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URGENT!
Midnight needs your prayers and
financial
support, please:
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04/29/10: This miracle and
lucky girl is ADOPTED! Thank
you everyone for your
support and prayers
throughout her whole ordeal
and recovery.
1/14/09:
Cross Your Fingers
For Midnight
Midnight has
recovered from her
surgery on December 15th.
This operation included
removing her eye and a
broken tooth. The
doctors did not want to
spay her at this time or
remove the masses.
They felt that the two
procedures would be
enough trauma to contend
with at once and they
were right. Poor
Midnight was in extreme
pain for the first 48
hours and needed two
different pain
medications to make her
more comfortable.
Her foster mom
and dad stayed by her
side throughout those
days. It seemed when
Midnight was left alone
she would become anxious
but as long as Bianca
was near she seemed to
handle the pain better
so Bianca became her
shadow.
Eventually, Midnight
returned to her normal
self, which was a huge
relief for both us and
her foster mom.
Since the
surgery in December,
Midnight adjusted well
after the loss of her
eye and we hope she will
bounce back quickly from
her latest
medical procedures.
Midnight returned to the
hospital, January 12th,
for what we hope will be
her final surgery. She
was finally spayed and
had two cysts removed
along with two masses on
her breasts that have
been sent out to be
biopsied. We
should receive the
results in the next
several days.
Midnight will be back in
her foster home to
recover and will have
limited exercise for the
next week or so.
Midnight will be ready
for a permanent home as
soon as the biopsy
results are back and her
sutures are removed in
10 to 14 days.
Midnight has
overcome more than most
dogs in her short
lifespan. She is
not only resilient but
has a spirit that has
shown us that every dog
should be given a chance
no matter how grave “we”
feel their injuries
might be. We want
to thank everyone that
had a hand in her
extensive medical care
and healing, especially
Bianca and her family
and all of you who have
sent donations and well
wishes.
12/20:09: Midnight is
recovering from surgery, she
experienced a great ammount
of post-op pain from this
past surgery, more
information soon.
12/15/09:
Another Surgery For
Midnight
Poor
Midnight has had some
grueling surgeries in
the past and still has
another one scheduled
for Tuesday, Dec 15th.
She had a list of
surgical procedures that
needed to be addressed
when she initially came
into rescue, and the
medical experts felt it
best to stagger the
operations. The
doctors did not want to
subject her body to
multiple traumas all at
one time.
This latest surgery will
involve the doctors
evaluating Midnight’s
injured eye to determine
whether it is best to
remove the “dead eye”
completely or just the
eye lashes, which
are turning inward and
irritating her cornea.
They will also access
her broken tooth which
will have to be
carefully removed
because of the severity
of the previous injury
to her jaw. In
addition, if all goes
well, they will remove
two masses from her
upper body which will
need to be biopsied.
Throughout this
long and drawn out
healing process Midnight
has been a perfect
angel. Midnight never
complains or shows any
signs of aggression,
even after she has been
poked, prodded and
handled by strangers.
She is an
extraordinarily trusting
soul that seems to
understand that the end
result will be worth her
endurance. Her
foster mom has nothing
but praise for this
angel girl and knows
whoever is blessed to
adopt her will find a
lifetime of happiness
with a loving companion.
However, with all this
good come the costs. NBR
is incurring staggering
bills for all the
medical procedures
that Midnight requires.
We know many families
are also struggling in
this economic downturn
and we are grateful for
any donation to help
with Midnight’s special
medical expenses.
11/30/09: This survivor is
not out of the woods yet,
more surgeries to come -
update posting shortly.
Please consider making a
donation in Midnight's name.
11/02/09:
Midnight’s Ability To Heal
Never Ceases To Amaze
Midnight is
almost fully recovered
from the tragic beating
she endured over two
months ago. On
October 22 I
noticed that one of her
wires (holding her jaw
together) was coming up
a bit. I contacted
her Orthopedic Surgeon
who recommended that I
bring her in the next
day to have her checked
out.
The wires in
Midnight’s jaw were not
due to come out until
November 27 so I
was a little nervous.
Low and behold when I
took her in the Vet took
some x-rays and came
back and said that her
jaw was completely
healed and that the
wires were ready to be
removed.
The procedure
was done the same day
and it went well.
Everyone was absolutely
amazed how quickly
Midnight has healed.
The vet suggested that I
continue to feed her
soft food for the next 3
days which I did.
