Aries’ Journey to Recovery

Aries is a 5 year old, Boxer mix who came to ADL on January 30, 2019. As you can see from his before photo, he was obviously emaciated. Our veterinary team performed a variety of diagnostics to assess his overall health. Bloodwork (a complete blood count and chemistry panel) were within normal limits, and did not show any evidence of organ dysfunction. Abdominal and chest radiographs (x-rays) were performed and revealed marked distention of his small intestines, but were otherwise normal.

An abdominal exploratory surgery was subsequently performed to ensure a chronic intestinal obstruction, cancer, or other cause was not present. The entire GI tract appeared within normal limits; however, the associated lymph nodes were larger than normal. A biopsy was performed and submitted along with a GI panel to a reference lab. In the meantime, Aries was fed very small but frequent meals to ensure that refeeding syndrome did not occur. Refeeding syndrome is a process where an emaciated animal is fed too rapidly, which can cause detrimental changes within the body. The remaining diagnostics were within normal limits, and it was confirmed that Aries is a true malnutrition case. His feeding amount was slowly increased, and over 3-weeks duration Aries has gained more than 14 pounds!

Aries is a bright and spunky little guy who is full of energy. After 5 days of being placed for adoption, he quickly won the heart over of his new mom and was adopted!

Aries’ First Family Photo

Unfortunately, Aries’ is one of many pets at ADL who has needed extra care before being placed for adoption. If you’d like to help us save more lives, then please consider making a donation to help us with the next Aries.

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