Meet Rico. Someone heartless people stepped on 1-pound puppy and surrendered him.
Rico was surrendered to a South Carolina emergency veterinarian 5 days ago after someone stepped on him.
At the time, tiny Rico was given a 50/50 chance of survival.
The puppy’s first update three days later has given guarded hope for his survival.
The good news is that he is still fighting! It is too soon to know if he will survive or not.
Rico remains pretty out of it on IV meds the 24/7 ER hospital.
Day 7: Tiny angel RICO is still fighting for his life!
His medical team is doing everything possible to give this 7 week old, 1 pound baby the life he deserves!
He spent the first week in an oxygen chamber with a feeding tube.
He can now breathe on his own & is being syringe fed, but he cannot regulate his temperature on his own,
he still does not want to lift his head & is not standing or walking.
Day 14: Today marks 2 weeks since we took him in after he was stepped on.
He spent 2 weeks at a specialty ER hospital where he spent a week in an oxygen chamber,
had a jugular cather, was syringe fed & had an MRI.
His progress has been slow, but refuse to give up on this baby.
He is now eating & drinking on his own and off IV, so he was released from the 24/7 vet & is now at our primary vet.
What Rico needs is time & he still needs lots of care as he is not regulating his body temp yet.
He is still getting round the clock care & are hoping for the best.
Day 30: Rico has overcome so much in his short, tiny little life and is now fighting once again for his life.
He has pneumonia and had to be rushed to the local emergency clinic around 4am today to be placed on fluids, oxygen and iv antibiotics.
This little guy means so much to so many and has given so much more in inspiration and love than he ever asks of us.
Day 50: Rico didn’t do so hot last night and wasn’t as enthused about his eating today.
His tech on duty last night said he was very listless and non responsive.
However he isn’t having discharge out of both nostrils today and the thickness/green color has gotten better.
The ER vet said he was mobile some today, when trying to get out of his blankets and he was feisty when they would try to feed him.
He’s still fighting and that’s great news! Every improvement big or small is a win.
And the fact that he’s not declining is great!
I love how much they love each other and how much Barney wants to see Rico feel and do better.
Your prayers are working and Rico is beyond grateful for everyone’s support!
Keep praying while he keeps fighting!
Day 52: Rico is having ups and downs with his recovery.
The doctor believe his nasal cavity was also crushed causing this infection to happen and be so horrible for him.
He is a fighter and he is fighting. Please keep praying and fighting with him!
Day 60: Rico up and walking, trying to get the swing of things again.
This little guy is a survivor and keeps trying to defy the odds.
Every day is a blessing and an adventure in what he can learn next!
He’s still getting rid of his pneumonia but is almost there!
Day 76: God works in mysterious ways. How Rico is still alive is beyond me and how he continues to improve,
and defy odds makes me believe in miracles all over again.
We are trying to transition him from syringe feedings to self feedings and this was his first try!
He did amazing! I’m so proud of him!
We are rotating between self feeding and syringe feeding to make sure he’s still getting the full amount of what he needs daily.
But this is just another huge positive step in his direction to healing.
When you’re over being the center of attention and don’t want your foster mom to clean your face even one more time!
I hate to see what he’s going to think about his bath today!
Rico has a very strong opinion about everything these days!
Day 77: Rico the undercover snuggle bug he likes to be right up against me.
I’m not sure if he sees out of both eyes or well out of either but he finds comfort out of touching me.
He will smell me out and lean into me. Every morning it gets harder and harder to get out of bed.
I never want to miss a moment to cuddle with this sweet angel.
Day 80: He will have another MRI in a few weeks to determine if his pituitary gland is damaged,
or not and to make sure the swelling has gone down enough to take pressure off of a cyst he has
and allow his equilibrium to be more centered allowing him to have better control over his walking and balance.
To be only 12 weeks old now and to have overcome so much just blows me away.
He fights because we all fight with him!
He is a survivor because he was given the chance to decide if he wanted to fight for his life or not!
Day 88: Rico has been improving more each day! He still walks a little funny but he rarely circles.
He still prefers to sleep and cuddle more than he likes to be active but he is much more alert.
He’s still needing help regulating his blood sugar with nutrical but that’s very normal in toy breed puppies.
I’m also still helping to keep him warm since he doesn’t regulate his body temperature on his own completely yet.
He has done great with making connections and he even found his bark!
He has barked four different times now!
Day 92: Rico just can’t stop amazing me! Tonight we heard him bark for the 6th time!
It gets cuter each time! And I actually caught him on camera this time,
this is the most playful he has ever gotten and most “puppy like” behavior he has exhibited!
I can’t even believe it right now I’m so excited!
It was like his first ever puppy zoomies! Brought happy tears to my eyes!
Day 95: Rico feeling himself and enjoying being a little turkey!
As soon as he sees he’s on camera he acts like a perfect angel!
Don’t let him fool you, those tiny teeth hurt!
Day 102: When you’re sassy af but it’s totally cool because you’re cuter than anything on the planet!
Day 110: Rico enjoying his first ever non puppy food treat!
He seemed to love the peanut butter Kong! every single new thing this little guy does blows my mind!
I just know one day he is going to stand up and run zoomies and look at me like “what, doesn’t everyone run zoomies?”
He is the definition of a miracle.
Day 130: Rico gets better every single day with his walking!
He has started this little leg kick in his rear leg that I think is him more actively trying to walk straight.
He is a little miracle and he never stops amazing me!
Day 150: Rico had a poop party in his bag on the way home yesterday and was not happy about his clean up after!
I swear he has his sweet moments when all he wants is to cuddle and give little tiny kisses.
But he sure does have a chihuahua side like I’ve never seen before, he’s lucky he’s so darn cute!
Day 160: When you’re so tiny and so cute but boy can you be scary!
Rico doesn’t even weigh two pounds and he’s still the most frightening angry hamster I know!
But don’t let his little grumbles fool you, he has his sweet side too!
Little Rico live a happy life in full of love and care.
He deserve a happy life forever. Thanks all!