I then switched her over
to regular dog food
(soaked in hot water)
and she has been doing
excellent.
Midnight still has
several surgical
procedures left to go.
Due to the severe damage
that was done to her
right eye (her eye is
basically dead), the
eyelid is collapsing
into the socket which is
causing her eyelashes to
irritate her eye tissue.
Obviously this is not
comfortable for the poor
little girl. She
will need to have her
eyelashes removed or her
eyelids adjusted.
She also has
a broken tooth that was
caused by the beating.
This tooth will need to
be very carefully
removed as not to hurt
her fragile jaw. In
addition, Midnight has 2
lumps along her spine
that will most likely
need to be removed and
biopsied just to be
safe, and last but not
least she is now healthy
enough to be spayed.
So, as you can see
we are still in
desperate need of
donations to cover the
cost of her medical
bills. Midnight
has such a wonderful
tenacity for life and is
finally getting a chance
to live the life she
deserves.
We would like
to thank everyone for
their prayers and
donations up to this
point. We could
not have saved this
little miracle girl
without the help of each
and every one of you!
10/09/09:
MIDNIGHT'S EYE IS HER BADGE
OF HONOR
Midnight went for
her follow-up examination
and x-rays. Everyone
at the vet hospital was
thrilled to see her and they
were in awe of how great she
looks. The orthopedic
specialist was pleased with
the results of the x-rays
and felt her bones were
healing well. There
was only one small section
of
jaw bone that still
needs to heal.
For the next six
weeks Midnight will need to
be kept on soft foods and
her foster mom will need to
be extra careful that none
of her activities put too
much pressure on the jaw.
This will include not
chewing on hard objects such
as bones or pulling tug
toys. The doctor
explained, “anything that
tugs on a dog’s jaw can be
harmful...this pertains to
ALL dogs”.
In eight
weeks Midnight will return
to the hospital to have the
wires removed from her jaw
and she will also be
scheduled to be spayed at
the same time. The
doctor will also re-examine
the broken tooth that could
not be extracted when the
jaw was being
repaired (because it would
have caused more instability
of the bones).
Midnight also has a small
lump on her chest which will
be surgically removed and
biopsied during the surgery.
Midnight once again
had her eye examined.
The eye does not look much
better and it has a small
discharge which is being
treated with antibiotics
twice a day. The
doctor felt that as long as
Midnight's eye does not
bother her it is not
something to worry about.
Her eye may not look very
appealing, however it is
mostly cosmetic. We
feel she has been through
enough trauma and we will
not put her through another
surgery that is unnecessary.
We see her eye as a badge of
honor for what she has
endured these past months.
She is a true champion.
Again, our heartfelt
thanks go out to Bianca and
Scott, Midnight’s foster
parents, for their vigilant
care and compassion.
Midnight is starting to act
like a puppy; she is now
happy and enjoying life.
We
appreciate everyone's
thoughts and prayers but we
still need your help.
Midnight's medical care has
surpassed $5000 and she has
at least two more surgeries
to endure.
09/28/09:
Update from
Midnight's Foster Mom
(new pictures coming
soon)
“Midnight
had her staples removed.
The incision site where
they went in to repair
her jaw has healed
beautifully. A few days
after her staples were
removed we decided it
was time to introduce
her to our three boxers;
two male and one female.
They had been checking
each other out for weeks
through a baby gate. We
started with our female.
Midnight instantly
wanted to play. Ella was
a bit apprehensive and
let Midnight do her
inspection. Next it was
our oldest boy Gemini.
He simply laid on the
floor. And last, it was
Oscar’s turn. They
immediately took a
liking to each other
and wanted to play. We
spent the next days
carefully watching them
to make sure that no one
got into a little tiff.
They never did. In fact,
they acted as though
they had always been
together. There are no
signs, whatsoever, of
any aggression.
This past
week has been crazy (in
a good way). Midnight is
full of Puppy Power! It
is obvious that she is
feeling better. It has
been a task, to say the
least, preventing her
from playing tug of war
and getting into things
such as shoes, dirty
clothes etc.
Midnight is
a remarkable little
girl. She has alot of
energy and I believe she
would do best with a
family that does not
have small children. She
will surely need a big
fenced yard to burn off
some of that excess
energy and another dog
in the home would
probably be a plus.
