Lucky Lavi

Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves. But this miniature chocolate dapple dachshund wears his heart on his nose. So whenever Lavi Rock Miller’s human, Jodi Miller, asks for a kissy and he bumps his nose to her hand or her face, he really is giving his heart to her. And that’s why she had to save him.

Lavi is only 10 weeks old and just 3 pounds. But his brain, his heart, and his enthusiasm far outweigh his little hotdog body. Unfortunately, Lavi had a very rare, unusual birth defect that caused an entrapment of his bowels the weekend of July 6th. Within 24 hours of detecting the starting symptoms that included a distended abdomen and multiple instances of vomiting, Jodi rushed him to the emergency care clinic. What was missed in a vet visit early in the morning and later showed up on x-rays as an obstruction by a foreign object in the colon turned out to be something very different when the surgeon opened him up. She found a hole in the protective “veil” covering around the organs, and Lavi’s bowels had slipped through that hole. A string of fat wound itself around the bowels, basically strangling them. The surgeon stated that his bowels were cold, gray, and had no pulse, no circulation when she first opened him up. She removed that portion of the veil with the hole in it, got his bowels back to a pink and viable status, and closed him up.

The surgery was an incredibly intricate one. While the surgeon has seen this entrapment occur in horses, she has never seen a case like this in puppies. In fact, no one in the entire emergency clinic has ever seen a case like Lavi’s. And because the surgery was so intricate and involved, his recovery required more than if this had been a simple obstruction.

His human, Jodi, is a graduate student on financial aid. She runs her own business and supports herself and Lavi. But she knew he had to be saved. After all, he saved her heart and brought back her genuine smile after it disappeared when her first miniature dachshund, Roxi, passed away unexpectedly last summer from a heart condition. Her dogs aren’t just dogs. Roxi was her child, her companion. And Lavi isn’t just a puppy. He’s a savior. Lavi is Hebrew for lion, and he’s a fighter just like his mother.

The x-rays, hospital stay, surgery, medications, IV drip, and round-the-clock expert care are all running a bill up to and beyond $7,000. Because of the waiting period for pet health insurance, this was not covered. But without the procedures (and with any further delay in these procedures), Lavi would have died. At just 10 weeks old and with only 10 days in Jodi’s care, Lavi learned to sit, stay, walk on his leash with the “heel” command, go get his toys and bring them back, go into his crate on his own and sleep or play with the door open. He stares Jodi straight in the eyes, wags his tail when he sees other people, licks and lies down next to a 3-month old baby, and recognizes his reflection in the mirror. He’s a smart cookie with a huge personality. The world would have missed a special soul and a good, smart, loyal, friendly dog if he had not been saved.

Help them both fight through this, so both can continue being strong for each other.

You may follow them on Instagram at @jodileigh [email redacted]kadach. Jodi and Lavi thank you from the bottom of their hearts and the tips of their noses for your genuine support and positive thoughts.