My First Day With My Hoooman... Puppy Snowball

Hi Pals,

My good pal, River, tagged me to tell everyone about My First Day With My Hooman. Thank you for tagging me, River. I wanted to show pictures of me taken when I was a puppy but as the picture quality wasn't too good, we have to put off the idea for a long long time. But because of this tag, I made my nasty jie jie retake my puppy pictures with her lousy handphone camera but the picture quality are really quite bad. Hope that my pals can still figure out what I look like when I was a wee pup.

To cut the long story short, I was purchased on an impulse on 19 July 1998. Jie jie love dogs and was always going to the pet shops to look at puppies. On that fateful Sunday morning, when she step into the pet shop, she had never expected herself to go home with me.


Daddy and mummy were both against the idea of having a pet dog at home. When they first saw me, their mouth open so wide that their jaws nearly touched the floor. You should see their expression at that time. (Jie jie got nagged at for a long long time after that :p) They both felt that I was very pitiful as I was so tiny and had to leave my biological parents at such young age. Daddy brought me downstairs for walkie immediately as jie jie had gone to her friend's place to help settle the other puppy.

On the same day, close to midnight, I started to vomit every 10 to 15mins continuously for 2 hours and she was panicked. Without knowing what to do, she hailed a cab and rushed me to the 24hrs animal hospital. Although they claimed to be 24hrs animal hospital, there were no vet in sight. A vet tech attended to us. Jie jie was told to leave me there overnight for observations.

The next morning, jie jie spoke to the vet and she was told that I was still vomiting and refused to eat anything. The vet even said that he suspected that I had some virus attack and told jie jie to be prepared for the worst. Jie jie called up the pet shop and she was told that the hospital I was sent to was not reliable and they wanted me to be brought back to the pet shop and they will arrange for me to see their own vet.

When jie jie came to the hospital, they brought me out to her and I was so weak that I can't even walk properly. I had lost some weight over the night. The vet was very unhappy when jie jie told them that she wanted to bring me back to the pet shop but jie jie still did it. Upon reaching the pet shop, they wanted me to stay there and promised to bring me to the vet and will take care of me till I got well before returning me to her.

Jie jie called them every morning to check on my status and was told that I was doing well but they still wanted me to get better before she could bring me home. I stayed at the pet shop for about 4 days before I was allowed to be brought home. jie jie was amazed to see that I have recovered, apart from having some flu.

So, she happily brought me back home. She was told not to play with me but to let me play by myself so as not to stress me out. I stayed in the playpen most of the day and I was let out to run in the living room a few times a day to play.

I spent the first 2 night training my hoomans to give me attention at 4.30am. By the 3rd day, mummy woke up automatically before me, the little living alarm clock, started to give out reminders. By the 5th day, mummy started to complain about the lack of sleep but she refused to ignore me and let me learn to stay on my own throughout the night.

Jie jie never like to be nagged at so on the following night, she took me into her room to sleep with her. Daddy and mummy objected to me sleeping in her room as jie jie had history for asthma but jie jie ignored all their nags cos either way, she will still be nagged at, don't you think so? So. that is how I had earned my license to sleep in jie jie's room till now.

I bought my way into everyone's heart over time and is now the most precious little girl to everyone at home.

I think I have covered like my first week with my hooman instead of sharing only my first day. Below at some pictures of me as a puppy. Please accept my apology for the poor picture quality.

Me (right) and the other pup that was bought together with me. Jie jie puppy nap him over to our house, when ever she had the chance as the hooman was left him at home alone most of the time. Those rubber mat were for me to sleep on so that I won't be chilled at night.

Me chewing on my little rawhide bone. I am never a good chewer. My rawhide and toys are always kept in pretty good condition for a long long time until the other puppy came over to help me chew them up.

Me in jail... I don't like those rubber mat so I tried my very best to squeeze myself along the edge of the playpen and stick my little front paw out onto the cold cold floor where the mat did not cover.
I managed to convince my hooman to remove the mat but jie jie put out a towel for me to sleep on but I was not potty trained so I dirty several towels a day. Jie jie was busy washing towels all day long.
Me sleeping. Jie jie cover me with a baby napkin.

Me (left) playing with the other puppy. Jie jie even joke about bringing us along to perform lion dance during Chinese New Year to let us earn for our own living.

Me having half time play rest.

Me, watching jie jie as she prepare my milk and supplements.

Me eating my supplement that will help to improve my appetite as I was not eating enough.

Me in my first bed. Mummy let me had sun tanning session every morning.

See me entertaining myself with my rawhide bone.

The first time I learn to jump over the small curb to get into my bed.

Me (right) and the other pup hiding under the shoe rack. He was good at finding such hiding place and I follow him in whatever he did.