Midnight does not like
the crate nor does she
like to be left alone;
she is just like
Velcro! Placing her with
a family that
has someone home for the
better part of the day
would be ideal.
Midnight is
due for a followup visit
on October 2nd, which is
when they will take some
x-rays to see how her
jaw is healing. Also,
although Midnight’s eye
does not seem to bother
her, it does not look
good at all. The eyelid
is starting to cave in a
bit. An appointment will
be made to assess this
situation also.”
09/10/09:
Midnight Is Finally
On The Mend
Surgery to repair
Midnight’s jaw was
successful and the
surgeon was happy
with the results of
the repair. She
must return to the
doctor in 2 weeks to
remove the staples
from the bottom of
her jaw. In another
4 weeks she has an
appointment with the
specialist for
radiographs to make
sure the plates,
wires and screws are
still in place and
the bones are
healing properly.
Hopefully, there
will be no
complications and
the final
radiographs, in
several more weeks,
will show that her
jaw is completely
healed. We are
crossing our fingers
that the last visit
to the surgeon will
be to remove the
wires that are
currently helping to
hold Midnight’s
bones together.
Midnight was also
examined by the
ophthalmology
specialist and it
was confirmed that
her damaged eye is
irreparably blind.
The doctor wants to
examine her again in
a couple weeks to
monitor the level of
deterioration. It
is still too soon to
determine if she
will need surgery to
remove the eyeball.
Midnight has already
been through so
much; we are hoping
she will be spared
another surgery.
She has proven
herself,once again
as alittle fighter.
Midnight recovered
from surgery quicker
than doctor's
anticipated and was
released from the
hospital a day
sooner than
estimated.
Below
is a report from her
foster mom.
“Midnight is home
resting
comfortably. I was
able to pick her up
on Friday, September
4th. She does
extremely well
riding in a car. It
took us about 45
minutes to get
home. When I picked
her up she seemed a
little bit
apprehensive but
warmed right up.
Once at the house I
was able to get a
much better look at
her.
She
has 20 staples under
the left side of her
jaw where the
surgery was
performed. Her eye
is no longer red, it
is whitish brown and
a little shriveled
in the middle from
the extreme beating
she endured. She
will not regain
vision in the right
eye, and will be
very lucky if she
gets to keep it at
all.
Her
hair is growing back
on her side where
she had the chest
tube inserted and
around her left
ankle where she had
her IV. After
checking her out I
let her check out
the whole house, she
seemed to like it
best upstairs. I
have 3 other Boxers
so I decided to keep
them separate for a
while until she is
feeling better.
My 3
boxers are currently
staying downstairs,
while she is
residing upstairs.
They saw each other
through the sliding
glass door, my 3
immediately started
barking and she ran
away. She seemed to
be rather frightened
by them naturally.
After checking
things out Midnight
took up residence on
the Sofa making
herself a little
nest for the rest of
the evening.
When
my Husband & Nephew
got home they came
to greet her,
however she was
having none of that,
and seemed to be
quite afraid of
them. Midnight was
glued to my side for
the rest of the
night, wherever I
went she followed.
The next day,
Saturday Midnight
seemed to warm up to
the guys and allowed
them to pet her as
well as sit next to
her.
She
continued to rest
all of Saturday and
ate well. She also
had her first BM
since being
discharged from the
ER. On Sunday, she
rested some more
however this time
she decided to
relocate to our
Bed. She continued
to eat very well and
had another BM and
continued to rest.
Sunday morning was a
different story. At
about 1am Midnight
decided she was
tired of resting and
even wanted to check
out my other Boxers
(something she
hadn't done). Since
I have a split foyer
she is now going
down to the middle
of
the landing
to check them out.
They just stare at
each other, no
barking.
Midnight is
adjusting fairly
quickly and is a
very good listener.
She comes when
called, and even
sits. I haven't
tested her on
anything else
though. She is on a
lot of medications
and they are as
follows...For her
eye (Flurbiprofen
0.03 & Triple
Antibiotic
Drops Neocidin ), to
protect from
infection (Clavamox
375mg), and for pain
(Metcam 1.75ml &
Tramadol 50mg). She
takes these several
times a day.
She
must eat canned food
(ground) mixed with
water. As you can
see she has a long
road ahead of her
but she is
progressing
quickly. She has
the sweetest little
spirit! Today I
brought her home a
stuffed duck and she
immediately started
to play with it.
