In a single dog birth, at least one of the puppies is born a runt, and these puppies are born tinier than the rest of the litter. In addition to that, they are more likely to develop various health issues because of their low immunity. However, runts could grow up to be just as big as their siblings with proper care and nutrition.
This puppy had to wear tiny casts for his tiny paws.
Meet Etta, the tiniest puppy of her litter.
The 2-week-old puppy was born tiny and sickly and you could hear her painful cries. As early as 2 weeks, she already had to wear bandages or casts on some blackened parts on her tail and on some of her legs probably. This was possibly because of necrosis, however, even the breeders had no idea what caused it. The tiny runt then went into the hands of Kathryn Hartwig, a vet tech, after the breeders contacted her for help.
Etta was at the brink of death but Kathryn worked hard to help the poor pup survive.
As the breeders came to Kathryn, the pup was no longer nursing and she had to run to the vet’s emergency room. The doctors claimed that Etta has a small chance of making it through the night and the doctor gave Kathryn the option of euthanizing her.
However, Kathryn refused to believe that fact and took some actions by herself to give the puppy a better chance of survival.
“I didn’t want to let her down, I didn’t want to let anybody else down,” Kathryn told The Dodo. “It was either throw everything at her and give her the best shot she had or euthanize her.”
Kathryn’s journey to give Etta a chance at living.
Kathryn threw everything she could to Etta just to inspire her to keep on living.
She would feed the puppy through a bottle every single day until she was old enough to eat on her own. Kathryn was surprised when one day, she found Etta standing up and starting to eat on her own.
She also noticed how Etta was getting stronger and stronger as the days passed.
At first, Etta would just roll around until she could get up, then the next day she would try walking as far as she could without falling. Little Etta was just an adorable fighter. Every wobbly step that Etta took, Kathryn was always there to get her back up.
Kathryn’s next challenge was to find a new home for Etta.
After lots of practice, Etta was able to walk properly with her bandages. She was then sent to a medical foster for a couple of months until someone decided to adopt her. Unfortunately, no one was interested in a spotted Great Dane with casts on her hind legs.
Even after going back to Kathryn’s home, they found no luck in finding a suitable family for her. After some time, Kathryn realized that there is no need to find her a family. She told the Dodo:
“We waited and we waited. And during that time, she became so attached to me. And so, little did I know, she was already home.”
With Etta’s resilience and Kathryn’s love and determination, the tiniest pup eventually grew up to be a huge, sassy Great Dane. Thanks to Kathryn’s efforts, Etta is finally living in a home that she deserves.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
