Kula, the survivor

 KULA is a four-month-old mixed breed puppy, the only survivor of the three puppies surrendered to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)  last February. 

He weighs just 3.4kg. Kula’s mother was killed in a car accident and Kula was bottle-fed by vet nurses at the RSPCA vet clinic until he was able to eat without assistance. 

But that’s not the only challenge Kula and his siblings were faced with – they had contracted a parasitic infection called ‘coccidia’.

Coccidiosis is a usually acute invasion and destruction of intestinal mucosa (mucous membrane) by a single-celled organism that can move and feeds on organic compounds of nitrogen and carbon (protozoa). 

Infection is characterised by diarrhoea, fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, and sometimes death.

The most common signs for both dogs and cats in severe cases are diarrhoea (sometimes bloody), weight loss, and dehydration. None-the-less if your pet is showing the signs described it is always advisable to consult the vet for an expert opinion. Prevention and cure is better than losing your pet. 

 “Among the three of them (referring to Kula and his siblings) I thought he would not make it,” RSPCA Vet Nurse Suanhilda Ao confessed when recalling the first few weeks of Kula’s hospitalisation. 

He was the smallest and the weakest out of the lot. The others would rush for the milk and the food, leaving very little for him. Many times we would have to feed him separately, just to make sure he was feeding.” 

One of Kula’s siblings passed away a week after they were hospitalised and the other one hung on for a little over a month.  

“We were a little bit surprised that his other two siblings didn’t pull through. And four months on little Kula is on his way to full recovery … he truly is a survivor.”