I
want to Thank
everyone for their
prayers and well
wishes, also for
their financial
support which is
still very much
needed.”
09/01/09:
MIDNIGHT IS READY
FOR SURGERY
Midnight has
been transferred into
the care of the
orthopedic surgeon
who will repair her
fractured jaw.
After reviewing the
x-rays, and performing
an exam, the doctor gave
the go-ahead to proceed
with surgery which will
be performed in the next
day or two.
The technical
term for Midnight’s
broken jaw is a
“bilateral open
mandibular fracture”
and it will be a
challenge to repair
because of the extent of
the damage.
Midnight is also
scheduled for a consult
with an
eye specialist to
assess the damage to her
eye. We do not expect
to hear that vision can
be restored in that eye
but we are hoping that
at least the eye itself
can be saved.
Please keep Midnight in
your thoughts and
prayers.
The
medical bills for
Midnight have approached
$4,500 and there are
more bills to come.
We understand that money
is very tight for most
people these days, but
we must ask for your
support to help pay the
cost of Midnight’s care.
We are grateful for any
amount you can spare.
08/31/09:
SO FAR SO GOOD FOR
LUCKY LADY MIDNIGHT
Midnight had been at the
Emergency Hospital receiving
24 hour care for several
days, and she was stable
enough to return to the care
of the doctor who saved her
life.
Her condition has continued
to improve and she is
feeling much better.
She was able to be taken off
all intravenous medication
and fluids and is now able
to be maintained with oral
medication. She is
drinking fluids on her own
and is able to eat food that
is prepared as a watery
gruel. The best news
is that the tube inserted in
Midnight’s chest to relieve
the build-up of air pressure
was able to be removed, and
she is breathing much
better.
Medical attention has now
been focused on Midnight’s
broken jaw. The
doctors assessed her jaw
more closely and the
additional x-rays revealed
that one of her
fractured jaw bones
is broken in three pieces.
This bone will definitely
need a metal plate, but it
is not yet know if that will
be the case for the
broken bone on the
other side of her jaw.
The x-rays have been
sent to an
orthopedic surgeon at
another hospital who can
perform this kind of
surgery, and we expect that
Midnight will have her jaw
repaired sometime this week.
Her eye is still not good.
The doctors expect the eye
will no longer function, but
it is still uncertain if it
will need to be removed.
We will post another update
after we speak to the
surgeon.
08/23/09:
MIDNIGHT WAS SEVERELY
BEATEN AND IS FIGHTING
FOR HER LIFE
Midnight is a young
boxer lab mix who is the
victim of a severe
beating at the hands of
a yet unknown
assailant. We are still
trying to gather the
facts of her story and
will do whatever we can
to make sure the person
responsible for this
horrible act of violence
will be prosecuted.
What we know so far is
that Midnight was
brought into a vet
hospital by a woman who
said Midnight was her
dog. She told the
doctor that Midnight
refused to come into the
house the night before.
According to her story,
she found Midnight
in her yard the next
morning severely
beaten. She said that
she noticed a broken
window, as if someone
had attempted to try and
break into her home.
There was blood all over
the yard. When the
doctor gave her an
estimate to treat the
dog she said she did not
have the money and opted
for euthanasia. At this
point Midnight’s luck
began to change.
One of our compassionate
volunteers named Bianca
happened to be at the
hospital with her boxer
where she learned about
Midnight’s plight. When
she was told that
Midnight was going to be
killed she fought for
Midnight’s life and
contacted us for help.
Bianca was able to reach
us by phone just as the
doctor started the
process of euthanizing
Midnight; she had
already been given a
sedative which is
administered prior to
the lethal injection.
We were able to speak to
the doctor at this point
to find out if there was
a possibility Midnight
could live if she
received medical
treatment.
The doctor told us that
his exam revealed a
badly broken jaw, a
severely injured eye,
facial swelling, tongue
lacerations, and her
breathing was very
labored. He said she
was in extremely poor
condition, and possibly
had fractured ribs,
internal bleeding, and
damaged lungs.
Obviously, Midnight
would need a skillful
veterinarian to pull her
through and, after
discussing our options
with the doctor, we
decided to transfer her
to another hospital that
has successfully treated
many of our other
medical cases. Luckily
the hospital was in the
same city and not too
far away.
We alerted the hospital
that Midnight would be
arriving shortly and
they were waiting for
her when she arrived.
