Franzisca Vet Clinic - Help us Help Them

Reporting Period - 01.01.2025 – 31.03.2025

In the first quarter of 2025, Animal Rescue Sofia continued the work with stray animals in Bulgaria. “The Farm” shelter is the place where we treat, socialize, rehabilitate and rehome dogs and cats from the streets of the country.  

With the support of the donors of Animal Rescue Sofia, in the first three months of the year Franzisca Veterinary Clinic admitted for treatment 201 dogs and cats, while the vets also attended to the animals placed in “The Farm” shelter. A total of 2041 manipulations, treatments and surgeries were performed in January through March of 2025. Twenty-four dogs and cats found their homes with good and responsible owners.

The stories of Pupsick, Dobrina, Nutella and Martsipana are accounts of how we helped these dogs and cats in particular.They are just a small number of the animals we rescued during the reporting period.

Pupsick

Pupsick had been a loved and well-cared for pet for seventeen years of his life. He outlived two of his owners and some remote family members sought the help of “The Farm” shelter in providing care and attention to Pupsick in the last years of his life.

Despite his age, Pupsick had no diseases, apart from some slightly impaired vision and hearing. He only needed a nice and quiet place where he could lie down and sleep all day. It was clear that the noise and turmoil of the main building of the shelter would be too stressful for a senior dog his size, so we placed him in the office room of the shelter. Pupsick loves his cozy bed and is fond of the delicious meals he gets every day. He always greets the visitors and is very interested in getting short and quiet walks. He spends most of the day sleeping.

We are still hoping that there might be adopters willing to be the last family of a senior dog such as Pupsick.

Nutella

Nutella came to our shelter when she was only two months old. She was young and fragile, andhad a front limb that was badly broken. She had most probably been injured in a car incident.

A day earlier, some people had sent us a video of a puppy in a small village in west Bulgaria, roaming the streets on three legs, while the fourth one was hanging, as if it was made of rubber. The younger the puppy, the quicker the reaction for fixing up broken bones has to be, as puppies’ bones heal quickly and usually in a very deformed way.

We immediately admitted Nutella to the shelter’s clinic, X-Rayed her and sent her for an orthopedic consultation. The examination revealed that a surgery was needed and urgent, so we arranged it for the following days.

After the operation, Nutella received the post-operative care that she needed to recover successfully. When also fully vaccinated, she could already enjoy walks outside of the clinic and use her newly operated leg to its full potential. She was a lively and energetic dog, eager to make up for the play and enjoyment that she had missed when she was hurt. Not after long, she was walking so well that no one could tell that she had been through an orthopedic operation.

Nutella is now one of the amazing pups in the shelter, waiting to swap shelter environment with family life.

Dobrina

When she came to the shelter, Dobrina was extremely thin, her jaw so stiff that she was not able to open her mouth, drink water or eat food. Obviously, she had been starving on the street for some time. People from the neighborhood where she was found had tried to give her food for several weeks and noticed she was not able to open her mouth. Seeing her suffer, they brought her to “The Farm” shelter.

At the beginning, the vets had no idea whether Dobrina’s condition was due to malnourishment or the fact that she has been chained somewhere. The bloodwork and the tests that were run did not reveal any infectious or vector-borne disease. Dobrina had no heart condition either. She was sent for a specialist examination in a referral clinic.

It later became clear that Dobrina had autoimmune myositis – a condition when the animal’s immune system attacks its own muscles, causing inflammation, pain, and weakness. In Dobrina’s case, her immune system had attacked her chewy muscles and the condition had progressed to a stage when she was completely unable to open her mouth.

Dobrina’s treatment included a combination of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medications, as well as a medical procedure which mechanically affected some of the fibrosis of the jaw muscles, so that Dobrina could again open her mouth. The autoimmune response was controlled with steroid treatment and she slowly started eating more solid food and gradually gained weight. Currently, her condition can only be controlled with high steroid doses. Dobrina will probably remain a permanent resident of the shelter, as dogs with immune conditions are very rarely adopted in Bulgaria.

Martsipana

Martsipana came to “The Farm” shelter not because we could prolong her life. She came because we had to try to improve her state in the last months of her life. She did not come, because we could find a family for her. She came, so that we could be the family for her and she would not be alone in her difficult journey. Martsipana came to us, because senior dogs are very dear to us and we always keep a place in our hearts and facility for old and incurably ill homeless dogs.

When she came to “The Farm” shelter, Martsipana had a malignant tumour of the jaw in its final stage. She spent her last weeks in our "Villa "Daisy" – Home for Old Friends". Because she was exactly that – an old friend that only neededlove, care,and some piece and quiet, until it was time to let her go.

Links:

• A Video of Dobrina
• Animal Rescue Sofia YouTube Channel
• Animal Rescue Sofia Facebook