Athena & her 6 "Miracles“ & Serena the rescue dog

PLEASE LOOK AT THE COMMENTS FOR UPDATES!!! Julie's Bio: Hello everyone! A lot of you know me personally, but for those of you who don't, I feel like I should give you a little bit of information about myself: I'm an avid animal lover with a passion for animal rescue. One of my hobbies is to TNR (Trap Neuter Release) local cats and kittens in the feral cat community to stop the overpopulation and innocent lives lost. I do not charge for these services and never ask for money. I also foster for Lifeline Animal Services through the DeKalb County Animal Services. I currently have 7 foster kittens in my care. I own 5 cats and 3 dogs, most of which were rescued. I am also a pet sitter. I do house-sitting, dog walks, cat visits, etc. Athena and the 6 miracles: I met Athena's owner, Antonio, when we were doing TNR in a low-income area. My friend Diane and I mentored him about the importance of spay and neuter. He was very helpful with trapping cats in the neighborhood. He obtained a free spay/neuter voucher from DeKalb County Animal Services, but was concerned Athena was already pregnant and didn't want to abort the puppies. He told me that she had hip issues and I did mention to him this can cause issues when giving birth, but he was very anti-abortion, which I understand. Two weeks later she was very obviously pregnant, so I told him that I hoped everything goes well and to call me when she has the puppies. On June 21, at 6:15 pm he said she was in labor and had given birth to 3 puppies. He asked for blankets, but I was house-sitting and working later that night, so I called Diane and she took him some blankets. I didn't hear from him again til 11:37 pm. He informed me Athena was still in labor and nothing had come out for a long time since puppy #3 and when puppy #4 came out it was dead. Athena was still having contractions but was exhausted, so she was just laying on the floor. I told him to get her over to St. Francis ASAP and I'd pay for the exam. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I knew she needed to be seen right away. After they examined her, they did x-rays and saw the puppies inside, but couldn't get a heartbeat. They thought there were another 10 puppies inside. She needed an emergency C-section and they wanted a $4,000 deposit. Needless to say, Antonio doesn't have it. At this point, it's almost 2 am on June 22. The only other option was to wait until one of the regular vets opened later in the morning but they did not think that the price would be much less and they also did not know if Athena could make it until that time. I had been postponing my dog Serena's MRI because of the price ($2,000), but I could not bring myself to not step up and help this dog because I knew that she was going to die since he had no way of paying for a C-section. So I got out a credit card and paid it. Aside from helping this dog, my mind was solely on my dog Serena and how she needed this money I just spent for her MRI. After they performed the C-section, they told us there were 8 puppies inside. Five had passed away and three were still miraculously alive. So, in total Athena had 12 puppies and 6 survived. Everything went well and she was able to go home later that day. Antonio has received food from my friend Diane and also from me. He also receives free pet food from AARF Pet Central in Stone Mountain. They have a pet food bank for low income and senior citizens in need of help feeding their pets. I am asking for help to repay Athena's vet bill, which in total was $3,180. I've reached out to different organizations to see if they will sponsor the puppies. I'll post updates about that here. More bad luck: Only 2 days later, on June 24, my dog Serena, would not stand up or walk. I contacted the lady I was house-sitting for to get permission to take her dog, Jake, with us to the UGA Emergency clinic, which is 1 hour and 15 minutes drive one way for us. She was kind enough to let me do so. Serena the rescue dog: A little bit about Serena's background: Serena is a 12 lb chihuahua terrier mix, most likely from a backyard breeder. I rescued Serena on October 7, 2015, from a very bad situation. She was being kept in a crate 24/7 with limited access to food and water. She was eating her own poop and was very emaciated. An ex-boyfriend of mine told me about her situation and of course I offered to take her. He brought her to me in the crate she was kept in. I thought I'd keep some of the toys that were inside but there were baby roaches in the crate so I threw it all out. Her white coat was stained brown from her waist down from the filth she sat in on a daily basis and I had to shave her to get rid of the color since it would not wash away. She was fearful of me and my partner and hid under the futon. When I managed to get her outside for a walk, it took me 15 minutes to get her to pee. I don't think she had ever been on a walk. She was very difficult to housebreak. She wanted to eat her poop every time she pooped. She would turn around to eat it immediately. She was eating her pet food ravenously, but would vomit after she