"Peaches"

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On 3rd June 2023, the New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue Trust welcomed our most intensive rescue case yet - “Peaches,” a skinny, terrified, and blind little stray from the Pound. Estimated to be only 2-4 years old, Peaches was already in rough shape when she came to us. However, she has had quite the medical journey since thanks to all of her vets and loving supporters. Despite her special needs, Peaches' enjoyment of life and quirky little personality remain undiminished. With specialist medical treatment, Peaches has regained much of her cognitive function and even her sight! After over a year in foster care, this once unwanted, skinny, and sickly little rescue dog has blossomed into a clever, snuggly companion who has fought hard for her life and now finds joy in the simplest pleasures. 

Peaches can only be described as a resilient, clever, quirky, sweet-natured and loving little dog by those who know her best. 

"Peachy" as she is sometimes affectionately referred to has a quirky, goofy little side to her personality as she enjoys zoomies, mouths gently when excited and chases bugs. Peaches is a very expressive little dog, despite not making much sound vocally. She will show her appreciation with kisses and an enthusiastic wiggle of her little tail! 

Peaches' favourite things are: dinners and treats, a cuddle or nap on the human bed, a walk on her lead and to sniff around the park, driving around in her car booster seat. Peaches also loves rolling in the grass, playing with her enrichment toys, snufflemat or Lickimat and sleeping in a fluffy bed in the sun. 

During the day, aside from a nap, Peaches loves a snuggle, but she’ll also happily hang out and amuse herself in her play pen, with one of her enrichment toys or mats. Peaches is happy to join you on errands - she has a booster seat and enjoys accompanying you on a ride. 

Familiarity for Peaches is comfort. Peaches is okay with general household noise as she has adapted over time. But like many humans, she is most comfortable at her home enviroment. Peaches does enjoy the odd outing but care must be taken to avoid overwhelming her - Peaches isn't a behavioral case who would benefit from a lot of new enviroments or social interaction, she is a brain damaged dog who needs special considerations.

Peaches usually does well when introduced to other pets in passing (provided they aren't boisterous or near "her human" when she is). But she can be posessive of her foster mum when on her lap and other dogs approach.  We also ensure that she is not fed around other dogs (or given treats), as she can be food possessive and start fights!

Peaches can be a bit of a "one-person" girlie, as many Chihuahuas are. She is loving and loyal to her person - but also extremely reliant on them for safety, food, routine and comfort so this is understandable. 

Peaches will be visibly excited to see you when you come home as she prefers the familiarity of the person she trusts. Peaches is slowly learning new people aren't scary (as long as they don't invade her space) she is capable of accepting newcomers as long as they're patient and don't overwhelm her. Peaches has the courage to approach and sniff new people but should be ignored so she can come around in her own time. Too much interaction with the outside world and strangers will tire her and risk her progress. We've found she is very content with being in the home and an occasional visit out in the car. Peaches is a home girlie!

Although she has brain damage, Peaches is very clever. She has learnt commands like "up!" to  indicate someone is going to be picking her up. Plus "dinner",  "outside" and "toilets". Peaches has been trained to drink from a rabbit  dropper, pen and crate-trained. Peaches loves her chew toys, her enrichment toys and licki-mats and they give her brain an opportunity to engage. Peaches will let you know when she wants to be taken outside, fed, or picked up.  

Most of the time, Peaches' is alert, bright, inquisitive loving and sweet. Occasionally she may have an "off day" where she sleeps more and is less tolerant of new people or other dogs around her. This is to be expected and we just roll with however the day is for her!

Although she is not your "standard" dog, Peaches now has a great quality of life and often shows her moments of joy in a truly heartwarming way, she has taught us alot about rescue dogs and their resilience. 

Peaches' is a special needs dog, but that doesn't mean she has a poor quality of life. She is actually very clever in terms of her cognitive ability; which continues to improve due to her treatments. 

Peaches presented with neurological symptoms on her arrival in Christchurch - constant circling, unsteadiness, constant restlessness and sadly, almost full vision loss. Thanks to the help of our supporters, on 31st June 2023, Peaches underwent a neurological ultrasound and MRI which led to the start of this monumental journey.

Diagnosis: 

The MRI scan shows pockets of inflammation and swelling throughout the brain which is consistent with an auto-immune cause. Peaches' likely diagnosis is: Meningoencephalitis of Unknown Etiology ("MUE") – this means essentially something has caused Peaches the immune system to attack her brain which has led to her symptoms. 

Peaches has had the care of a dedicated and supportive foster team while with our charity. We have also collected a very passionate, caring and experienced team of veterinarians, specialists and Neurologists (read more on this below) to ensure she has the best chance at life. We are seeing great results under their advice and hope this will continue with the benefit of time!

Since beginning medical treatments, the difference in her (to those who met and cared for her initially) is astounding. Peaches is much more bright, alert, calm and content than she was previously. Peaches’ two biggest symptoms were the almost total blindness and the tight circling to the left when you put her on the ground.

It’s heartwarming to see Peaches begin normal dog stuff - rolling on grass or grooming herself. Peaches is reclaiming more of her functions and personality each day. Plus focusing on helping her realize her independence and a “normal dog” routine.

