Hi friends!

As many of you know, the starving, rain soaked, flea covered old Yorkie that we found in December had 4 puppies on February 7th. The last one born was a teensy little runt.

From the start he was pushed off the nipple by the stronger puppies and quickly became too weak to hold his latch. Then he was ignored by mama Gertie Fern because the vet said she was saving her strength for the healthy pups. The vet recommended separating him and holding him on until he could latch on his own while supplementing with puppy formula + nutritional gel every few hours. Week three was touch and go but then around 27 days -week 4 - he really turned a corner. He started gaining weight, playing with the other pups, walking more steadily, and for an 8 ounce teensy pup he looked hardy and most of all feisty and happy. On Friday night after feeding furiously and playing on the couch, we put him back in the pen where he unexpectedly gobbled up some of Gertie Fern's food and shortly thereafter vomited. We didn't realize that he had aspirated from vomiting until the next morning. He was lethargic, not wanting to latch or feed, had a fever and it was obvious that something was very wrong.

We rushed him to the emergency vet where they gave us the choice of putting him down or placing him in an oxygen tank with IV antibiotics, fluids and other life saving measures. The doctor said that he couldn't recommend we take the very expensive gamble to admit him because there was less than a 50% chance of recovery with aspirated pneumonia in a puppy this small. We admitted him anyway. We called throughout the night last night and by this morning he was walking around.

A little after noon the doctor called and was genuinely shocked at how well Runter was doing - walking, eating, pooping, peeing and alert. They took him out of the oxygen and he struggled a bit so the recommendation was another day in the tank and the doctor was confident he would make a full recovery. We went to visit him and he pawed the glass of his oxygen room.

From a death sentence to "Well, you have a strong little puppy here. We are all pleasantly surprised to see how well this little guy has done."

This was obviously a very unexpected wrinkle in the bumpy saga of geriatric Gertie Fern and her 4 puppies. We greatly appreciate any support anyone can offer as it will allow us to keep Runter there for the recommended amount of time and would honestly be a Godsend.

The estimation for a 2 day stay is 2500 dollars, it might be a little less but won't be more. Once we get a final bill we will adjust the gofundme accordingly.

“The least we can do is care for those who cannot care for themselves.”

― Jane Goodall

Thank you for your love and support!

Runter, Gertie Fern and her pups, Marti, Dashiell, Cora Belle and the rest of the rescue gang.

Included in the photos is the receipt for the down payment.