The doctor started
working on her
immediately, and he told
me later that he was
very close to losing her
on the table.
Once again, luck was on
Midnight’s side. The
doctor who treated her
is a highly accomplished
veterinarian with much
experience in emergency
care; he was able to
diagnose that her
injuries caused a grave
condition called Tension
Pneumothorax
which needed immediate
skillful intervention to
keep her alive. This
condition is usually
caused by a strong
impact such as being hit
by a car; the force of
the blows that Midnight
endured were undoubtedly
intense.
Tension Pneumothorax is
a life threatening
situation that occurs
when air continuously
enters the
pleural cavity of
the chest and has no way
out. The increasing air
pressure in the pleural
cavity causes
progressive collapse of
the lung, which severely
compromises ventilation
as well as venous
return, leading to death
within minutes. To
release the air pressure
the doctor had to “tap”
her chest with a needle
multiple times which
allowed her to breathe
and saved her life.
The doctor also
confirmed that
Midnight’s jaw is broken
in two places. Her eye
is so badly injured that
it is questionable if it
can be saved.
Thankfully her ribs were
not broken, and she was
responding to treatment,
but she was still in
critical condition. The
most pressing problem
was the Pneumothorax and
she would need to be
closely monitored to see
if air would continue to
be trapped inside her
chest cavity. Her other
injuries can not be
addressed until she is
in better condition.
Unfortunately, Midnight
would need to be moved
once again to an
emergency hospital that
was open 24 hours.
After several hours the
doctor had her
stabilized enough to be
transported, and she was
transferred into their
care.
The air in Midnight’s
chest cavity had to be
tapped again a few times
throughout the night.
The doctors were
relieving her pain with
intravenous medication,
and she was resting as
comfortably as possible
considering her
condition. The next day
air continued to build
up in the chest cavity
so the doctors decided
to surgically put a
chest tube in
place to help release
the air. The doctors
will watch her closely
for the next 24 to 48
hours after which they
will occlude the tube to
see if the problem
continues.
Midnight obviously has
guardian angels looking
over her shoulder, and
we hope that they will
continue their vigilant
watch. We vow to do our
part to keep Midnight
alive, restore her
health, and to help
prosecute the evil
person responsible for
this heinous act of
animal cruelty.
Below is the “at the
scene” account from our
volunteer Bianca:
“I was taking my little
girl Boxer for routine
vaccinations at the
Vets. While there I was
told about another
little girl Boxer a few
doors down that was in
Critical Condition.
Unfortunately this was
another horrible case of
Animal Abuse and the
owner was refusing to
pay for anything to try
to save her, stating
that she did not have
the money and that
little "Midnight" would
have to be Euthanized.
I begged the Vet to give
me a chance to contact
NBR. Unfortunately they
said that they could not
wait very long and that
she would have to be
Euthanized in a matter
of moments. While
trying to contact NBR
the Vet Tech came back
in and said they
couldn't wait any
longer. Just in the
nick of time I was able
to get in contact with
Jane at NBR who was
willing to make a go at
saving this beautiful
little girl’s life.
I went running into the
back of the Vet Office
where they said it was
too late and Midnight
was already dead. They
then said that they had
only administered the
pre-euthanasia sedative,
and that she was still
alive. After a few
crazy moments I was able
to get the owner to sign
Midnight over to NBR.
I was off to another Vet
hospital to try to give
her a chance at life.
This little girl has an
incredible spirit. Even
after being terribly
beaten, and being
administered the first
drugs to Euthanize her,
she could still lift her
head and look at me with
her one good eye. It
was so heartbreaking,
almost as if she was
saying "give me a
chance...I'm a fighter".
Midnight made it to the
hospital where they were
able to do some
emergency work on her to
stabilize her.
Unfortunately the x-rays
show that she has
Tension Pneumothorax, a
broken jaw, a lacerated
tongue, and a very
damaged right eye.
This little girl has a
long road ahead of her,
but I know she can do
it. Please keep
Midnight in your
prayers.”
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Can you donate to help MIDNIGHT
? She needs
you more then ever!
You can send a check directly
to: Northeastern Boxer Rescue
P.O. Box 95 Sunderland MA 01375. or use PayPal
makes it easy and secure to send
payments online via credit card.
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(click pictures to enlarge)
PICS PRIOR TO EYE REMOVAL SURGERY: (BEFORE 12/15/09)
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