Puppies in the basket. I am on the left.

The other puppy had already learned to jump out of the basket on his own but I am too lady like to do anything like that.

Me in the same basket when I was about 8 mths old. See how much I had grown. Next to me is my milk bottle.

Mummy made a make shift hammock to put me in it. See, I am being made to look silly at a young age.
My first costume. Jie jie was laughing so hard at me and I was angry with her and was trying to bite her.

How do you like my story and pictures?

I would like to tag my buddy, Chilli, Butchy and Snickers and Faya to share their first day with their hooman with everyone.

Luv,

Snowball

The darkest days of my life. Part 3

Summary of Part 1 and Part 2

I was injured and vet predicted that I will be paralysed and the chances of recovery are very low and close to zero. She told us that I am in severe pain so it will be humane to put me down.

Vet predicted that I will be paralysed for the rest of my life. Vet gave me Valium Jab together with some other medication and ask jie jie to bring me back for review after 1 week. She didn't recommend any alternate treatment that jie jie could let me try as she claims that the result will be the same and it will be waste of money.


When we reached home, jie jie confined me to a area of 2ft by 3ft at the foot of her bed, as the vet says that I should not be allowed to move around too much. I was feeling so uncomfortable that I could not sleep. I sit there staring at jie jie and panting hard with tears in my eyes but there isn't anything she could do for me.

Everyone was very worried. They keep dropping by jie jie's room to see me. Jie jie stayed with me the whole time and even had her dinner in the room but I wasn't in the mood to eat. I just couldn't understand why I was not able to stand. I can't even feel my hind legs and the sharp pain in my back is unbearable as the effect of valium was wearing out. I was distressed. I stared at jie jie hoping that she could answer my questions and make everything right again.

As I was trained to pee and poo outside the house since young, I refused to relief myself in the toilet but jie jie didn't want to bring me to the grass as she was afraid I might injured myself further. So, when the urine gets too much for me to hold, I pee on the towels I was sleeping on. Everytime I did that, jie jie have to wash the towel, clean me up and wipe the floor.

At night with the lights off, I tried to rest but I just couldn't sleep and it was so quiet that I felt very uneasy. I use all the energy I had to reach up and scratch on jie jie's bed to let her know that I couldn't get to sleep. Jie jie wasn't sleeping. She tried to comfort me by stroking me and talk to me softly but that wasn't enough. I still refuse to settle down. Once she stop giving me the attention, I starts to scratch at her bed again. She didn't scold me but she lifted me and let me lie on her lap in attempt to make me feel more comfortable. I was able to doze off a bit but after a while, I started to pant heavily again as I was feeling very hot. (You can't blame me cos my body tempreture + jie jie's tempreture + the heat accumulated on the mattress of jiejie bed, how could a little furball like me not feel hot? )

The next morning, jie jie and daddy decided to bring me to get a second opinion from my regular vet at Telok Kurau. We showed the vet the medication and treatment given to me the day before. Even this vet think that there is a high possibility of me being paralysed permanently. As there were medication given to me by the first vet already, this vet says that the best he could do is to help me to relief my pain further by giving me a jab. With that, we left the consultation room.

While we were at the waiting area, there was this lady who got to know of my condition and told jie jie that her Daschund had the same injury as me. She said that someone had recommended her to bring her Daschund for acupunture by a chinese vet who works in the Singapore Zoo and her dog is able to walk after a few months. She even gave the vet's mobile no. to jie jie for her to talk to the vet personally before deciding whether to let me try.

Jie jie was delighted to know that there is another alternative for me. There is hope for me afterall!!! Immediately, she called the vet and then the Animal Hospital at Stevens Road, where this vet gives consultation, to book for the earliest appointment for me to receive acupuncture treatment.

To be continued....

Snowball: Its boring... I don't want to sit on the chair all the timme

Jie jie: but you still can't walk. Wait till you recover then you can roam the whole house again.



Snowball: Oh Boy... How long do I have to wait before I can even stand again?

The darkest days of my life. Part 2

Summary of Part 1

I was injured and vet predicted that I will be paralysed and the chances of recovery are very low and close to zero. She told us that I am in severe pain so it will be humane to put me down.


OH NOoooo.... I DON'T WANT TO BE PUT TO SLEEP!!!


Jie jie find it ridiculous for the vet to give such prediction when she did not even take any X-Rays for me. Her prediction was base on the X-Rays that were taken in May 2005. When she asks the vet, the vet says that there is no need for X-Rays.

The vet told jie jie that if she didn't want to euthanise me and wanted to try her luck, she will give me some valium jab to help me settle down after the traumatic ordeal. The side effect of this medication is that I will drink more and pee more. The vet also prescript some anti-inflammatory medication and painkillers to me.