ate. I took her for her shots, exam and spay at Lifeline Animal Clinic. I told them about the vomiting. When I picked her up, I was informed she had a very bad case of pyometra (an infection in the uterus) that would have been fatal. I was informed I had most definitely saved her life. She was a lot of work. She was not good with new people, and still isn't. She has to be introduced slowly. She eventually became a foster failure because of her ongoing issues and her bond with me and my dog, Suki, I thought it was the best fit for her to live out her days with me. Adopting Champ and Serena's injury: Fast forward to September 2018: I officially adopted a dog I had been taking care of for the past 2 years. A 90lb, 10 year old senior boxer named Champ. He had been around my dogs multiple times without any issues. His former owner had been trying to find a home for him for several months and had no luck. She wanted to move to Thailand and the journey would have been too much for him at his age. I love him so I was very happy to take him. Unfortunately, Serena doesn't like to share her food, toys, or beds with him and she was always taking his toys, beds, or food. She can be a bit of a bully. Champ would sometimes growl at her, but I never saw any other signs of aggression so I wasn't worried. Then on January 3, 2019 that changed. Serena was in Champ's bed and he walked over to her and pounced on her with his full weight and pressed her to the floor. She did not get up but we thought everything was okay. We scolded Champ and kept them separate. Later that evening Serena was in her bed trembling with labored breathing. I took her to St. Francis. They did an exam but didn't find anything wrong. No x-ray was done. They gave her pain medicine. The next day she was vomiting. I took her to our regular vet, Wellpet Humane. They did an x-ray and diagnosed her with bronchitis and said she didn't seem to have any trauma from the accident. She was put on Prednisone. A month and a half on Prednisone and she barely walked and looked puffy and terrible. She was constantly in bed and cried out when she moved. They took her off the steroids and gave her another pain medicine that caused blood in her stool. They had her on Gabapentin but it was not helping her pain level. They didn't seem to have other options for me so I made an appointment with GVR Pain Management and Rehabilitation in Marietta on March 29, 2019. They thought it was a neck issue and we treated her with acupuncture, laser therapy, and various pain medicines. She was still crying out and was in bed 80% of the day. The doctor urged me to do the MRI and I wanted to try the acupuncture and laser therapy first, but had decided to do the MRI in mid-July. I knew 7 months of her being bedridden and in pain was enough. This all led up to the incident on June 24. UGA Athens Vet School Diagnosis: Serena spent several days at UGA. She was initially scheduled for a MRI the day following her intake. She was there a day prior for blood work to make sure she was good to go for the MRI. Serena's doctor (Dr. Arnold) delayed the MRI and wanted to keep her for observation. The tests they were performing weren't leading her to believe there was a neck issue, and her blood work was showing an elevated white blood cell count. She informed me that she does indeed have bronchial issues, but that was not a source of pain and that she was not exhibiting any signs typically associated with bronchitis. She was also not seeing Serena exhibit the level of pain we described seeing at home. Luckily, I had made a few videos and she had those to view. After 3 days of observation, the doctor asked my permission to do the MRI. A couple of hours later she called me back and had found a slipped disc that was pressing on Serena's spinal cord and causing sciatica. She asked permission to operate right away since Serena was already sedated for the MRI. She removed the disc and and also performed a biopsy of the muscle while she was operating. She said the muscle visually looks normal. I will have those biopsy results later this week. She saw a lot of inflammation of the muscles on the MRI. Hopefully nothing negative will come back. Serena is doing well! She is using all her legs normally again. She has a long recovery ahead but I am so thankful she gets another chance. She's such a happy dog. She was always so high energy, loved to run and play. I hope she can have some of that energy and zest for life again. Donations: I originally was planning to start a GoFundMe for my dog Serena's MRI and possible surgery because I can't really afford it. Helping Athena and her puppies has somewhat pushed those needs to the back burner, but if I do receive any help beyond repayment for Athena's $3,180 I will consider that a blessing. Serena's total bill was $5,120. The timing of everything was unfortunate. I appreciate any donations, no matter the amount. Thank you all so much! My personal email is: [email redacted] please contact me there with any questions about donations or anything else. I will post updates about the Athena, the 6 puppies, and Serena here. Lots of love, Julie Hamby