A Tiny Puppy Spent Two Days Beside a Trash Can. Then a Group of Schoolchildren Stopped.

Around six one evening, a group of elementary school students spotted a tiny puppy beside a trash can. He’d been there for two days. The children called a local animal rescue station, and the team took him to a veterinary hospital.

A supporter would soon give him a name, Fubao. In the weeks ahead, his caregivers would watch for a sign of progress most people would miss. Could his front legs hold even a little of his weight?

The rescuers stayed up with him

At the hospital, an initial exam pointed to a possible brain injury. He received IV fluids, but the hospital had no staff on duty overnight. The rescuers brought him back to their station and continued the treatment under the hospital’s instructions.

The rescue team recounted that night in footage uploaded to YouTube by the Howlofpet YouTube channel. Fubao kept getting sick through the night. By daylight, the puppy had enough energy to tilt his head and look around at the other dogs.

“By morning, we were all exhausted, but he seemed more spirited,” the team recalled.

Because “many internal injuries are not apparent for hours or sometimes days after the initial trauma occurs,” the Merck Veterinary Manual recommends close monitoring after an injury. If you find an injured puppy, call for help even if it perks up while you’re watching.

Soon Fubao wanted food again. The rescue station had goat milk powder on hand, and a supporter offered to sponsor his care and gave him his name. His front legs were still so stiff that he couldn’t bend them.

Fubao woke up after emergency surgery

A rescuer identified as Sister Xiaohei took Fubao to a larger veterinary hospital. His caregivers said the exam showed hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid inside the skull. As VCA Animal Hospitals explains, “This build-up leads to increased pressure within the skull, which presses on the sensitive brain tissue.”

At first, he was too small for surgery. Back in their care, his caregivers measured out his meals in a syringe. A little too much could make him sick.

Then Fubao slipped into a coma. The team rushed him to a hospital in Hangzhou, China, where he underwent surgery. He woke up and began eating on his own, but five days after the operation he was still in intensive care.

“If you don’t give up, we will never give up on you!” the team said in an update from that fifth day.

By day seven, Fubao was awake and able to play by himself for a little while. The nurses and receptionists would soon get used to taking turns holding him.

His front legs began to support him

Under veterinarian Zhang Xu’s care, the hospital team spent time each day massaging and stretching Fubao. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center explains that manual therapy “includes a variety of techniques where the veterinarian moves a limb or joint to increase mobility and relieve pain.”

His caregivers watched his front legs start to take some of his weight as he tried to stand. He could also move his neck on his own.

There was still another procedure ahead to adjust his earlier surgery. Afterward, he managed to eat on his own again. It was a small thing to watch and a big thing for the people who remembered measuring his meals one syringe at a time.

Someone to pick him up

In the video’s final update, Fubao was stable and still doing physical therapy. His caregivers hoped he’d eventually walk on his own and go home to a family.

By then, the hospital staff knew the puppy who played with toys and whimpered when he wanted attention. When the receptionists had a free moment, they’d hold him. Sometimes he played in their arms. Sometimes he slept.

Share Fubao’s story to thank the schoolchildren who called for help, Sister Xiaohei and the rescue team who stayed by his side, and the veterinary staff who helped him get a little stronger every day.

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