly for 2 months. We combed the streets, made flyers and social media posts, we even sought out the help of animal trackers/trappers. We genuinely thought she was gone forever.

Mila is a senior dog and has had a tendency to run far and fast when shes scared, she hides really well, and it didn't seem like she had the best survival skills. Turns out we couldn't have been more wrong about that last part, because she is so strong and such a fighter. Exactly 2 months later on June 16th, a very injured and frail Mila was brought into scraps by a kind samaritan, and brought back into our lives !

She was likely hit by a car at some point in the last few weeks, which resulted in a broken leg and a large open wound on her foot. That wound became infected and infested with maggots. The poor girl was suffering so much and curled up under a bush since she could no longer walk. That's where she was found and saved. She was severely dehydrated and emaciated. We think she was doing on ok job of surviving and finding food/water, but once she was injured she could no longer search for food.

It feels like such a miracle that she is alive! Especially because at first the vets didn't think she was going to be able to pull through due to the severity of her injuries and starvation. I'm so so proud of Mila because she refuses to give up and is currently expected to make a full recovery!!!

However, it is going to be a long road to recovery. Mila is in need of a lot of medical support right now. She is currently spending her days at the animal hospital getting IV fluids, antibiotics, and pain medication. At night we are doing everything we can to keep her happy and comfortable. Which is pretty difficult because she is still in pretty rough shape.

The vet says that her back left leg needs to be amputated at the hip, as soon as possible, but she needs to gain more weight before she can be strong enough for surgery. She is on a slow refeeding nutrition plan (to avoid refeeding syndrome), and is slowly gaining the weight back. Poor puppy went from 40lbs to 20.2lbs in 2 months. She lost half of her body weight!

So far with xrays, medication, vet visits, and medical supplies, we have already racked up a $1400 bill in 2 days. The amputation surgery is expected to be about $4000. And she still has several weeks of vet visits before she is in the clear.

As many of you know, we have 3 young children and a pretty tight budget. But we love Mila to death and desperately want to do everything we can to get her healthy again. Those kiddos love her so, and have missed her so so much these past 2 months. It breaks our hearts to see her so skinny and in so much pain.

Please, if you have even a few dollars to spare, we would so appreciate any and all help we can get, to get our precious girl healthy again. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, she means so much to us.