Sage's Story
Donation protected
Hi guys!
My name is Sage, and I’m an 8 week old French Mastiff/Bull Mastiff cross.
Some of you might know my mom, Sierra Stevens, from your local vet clinic. She is a registered vet tech at the Valemount & Jasper vet clinics, and worked at the Quesnel Animal Care Hospital for the last year. My mom and dad picked me up on Sunday, July 12th, from Edmonton, AB to my new fur-ever home in Valemount, BC. I was so excited to come home with them! When we got there, I met my new big sister, Skeena! She is a 12 week old Husky they had rescued 2 weeks earlier. We spent all Sunday evening playing and exploring, and most of Monday.
At about noon on Monday, I felt funny, and threw up. Mom figured it was the stress of the new environment and I was still playing. But throughout the day I started throwing up more and more. Mom checked my gum color and says I was really pale, so she called her vet. She told mom to take me into the clinic, give me an injection of doggie gravol (ow!) and to take my temperature, and to bring her to work the next day. I felt much better Tuesday, they kept me on a couple of medications for my upset tummy, and mom monitored me through the night. They called it gastroenteritis. When mom found me in the morning I had had diarrhea all over the carpet and was really tired, Skeena tried to play with me but all I could do was sleep. Mom was worried, I heard her say the word parvo to dad, but I don’t know what that means. She called her other job and rushed me to the jasper clinic. Usually I love driving, but it made me feel sicker. Everyone was worried about me, but people kept telling mom they didn’t think it was parvo. At then end of the day, the put me on my side on a table and a big machine made a beep. They called it an x-ray – the doctors thought I had been silly and ate a toy that blocked my intestines. When they let me sit up, I couldn’t hold in my diarrhea. It was bright red. Then more people said that same word – parvo. After that, mom took me home with a needle bandaged into my arm and had to inject medicine into it every hour. It helped a little, but I still got sick a lot. They got me a really big kennel and wouldn’t let me see Skeena anymore. Dad wasn’t allowed to touch me because he had to take care of Skeena because I’m contagious, but mom stayed with me through the night. On Thursday I went to moms work again. I was on 3 different drugs to help me stop throwing up, but nothing was helping, so mom ordered me a special drug they use on cancer patients after chemo. That had to work! It was supposed to arrive the next morning to jasper, so we spent the night together again with lots of pokes, and drove there in the morning. I got worse again through the day, and by the time the clinic closed, I couldn’t stand up to pee and my bottom eyelids were all droopy. We stayed for a few more hours and the vet told mom she needed to think about going to one of the Calgary emergency clinics or I might not make it. She cried a lot and then called dad. They talked for a long time, and all of a sudden, he was there, too! I wish I’d had more energy to show him how excited I was to see him, but I hadn’t eaten in 5 days at that point so I couldn’t do much. He gave mom a bag and a hug, and so did all the other people that had worked on me through out the day. I was so jealous, I love hugs! We got in and started driving, and it got dark really fast. Mom kept saying things like hold on girl, and stay strong for us, so I did! She pulled over every hour to make sure I was still breathing, and I always was. We got to the Calgary C.A.R.E. emergency centre at 2AM and I was put in a glass room with mom and other staff. They dipped their feet before coming in and wore funny gowns and booties over their shoes. Everyone looked pretty scary. But the doctors were really nice, and they said I had an 80-90% chance of surviving so I could go home and play more with my big sis. Mom stayed until 6 in the morning and then had to leave, the techs tell me she says she loves me and to keep holding on, but she’s not allowed to visit the quarantine anymore. I’m still feeling pretty awful, but I’ll let mom finish the story because the doctors tell her how I’m doing every 4 hours. Thanks for listening!
Parvovirus is a disease that attacks puppies intestinal tracts, bone marrow (where blood cells are formed) and hearts. Sage has an extreme case that is taking longer than usual to respond to medication. Although we haven’t seen huge improvements, the doctors still give her an 80-90% chance of survival. There have been some costly complications along the way, and the money we had to keep her hospitalized is running low. It costs about $1000 a day to keep her hospitalized without complications, and she needs approx. 3 days more hospitalization than we had counted on. The fact that she has such a huge survival rate and we’ve gone so far, we just can’t give up on our sweet little girl. Any funds donated will not be used for costs already expended, but only towards keeping her in the best care possible for as long as possible. Without treatment, She will not survive.
Anything will be greatly appreciated, not funds alone, but prayers and thoughts for our little girl as well. Thank you so much for reading and sharing.
