When this Portland, Oregon family’s beloved dog suddenly became paralyzed, it seemed that the only way to ease his suffering was euthanasia.
The Fate family’s dog, named Ollie, was a perfectly healthy pup until he mysteriously began to succumb to paralyzation. Despite being thoroughly checked and analyzed, vets were puzzled as to what had caused the sudden paralysis.
“Anything from cancer to trauma, or a fracture of a vertebra or a spinal fracture. Any one of these could have caused similar signs,” said Dr. Adam Stone of the Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in a Fox news story.
At its worst, Ollie couldn’t even use the bathroom on his own. The Fates even took him to the vet twice a day to have his bladder emptied, hoping that it might help his condition. But when that led to no improvements, it seemed that there was only one solution to relieve their beautiful companion of his pain.
They brought Ollie into the exam room to be euthanized and prepared to say their final good-byes. That’s when fate–for the Fates–stepped in! An intern noticed a small bump behind the dog’s furry ear, and they discovered it was a tick. Suddenly, they knew the source of the pup’s paralysis.
“He was in the room about to get put to sleep, and it was just pure grace that the people found something and decided to check it out further,” said owner Falline Fate to Fox news.
“[Ticks] have a neurotoxin in their saliva that prevents nerve transition to the muscles, and that takes time to build up in the body and cause paralysis like what we saw in Ollie,” Dr. Stone explained in the story.
They plucked the tick from his ear, hoping that this was the miracle cure they’d been looking for. And it was–10 hours later, Ollie was back to his old self, full of love and life!
“The next morning my mom opened the door and said ‘look at your doggie’ and he comes walking up to me, and I’m barely awake, and just smiled at me,” Falline Fate told Fox.
According to the news story, the vet said that paralysis caused by tick bites is rare, but as in Ollie’s case, it is possible. The Fates believe he picked up the parasite on a recent camping trip, and will be sure to keep up with his parasite preventatives.
It seems as though it wasn’t Ollie’s time to go just yet. Good thing he had “the Fates” on his side!
(h/t: Fox News)
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