When you open the fridge and find that the brown sauce bottle is empty – there is no choice. Even in a war zone. A journey to the supermarket calls….
And thankfully for a little male pup; around 5 months old and suffering from the early onset of leishmaniosis it was a journey that meant Pen was exiting the Nowzad van just as the pup stuck its head out of the drain outside of the supermarket where it was foraging for any left-over food that had been casually dumped.
‘Without doubt I could immediately see that the pup was suffering from some form of injury to its mouth’ Pen recalled; ‘As I approached slowly without trying to scare it I realised it was not an injury but leishmaniosis. A horrific and at times fatal disease and the pup needed immediate treatment. The pup was so super friendly that I could just scoop him up. He was coming back to the Nowzad clinic!’
Once back at the clinic the pup was immediately taken for a check-up and initial treatment was given. Sadly, there would be no quick treatment – it was assessed that ongoing treatment would last at least 6 months.
Of course he needed a name and as we found him outside the Karimi supermarket and he is a cream colour – Creamy was decided by popular vote!
Creamy was put in quarantine; (we have to be very aware of rabies and any other diseases that he may have been carrying when he was rescued – the team including Pen are all vaccinated against rabies for these very rescues) and in the first few days he settled in well to his new warm accommodation – room service included daily! With temperatures at night plummeting – it was just pure luck that Pen happened to be in the right place at the right time to be able to offer this pup in desperate need a warm bed and food for its rather skinny belly!
Luckily for all at the clinic our safety procedures worked well. Whilst initially it always breaks our heart to place a pup into quarantine every now and again we are reminded of why. Just a few days after arriving at the Nowzad clinic Creamy started to act aggressively. He was showing the first signs of rabies. Within a few hours he was fully rabid.
The team acted swiftly and we were able to end his suffering as painlessly as possible. Thankfully by being with us he had not been free on the streets to bite a passing child.
Creamy is gone now. But that cute pup that just never had a chance in this world has touched our hearts and I know he will have touched yours too.
We will always be here for the future Creamy’s of Kabul. We would like to expand our quarantine and isolation facilities and to do so need to raise US25,000 – giving more dogs the chance of recovery.
If you can donate in memory of Creamy, a pup without a chance but loved for the few days he was with us, then please click the link here.
US$250 will have a plaque with their name or message displayed on the outside wall of the expanded facilities.
Nowzad vet Dr Hamida has this to say; ‘it would be amazing to be able to expand our isolation and quarantine facilities to ensure we can save more dogs found on the streets of Kabul. I can’t wait!’