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Coby’s recovery after a nasty dog attack.

  • Coby's progress

      25 April 2022
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    Hi there,

    Coby and I wanted to update everyone who has helped us out and supported Coby's recovery.

    I wanted to share with you all the incredible progress Coby has made and continues to make. Coby still has a paralysed right eye lid/the muscles around it. However Coby is incredibly to still have his sight in his right eye, although it will never be as good as it once was due to the scar from his eye ulcer, he is very lucky and enjoys having two eye to enjoy his adventures that we go on. Coby is lucky as he is a breed that has eyebrows, which enable him to help keep his eye clean from dirt and bugs, supporting Coby to look after his right eye, although he cannot shut it. He enjoys sleeping on his tri pillow as Coby is a clever cookie and has worked out a way to push his head in a position that enables him to somewhat close his eye to get some sleep.

    Coby has been incredibly brave throughout this whole ordeal, his has been going to Hydropaws in Hamilton NZ which is a hydrotherapy company that specialises in injured and recovering dogs with many different troubles. Coby's hydro-therapist Rachel, has been beyond amazing in supporting Coby and myself. Coby has regained muscle that he tore during the attack and has made massive improvements each session at hydrotherapy, and I am so very proud of him. Coby's walking has improve immensely since attending Hydropaws twice a week. Rachel is amazed at Coby's improvement and willingness to get better, Rachel and myself are hopeful that Coby will not need patella surgery if we can continue to keep his progress up. Coby and I walk every day at least 1km just to ease him back into things and keep him moving. Coby and I have recently completed our first 5km walk and done some running together since his attack in December, which is awesome. Coby is always incredibly excited to go on his walks and does not let what happen change his happiness. However there have been a few times where I've scooped Coby up into my arms when another dog is near or comes running towards Coby, as I am still scared. Coby has had some awesome positive interactions with other dogs since his attack and is still his happy loving self. We are forever grateful for the love and support we received through Givealittle, the funds we raised have gone towards Coby's vet bills, his hydrotherapy and anything else Coby has required for his recovery. Seeing the happiness radiate from Coby, the smiles and snuggles he gives truly warms my heart and he wouldn't be here without all of your support. It's been one very long journey and we will continue our journey together. Coby will be 8 years old in October and I cannot wait to celebrate with him. So again, a huge thank you to everyone who donated to Coby. We have endless love and appreciation for all of you. Thank you to everyone who has offered support to get Coby to his appointments and bits and pieces, I am so very lucky. I will leave you all with this picture of Coby at hydrotherapy, waiting for his water walking to start. Thank you again and huge shout out to Rachel at Hydropaws.

    Love Coby and Nicole

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  • A month on from the attack.

      15 January 2022
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    I am truly blessed to have such an incredible miracle pup. Coby has fought the odds and made incredible progress in his recovery. His wounds are healing, as rough as they are his fur is beginning to hide them. His eye, although still scarred and unable to close due to the trauma and his eyelid now being paralysed from the attack, Coby is doing an awesome job at protecting his eye and keeping it clean. He’s one very smart boy. Before we jump into another surgery for his patella damage, we are going to trial hydrotherapy to see if we can strengthen Coby’s muscles and put surgery off for a while. The resilience in my wee Coby is beyond incredible. I am such a proud dog mum. Coby is back to his playful, happy go lucky self with his beautiful big smile and lots of kisses for everyone. His vet is very impressed with his progress today and continues to say how much of a delight Coby is. Coby isn’t showing any signs of PTSD, thankfully. However, PTSD can always occur later on. Thank you to each and every one of you for the incredible love and support you’ve shown Coby and I. It was a truly traumatic ordeal and one we will live with for the rest of our lives. Coby and I are stronger together and working our way through it all. Thank you again for your generosity, love and support; I am truly humbled by it all. Coby is one very lucky boy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️

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  • Coby's progress update

      29 December 2021
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    Kia ora ano,

    Firstly, Coby and I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and we wish you all a wonderful New Year. I just wanted to jump on and let you all know how Coby is doing in his recovery. Coby is one very strong, determined pup, he's showing all the right signs to make a full recovery from the wounds he sustained during the attack. His eye ulcer is slowly clearing however, it will remain scarred and unfortunately it doesn't look like Coby will be able to close his right eye again :( On Christmas Eve, we went to the vets again, Coby got his stitches/sutures removed but unfortunately the vet discovered Coby has torn some muscle in his rear leg around his knee during the attack with is causing Coby's patella (knee) to slip in and out of place causing pain and making Coby uncomfortable. Coby's patella likes to sit out of place but he can pop it back in himself when he straightens his leg. The vet has recommended surgery to fix this problem for Coby as he is at the high end of the scale regarding his luxating patella. So that will be another thing when we come to it. Coby and I went on our first walk yesterday since the attack and he absolutely loved it and didn't want to stop. (we kept it short due to his patella) Coby is showing great signs at just wanting to be his happy old self which is fantastic news. Again, we wanted to thank you all for your ongoing support, we understand it is a difficult time for everyone financially that is another reason why we are forever grateful for the generosity, love and support we've received. Thank you all for loving Coby and supporting his recovery with me.

    Coby enjoyed being spoiled for Christmas, here is a picture of him happily enjoying a Christmas toy, that he has already destroyed.

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  • A Week Post Attack - Update

      20 December 2021

    Kia ora koutou,

    I wanted to provide you with an update on Coby's recovery and progress. Unfortunately Coby also has suffered an ulcer on his eye due to the trauma of the attack. This has meant that Coby has had to go back to the vets every 3 days given how severe his eye ulcer is and what it could potentially lead to. He has eye antibiotics that I have to apply into his eye 3 times a day. Thankfully on our return to the vet last Thursday, his ulcer is beginning to shrink and decrease, however there has been no change since Thursday and the vets are talking about a procedure on Coby's eye if there continues to be no change this week. Again, this has added additional vet costs to our existing bill of over $3,000 with the vet appointments every 3 days and additional medication for Coby also. We are truly grateful for all the love, support and generosity we have received at present. We do ask that you continue to share Coby's story on your social media and through conversation to get word out to help assist myself with Coby's vet bills and my time off work as I too recover and support Coby. It is an awful time of year for this to happen and as a solo dog mum that is also still at Uni, things are very tight for us. Thanks again, we'll provide another update as Coby hopefully continues to get better. On the bright side - Coby's stitches are due to be removed on Christmas Eve!

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