Zazu, little furball of happiness, needs your help

A little furball of happiness entered our lives recently, although we never thought we would get a new dog so quickly.

Let me tell you about our family, so you can understand our need and why we decided to take this step.

Our first love, our granny-doggy Nala, a beautiful black lab-shepherd mix, entered our lives almost 14 years ago. She has basically been in our lives ever since my husband and I first decided to try out this “living together” thing. And she is still around, enjoying cuddles and attention in her old age.

Back in 2015, we expanded our small family to include a 5-year-old pup named Anubis. A beautiful Belgian shepherd, riddled with anxiety and aggression, we did not want to see him end up in the wrong hands. We simply saw in him what no one else seemed to have. Someone else might have opted to euthanise him. We decided to invest a lot of love and work into him over the course of the five years that he was with us and got to see the wonderful side of a Belgian shepherd’s character. While there were many difficult days, he gave us also endless unconditional love and gratitude.

Now this is not a story about me personally, but there is a matter I should bring up to be fully understood. Last year, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer, right around the same time when our boy Anubis started exhibiting the first signs of his illness as well. We thought then that whatever he had was not malign, but started the process of monitoring and diagnosis. Together with Nala, Anubis was my gentle soul, spending days and nights next to me, awaiting my surgery. They helped me cope with the uncertainty and fear of what was ahead, never leaving my side.

(I do not want you to worry about me. Like I said, this is not my story. In spite of having gone through a difficult surgery and post-surgical treatment, or more precisely, because of it, I am today healthy, living my full life, and trying to set a good example and offer support to other women in similar situations. And I keep attending my check-ups regularly.)

During my recovery, in the madness of the Covid pandemic, through daily communication with my family, I found out that Anubis was suffering more and more. These were very difficult times – the first three weeks into the recovery from surgery, with the pandemic raging, no one was allowed to visit me in hospital. On top of it all – bad news about Anubis keep coming.

Imagine it – you finally come home after a long hospital stay, and your beloved furbabay is but a shadow of himself, barely able to move, but still visibly happy to see you. He wants to show it; his head is strong, but his body fails him.

And the day to let him go comes. There is only so much pain and suffering you can keep him through, and inside you are braking. You know he cannot get better; you know things will only get worse and he will only suffer more and more. But you struggle with the thought of ending his life, when you look into those eyes… You know it will stop the suffering, but you can’t help feeling you are pushing him into death. But you have to – it’s the humane thing to do. You don’t want him to suffer anymore.
Our baby boy was 11 years old. Or beautiful baby boy. If you watched the movie Marley, that was what he was to us. A challenge, patience, temptation, teacher, and, finally, enormous, indescribable, pure love. Our beautiful baby boy was taken from us by prostate cancer that metastasized and ate through him very quickly. The two of us fell ill at the same time. I made it; he didn’t. My husband says he took it all upon himself, so I could live.

We had a very difficult time dealing with his passing, probably also because of all other things we were going through. Nala made the pain a bit easier to bear. She sat in front of the door, waiting for him to come back, for an entire month…

At first, I would come home from work and call his name, expecting he would come running, together with Nala, and we would all go for a walk. Having another dog that still needs you made it easier. We knew we would, one day, invite another furbaby into our lives. We never thought it would happen so quickly, though. We focused on providing Nala a comfortable old age and spoiling her as an only pet fo a while. We also were not ready; the pain was too fresh. Anubis was irreplaceable.

Fast forward to a week ago, about a year and a half since Anubis went to the other side of the rainbow. By complete chance, a new furball of happiness enters our lives. A small black pup we named Zazu. We already have Nala, so, being Lion King fans, we needed a Zazu as well.

Zazu was most likely separated rom her mother too early, while still breastfeeding, and, together with two sisters, abandoned. She was saved by a rescue whose efforts I frequently follow. I like to help them now and again, whenever I can. That’s how I came across Zazu. And that was it, the moment when you know there is a reason she found you. You would not believe how much happiness and joy can come from a 2-month-old puppy, not even weighing a full 2 kilos. So unexpected, but so meant to be.

Just on a side note, I am a huge fan of black dogs. For some reason, the statistics show black dogs have a hard time finding homes. But to me, they are special. And one way or another, a black dog always find me.

Zazu was with us for not even a full 3 days. Three days of indescribable joy. Even our granny Nala started turning into a happy playful dog again. It all made sense.

Unfortunately, the happiness lasted just those 3 days. And then we woke up to Zazu having bloody diarrhoea. We rushed to the vet immediately. Unfortunately, the cruelty of the person who abandoned exposed her to the parvo virus, despite being saved by the rescue who started her vaccination regime immediately. It seems they just got there too late.

So you stare at this beautiful, vulnerable little one and wonder how could anyone be so cruel to throw her out like garbage and abandon her. You know she is not the first nor the last… you’ve seen so much of it already. But each time you wonder:

“How could you?”
“How could you just not put in the effort to find her a new home?”
“Why would you not protect her just long enough for someone like me to come along and love her?”

Zazu is now at the veterinary hospital, fighting for her life. We are on day 7.
I do not know how familiar you are with this horrible virus. They often call it “puppy killer”.
She is not doing well, but is currently stable. We seem to be taking one step forward, but then two steps back. She is sick and exhausted, but reacts to every touch by waving her tail. She is not giving up; she is not lethargic. The vets are doing everything they can to save her, and she is in the best hands she could be in my country.

Unfortunately, the treatment is expensive and we cannot afford the bill that keeps piling up. But we do not have the hart to tell the vets to stop treating her, when there is still hope that she will win this battle and survive. So far, the bill has climbed to 5600 HRK (around 750 Euro), and for us that is a very large sum. It will continue to climb, as the days to come are crucial. We need help, so we do not have to let Zazu go. And we cannot let her go. We have endured so much negativity lately; we need some happiness.

The bill is expected to climb up to double the current amount by the time Zazu’s treatment is finished. We sincerely hope it won’t go above that.

If our story reaches and touches you, if the universe brings us this miracle, we hope that, with some luck and help of kind people, we can cover the expenses of Zazu’s treatment and help her have a good long life. We are under so much stress right now – fighting for Zazu’s live and watching the bill grow.

Should we manage to reach our goal and surpass it, we would transfer the overage to help another little animal and its family here. All we want to do is help an animal.

We also wan to raise your awareness of the horrors of the parvo virus and ask you to take care of your dogs. Caring for them, you also care for other dogs. So make sure to vaccinate your dogs! Help build immunity.

Also, please pick up your dog’s poop – your dog could be a carrier without you even realizing it. Just because it is immune, does not mean other dogs are as well.

If you are not a breeder, spay/neuter your doggoes; prevent the suffering of unwanted puppies.

We will gladly keep you updated about the progress of our pup. We would love to share the rest of our story and the details of the expenses with everyone who contributes with a donation.

We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. Please keep your fingers crossed that our little furball makes it and gets to pend the rest of her long life with her human family.