Jie jie told the vet that I was given ascorbic jab the last time and it helped to speed up my recovery. The vet told her that the jab is expensive and it will only help in certain ways but she still think that I will not recover. Upon jie jie's insistence, she brought me into the treatment room to insert a catheter in me so that jie jie could jab me twice a day.

The total damage for this visit sum up to about $300. Jie jie had expected a much bigger bill as the last time I went there during my previous relapse cost close to $600. Since this time, my condition is much more serious, Jie jie had expected that the vet would want to let me have some X-Rays and/or MRI scan to determine the exact condition of my spine. (1 session of MRI scan for a dog my size can cost from $900 to $1200.)

As this clinic is the only animal clinic in Singapore that has MRI machine, and they also have the digital X-Ray machine. That is why she has brought me to this clinic. If we have known that no X-Rays were needed, we would have gone to their branch at the East Point Mall instead since it is within walking distance from our house.

The vet didn't want to give any recommendation when jie jie ask if she should let me try some alternative treatment like acupuncture. All she says is that "You can try". She still thinks that nothing will help and it will be a waste of money. Before we go, she told jie jie to bring me back for review after 1 week when the medication has finished.


To be continued...




Here are some pictures of me taken on 7th August 2006.






See the bandage on my right leg? That's where the catheter was inserted.

The darkest days of my life. Part 1

When I was 5 years old, I was diagnosed to have slipped disc by the vet when jie jie notice that I was walking with wobbly hind legs. I was given medication to reduce the inflammation and I manage to recover after a few days.

A year after that I had another relapsed. I was experiencing sharp pain in my back. I wasn't able to rest or sleep well for a few days even after seeing the vet. The vet took several x-rays for me and it show that I have multiple slipped discs over my neck and back.

The vet said that he do not recommend surgery he will only perform the op on me if my condition is so bad that I became paralyse. When that happens, I will need to have a MRI scan to see which part of the spinal bone is causing the most problem and have that part of the spinal bone removed to ease the pressure it had on the nerves. He can't remove all the affected spinal bone as that will cause the whole spine to collapse.

We were also told that even with the surgery, there is no guarantee that I will gain full recovery. There are even chances for the nerves to be damaged during the surgery. ***Shivers***

The unfortunate event really happened on 3 August 06. I came back from my walk and was too eager to check out if my jie jie sneak out of the house when I was not around. I clumsily knocked into the shoe rack and a silly slipper dropped and landed on my back. There was a sharp pain in my back but the first thing that came to my mind is that I have to get to jie jie and she will know how to help me.

Upon reaching my jie jie's room, I suddenly lose control of both my hind legs. I don’t know why. I was still able to run a few minutes ago... All of us panicked. They put me into my carrier and rushed my to animal hospital at Balestier. The lady Caucasian Vet made me wait for 3 hours before seeing me as I was a walk in case without appointment.

I cringed onto my jie jie and refused to be touched by anyone else. The pain in my back was tremendous. The slightest movement will cause me to scream and every one at the clinic look at me with such pitiful look and keep asking jie jie what had happened and the same story was repeated for not less than 10 times.

At last when it was my turn to see the vet, upon consulting my past x-ray record, she said that my slipped discs problem is very serious and she predicted that I might not be able to stand ever again. She told jie jie to consider putting me to sleep to reduce my suffering. -_-"

to be continued......

Video clip taken a few days after the accident. I was acting blur after being scolded by jie jie.



You must be wondering why was jie jie so cruel to scold me when I was already injured. Actually, I was scolded because I refuse to urine when jie jie brought me to the toilet and I urinated on my bed immediately when she brought me back to the room.

About me...

My name is Snowball. I have pleaded with my jie jie to let me have my own blog for a long time. Finally, she had agreed. Yippy... I can now start to make new friends online.

I am a 8 yrs old Maltese and was imported from Australia, Adelaide, when I was 2 mths old. Jie jie always said that I am a typical victim of the puppy mill as I have lots of health defects. Jie jie also said that the amount she had spent on my medical bills is much higher than the price she had paid to bring me home. LOL... Haiz... I guess my biological mummy and daddy is not as lucky to be able to have a proper home and to have so many human slaves who pledge their loyalty to me for the rest of my life. I wonder how many siblings I must have had and what type of life they are leading.

Let me continue with my life story on why I am considered to be a victim of the puppy mill another day as jie jie said that dogs of my age shouldn't be staring on the screen for too long. Before I go, let me show you a few more of my pictures.... Am I pretty? ;p

This is how I will look like when I am on my outings.



and this is how I will look like when I am at home...


Hee hee...

So long for now. I will continue to blog when I am allowed to use jie jie's computer again.