My name is Sage, and I’m an 8 week old French Mastiff/Bull Mastiff cross.
Some of you might know my mom, Sierra Stevens, from your local vet clinic. She is a registered vet tech at the Valemount & Jasper vet clinics, and worked at the Quesnel Animal Care Hospital for the last year. My mom and dad picked me up on Sunday, July 12th, from Edmonton, AB to my new fur-ever home in Valemount, BC. I was so excited to come home with them! When we got there, I met my new big sister, Skeena! She is a 12 week old Husky they had rescued 2 weeks earlier. We spent all Sunday evening playing and exploring, and most of Monday.
At about noon on Monday, I felt funny, and threw up. Mom figured it was the stress of the new environment and I was still playing. But throughout the day I started throwing up more and more. Mom checked my gum color and says I was really pale, so she called her vet. She told mom to take me into the clinic, give me an injection of doggie gravol (ow!) and to take my temperature, and to bring her to work the next day. I felt much better Tuesday, they kept me on a couple of medications for my upset tummy, and mom monitored me through the night. They called it gastroenteritis. When mom found me in the morning I had had diarrhea all over the carpet and was really tired, Skeena tried to play with me but all I could do was sleep. Mom was worried, I heard her say the word parvo to dad, but I don’t know what that means. She called her other job and rushed me to the jasper clinic. Usually I love driving, but it made me feel sicker. Everyone was worried about me, but people kept telling mom they didn’t think it was parvo. At then end of the day, the put me on my side on a table and a big machine made a beep. They called it an x-ray – the doctors thought I had been silly and ate a toy that blocked my intestines. When they let me sit up, I couldn’t hold in my diarrhea. It was bright red. Then more people said that same word – parvo. After that, mom took me home with a needle bandaged into my arm and had to inject medicine into it every hour. It helped a little, but I still got sick a lot. They got me a really big kennel and wouldn’t let me see Skeena anymore. Dad wasn’t allowed to touch me because he had to take care of Skeena because I’m contagious, but mom stayed with me through the night. On Thursday I went to moms work again. I was on 3 different drugs to help me stop throwing up, but nothing was helping, so mom ordered me a special drug they use on cancer patients after chemo. That had to work! It was supposed to arrive the next morning to jasper, so we spent the night together again with lots of pokes, and drove there in the morning. I got worse again through the day, and by the time the clinic closed, I couldn’t stand up to pee and my bottom eyelids were all droopy. We stayed for a few more hours and the vet told mom she needed to think about going to one of the Calgary emergency clinics or I might not make it. She cried a lot and then called dad. They talked for a long time, and all of a sudden, he was there, too! I wish I’d had more energy to show him how excited I was to see him, but I hadn’t eaten in 5 days at that point so I couldn’t do much. He gave mom a bag and a hug, and so did all the other people that had worked on me through out the day. I was so jealous, I love hugs! We got in and started driving, and it got dark really fast. Mom kept saying things like hold on girl, and stay strong for us, so I did! She pulled over every hour to make sure I was still breathing, and I always was. We got to the Calgary C.A.R.E. emergency centre at 2AM and I was put in a glass room with mom and other staff. They dipped their feet before coming in and wore funny gowns and booties over their shoes. Everyone looked pretty scary. But the doctors were really nice, and they said I had an 80-90% chance of surviving so I could go home and play more with my big sis. Mom stayed until 6 in the morning and then had to leave, the techs tell me she says she loves me and to keep holding on, but she’s not allowed to visit the quarantine anymore. I’m still feeling pretty awful, but I’ll let mom finish the story because the doctors tell her how I’m doing every 4 hours. Thanks for listening!
Parvovirus is a disease that attacks puppies intestinal tracts, bone marrow (where blood cells are formed) and hearts. Sage has an extreme case that is taking longer than usual to respond to medication. Although we haven’t seen huge improvements, the doctors still give her an 80-90% chance of survival. There have been some costly complications along the way, and the money we had to keep her hospitalized is running low. It costs about $1000 a day to keep her hospitalized without complications, and she needs approx. 3 days more hospitalization than we had counted on. The fact that she has such a huge survival rate and we’ve gone so far, we just can’t give up on our sweet little girl. Any funds donated will not be used for costs already expended, but only towards keeping her in the best care possible for as long as possible. Without treatment, She will not survive.
Anything will be greatly appreciated, not funds alone, but prayers and thoughts for our little girl as well. Thank you so much for reading and sharing.
Organizer
Sierra Tylea Stevens
Organizer
Valemount, BC
