Little Charlie the Bichon Mix

Little Charlie is a Bichon mix, and he’s cute as a button. When Stephan and Essie found him in the Bahamas on vacation, Charlie was a stray whose luck had nearly run out. He was emaciated and appeared to be starving. It was an easy decision to adopt him and bring him back to New York.

Stephan and Essie quickly bonded with Charlie and nursed him back to health. You can imagine the state his owners were in when he was hit by a car on the busy streets of Manhattan. Luckily, a witness to the accident suggested that Essie rush him to The Animal Medical Center. Without a shadow of a doubt, Charlie would not be alive today if he had not been immediately brought to The AMC.

Upon arrival, our veterinarians knew Charlie was in very serious trouble. He was losing a lot of blood. His lungs were severely injured, and he was having great difficulty getting oxygen into his cells. Our veterinarians knew immediately the only way to save Charlie was to put him on a mechanical ventilator which would keep him alive until emergency surgery could be performed. Charlie’s lungs were injured and his diaphragm was torn. He suffered from a large hernia in his abdomen, which had forced his liver and stomach up into his chest cavity. Major surgery was required. It was past 2 a.m. when we wheeled him into the operating room.

Stephan is amazed at what AMC surgeon, Dr. Ikuta, was able to do to turn the situation around. “She is like a magician,” Stephan says enthusiastically. “She deserves a tremendous amount of credit.”
After surgery began a difficult and painful recovery. At first Charlie had to remain on the ventilator because his lungs had been so traumatized. He then developed pancreatitis, which caused severe abdominal pain and loss of appetite. He was unwilling to eat on his own, and soon required a feeding tube.

When we were finallyable to release Charlie into the loving care of Essie and Stephan, he was still on the feeding tube and required close monitoring. Our veterinarians kept in constant touch with Charlie and his owners. The endearing little fellow was never far from our hearts.
 

Stephan remarked on how involved our doctors have been with Charlie’s ongoing care. He can’t find enough good things to say about The Animal Medical Center, and the amazing level of care Charlie has
received here. “They discussed every procedure and every turn with us. His recovery was remarkably speedy.” And they were especially impressed with how much heartfelt sympathy everyone here felt for Charlie.

“Everybody knows Charlie and everybody loves him,” Stephan says appreciatively of our staff.