Gabby, who was called Daffodil by the Beaufort County Animal Control in Washington, NC, was pulled by Puppy Paws Rescue – Maryland on March 16, 2020. She seemed healthy and happy, but it wasn’t long before her story changed.

Gabby arrived at her foster home at the end of March. She was listed as a beagle/lab mix, 2-3 years old. She was very fearful of men and was also found to have heartworms. Treatment of Doxycycline was started, and she settled into a routine with her foster mom. In early April she began to suspect that Gabby may be pregnant. Because Gabby was two weeks away from starting heartworm shots we needed to know for sure if she was pregnant or not. On April 7th a sonogram was performed, and it was discovered that Gabby was due to have 7 or more puppies around May 7.

During her pregnancy Gabby’s health took a turn for the worse, she became anemic and lethargic and refused food. Another visit to the vet discovered half her heart was enlarged from the heartworms and that she had every parasite possible. Due to her enlarged heart and the fear of losing Gabby aborting the puppies and fixing her or inducing labor was not an option. All we could do was wait and hope that she lived through the pregnancy. The veterinarian began a worming regiment and hoped for the best.

Gabby delivered eight puppies premature on April 28. 3 were still born, one died on the 29th. We thought Gabby would not make it past the delivery but she hung in there. Due to her being so sick the puppies were taken to be bottle fed by another foster. Unfortunately 2 died on May 1st , 1 died on May 2 and 1 miracle puppy survived. Benny started his life in bad shape, his eyes did not open for 16 days and he was almost a month before he could go to the bathroom without being stimulated. He did not get sight or hearing till he was almost 6 weeks old. We are happy to say he is adopted and very healthy.

As of today, Gabby has received all her heartworm treatments and is on the mend. She is scheduled to be spayed on October 21 and then she will be ready for adoption. Her fear of men is being addressed but overall, she is happy and healthy. Gabby loves children, cats and other dogs. One day she is going to make a family very happy.