Peaches is on 3-weekly infusions of Cyterbrine (she recently had her #21st infusion weekend on 17th August 2024) Peaches is also taking Prednisone, Atopica, Omeprezole , Gabapentin daily and a sleeping pill if needed. We are currently slowly reducing these under the guidance of her specialists. We need to balance the desire to save her organs any damage by remaining on such high doses with the need to ensure she's not reduced to suddenly and suffers a relapse of symptoms.

Peaches has been doing so well, we were able to have her spayed on 22nd April 2024. Peaches also has regular consults with her vets, and bloods every 3 weeks to check organ function.

Prognosis: Since beginning the infusions, Peaches has regained sight and control of things like her speed balance and co-ordination. Peaches' awareness and cognitive ability has increased ten-fold. Peaches now sleeps in a crate, knows commands, walks on a lead, will indicate when she needs the toilet, goes up stairs, and acknowledges her surroundings, people and other dogs in a manner she couldnt previously.

After meeting Peaches' and determining she had neurological issues, we put in a lot of time, consideration and research, into considering whether it was possible for a small charity like ours to provide funding for Peaches' treatment. Alongside evaluating Peaches' quality of life, possible prognosis. We are so thankful for the support we have received and the kind donations - as this is what has got Peaches this far! Treatment could completely resolve her symptoms and send the disease into remission. Peaches could live (somewhat) normally and so far, the signs have been all positive.

Please note: Peaches cannot be vaccinated, flea or wormed as this could ramp up her immune system once more to attack her brain and cause a relapse.

In addition to continuing to raise funds to cover Peaches' daily medication costs, which can exceed $400 per month, we are now fundraising for the next crucial step in her journey—her CT scan and spinal tap! 

Peaches neurologist specialists are happy with her progress and stability of progress over the past year. But they advise she now needs to be booked into VSA vet clinic for a  CT scan and CSF (spinal tap) as soon as we can fundraise enough to meet the costs.

Why?

This will enable the vets to reduce the dosage (or eliminate) some of her medications. These powerful medications have been lifesaving but these high dosages aren't sustainable long term and could cause organ damage.  For this reason we keep an eye on her bloods regularly also. This concern must be balanced against the risk of relapse or loss of her progress to date, by withdrawing the medications too early! Hence the tests are required for updated information, before she can move forward on this journey. These tests will confirm whether she has reached remission! 

The outcome of these tests will significantly  influence her treatment plan and hopefully improve her quality of life  moving forward with less meds needed. We can also start to plan for her  long term future and even possible adoption!

Costs Estimate:

To complete the CT scan and CSF (plus hospitalisation, sedation etc) we recieved an estimate of $5,464 - $6,272. To include bloods, a skin biopsy and any other tests required at the same time - the estimate becomes: $7708 -  $9066.*

*These estimates were recieved at February 2024.

To donate directly to the (Westpac) Trust Account:

The New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue

03-0823-0074502-000 Ref: “Peaches”

Swift code (international deposits): WPACNZ2W
 

For debit, or credit card options (both international and local) supporters: 

Paypal: https://nzchihuahuarescue.co.nz/donate-via-paypal

Don't forget to contact us via email for a tax receipt and you can receive 33.33% of your donation back from the IRD for any donations made over $5.00 during a tax year as we are a registered charity!

Thanks to your generous support, Peaches has received the following  consultations, diagnostics, and treatments. We deeply appreciate your assistance and are happy to provide a breakdown of the costs covered by the trust for Peaches for the sake of transparency and appreciation towards her Donators.

Daily medications (as per her dosage at January 2024):

• Atopica = $158.56 per month
• Omeprezole = $63.26 per month
• Triazadone = $48.18 per month
• Prednisone = $11.79 per month
• Gabapentin - $15.40 per month

 = $297.19 per month daily medication fee (approx)

Infusions costs (ie. every 3 weeks):

• Cytarabine (drug/medication) (5 pack) = $842.66, imported from USA.
• Clinic IV infusion days = $715.30 (when her infusions are administered by IV over 8-hour in clinic she is admitted and this does incurr additional fees, cost is approx, per infusion day).
• Monthly bloods (ie. diagnostic and consult costs) = $99.75 (with discount - every 3 weeks following her Cytarabine treatment Peaches has a CBC blood test to check her blood cells.

Miscellaneous Peachy Health/Medical Expenses:

• Physio consult = $95.00 (per 30 mins consult)
• Vet consult = $45.00 (per consult)
• Neurologist consult = $748.00 (per 60 mins consult)
• Initial diagnostics: MRI, radiology costs and ultrasound (17 June 2023) = $3,910.60
• Nasal x-ray diagnostics and flush (August 2023) = $585.63

New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue would like to extend a HUGE thank you to the generous supporters who have donated to Peaches. Alongside the following team of kind and caring vets who have assisted Peaches to date: The team at Christchurch After Hours Vet Clinic, Dr Karen Valu (Northlands Animal Hospital & DrK Rehab Vet), the lovely team at McMaster & Heap, Dr Michelle McMaster, Dr Terryne Loney and Dr Steve Heap. Plus her current treating vets, Dr Tracey Tonkin (Shirley Vet Clinic) in conjunction with Neurologist specialist (USA) Dr Nicholas DePompa (of Southeast Veterinary Neurology see: wwwsevneurology.com)