When it rains it pours…(this is going to be a tough read, just fair warning).

Last night, while the puppies were in the yard chasing the toy with one of our awesome staff members before bed…

Kingston began to choke (at that point, we weren’t sure on what).

When I got there, (I was right inside so I was out in a flash) he had collapsed.

We immediately got to work…

I was trained in, and taught Pet First Aid and CPR…

But all of the normal strategies weren’t working.

His tongue and gums turned blue…

He was completely limp and non responsive.

He had entirely lost control of his bowels.

And despite ALL of my efforts (and they were intense), we weren’t getting anywhere.

We called our vet and every vet we knew to call to no avail.

Our closest emergency clinic is over an hour away…we’d never make it.

After at least 10 excruciating minutes (I only know that based on the outgoing calls that were made from my phone as our staff tried desperately to find him help while I worked)…

Kingston coughed a bit.

He began gasping (It looked AWFUL).

But he was also trying to stand.

This was an improvement!

We kept working.

Several more minutes later, by some miracle, a single piece of kibble was dislodged from his throat.

A…single…piece…of…kibble. (And not even our big kibble)

He began to breathe.

But while he could now sit up, and was more alert, his breathing was labored, and his gums were still blue.

We put him in the car and made the long trek to the emergency clinic. It was late and no local vets were open.

You have NO IDEA how helpless it feels driving an hour to the closest emergency clinic with a choking puppy in your lap…

Especially when you read the sign that says “accident ahead”. (Yep, one of the highways was closed so we had a delay).

But we powered on.

Just as he began trying to give up…

We made it to the clinic, where they were waiting for us.

They rushed him back.

Long story slightly less long, when the doctor came in, he told us that the labored breathing came from non cardiac pulmonary edema - something he said happens to young puppies when they go through something traumatic like this.

While we successfully dislodged the piece of kibble, essentially, Kingston’s lungs were full of fluid.

He also appeared to be suffering from aspiration pneumonia.

Our only choice to save Kingston was to leave him on Oxygen overnight and start IV antibiotics.

You guys…

I’m going to tell you straight.

We can NOT afford this.

They suspect he’ll have to stay there for 2 days AT MINIMUM to try to recover. There is no guarantee he will, but he already looked so much better by the time we left.

He is a happy, healthy puppy, and he has such a wonderful temperament, and such a full life ahead of him, we made the call to at least try.

We could not commit to 48 hours...

The cost was well over $4,000...

So we did what we could.

We left him for the night so he could stay on oxygen...

And I promised him I’d spend all day begging, borrowing and stealing to get him help.

So here I am.

Help us help Kingston. I know he can get past this.

You call the clinic directly to make a donation…

It’s Animal Emergency and Specialty Center in Poulsbo (360) 697-7771 (Rise Rescue Alliance/Kingston)…

Or you can donate here. It’s tax deductible and it will go straight to helping him.

And if you have dogs or work with them…

Take a Pet First Aid / CPR class. Please.

Trust me. It’s worth it.

Help us Save Kingston

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