Puppy in Cosby Survives after Falling into Icy Pond
By: William Seay
Updated: March 12, 2013
(COSBY, Mo.) Julia, a one-year-old Japanese Chin, is lucky to still be alive.
Last Wednesday, when let out with the three other dogs in her house, Julia didn't come back inside.
Sheryl Huss, who lives and works at the house, went out to search for the missing dog.
She found Julia lying unconscious in the snow near a pond in the front yard.
"So I hustled out here and I picked her up and she was just limp. There was nothing," Huss said.
Sheryl did what she could to revive the unresponsive pup. She tried shaking water out of Julia's lungs, she tried to get her heart going and her lungs breathing.
As she rushed Julia to Angel's Vet Express in Savannah, Huss tried a last-ditch CPR technique.
"I'm driving and I took her mouth and cupped my hand around her lips and blew two or three breaths into her and she spit up a little bit," she recalls.
Vets say that saved the dog's life.
"If she hadn't done that, she wouldn't be around to day; the dog wouldn't have survived," said Dr. Kristin Wrede, one of the vets that rushed to Julia's rescue at Angel's.
Vets used everything they could find - blankets, towels, a warming pad, and a blow dryer - to get Julia warm.
Nearly drowned and severely hypothermic, the vets say the tiny dog was pretty much dead on arrival. Yet she survived.
"We had her on oxygen the whole time just to help her breathe better, help her heart and lungs function better and get some oxygen back into her brain which probably shut off when she died temporarily," Dr. Wrede said.
Doctors stabilized Julia and she was sent to Kansas City for overnight care.
Since then, she continues to get better. She still suffers from bronchitis and pneumonia and has to take a ton of medicine.
But Julia is very much alive and kicking.
"She's great. Every day she's getting better and we see the old Julia coming back," Huss said.
Vets at both Angel's and in Kansas City are saying they expect Julia to make a full recovery.
Huss has her fingers crossed.
Last Wednesday, when let out with the three other dogs in her house, Julia didn't come back inside.
Sheryl Huss, who lives and works at the house, went out to search for the missing dog.
She found Julia lying unconscious in the snow near a pond in the front yard.
"So I hustled out here and I picked her up and she was just limp. There was nothing," Huss said.
Sheryl did what she could to revive the unresponsive pup. She tried shaking water out of Julia's lungs, she tried to get her heart going and her lungs breathing.
As she rushed Julia to Angel's Vet Express in Savannah, Huss tried a last-ditch CPR technique.
"I'm driving and I took her mouth and cupped my hand around her lips and blew two or three breaths into her and she spit up a little bit," she recalls.
Vets say that saved the dog's life.
"If she hadn't done that, she wouldn't be around to day; the dog wouldn't have survived," said Dr. Kristin Wrede, one of the vets that rushed to Julia's rescue at Angel's.
Vets used everything they could find - blankets, towels, a warming pad, and a blow dryer - to get Julia warm.
Nearly drowned and severely hypothermic, the vets say the tiny dog was pretty much dead on arrival. Yet she survived.
"We had her on oxygen the whole time just to help her breathe better, help her heart and lungs function better and get some oxygen back into her brain which probably shut off when she died temporarily," Dr. Wrede said.
Doctors stabilized Julia and she was sent to Kansas City for overnight care.
Since then, she continues to get better. She still suffers from bronchitis and pneumonia and has to take a ton of medicine.
But Julia is very much alive and kicking.
"She's great. Every day she's getting better and we see the old Julia coming back," Huss said.
Vets at both Angel's and in Kansas City are saying they expect Julia to make a full recovery.
Huss has her fingers crossed.
