Top Five Saves - #3 Mocha's Miracle

When a kindhearted person found Mocha and brought her to Pima Animal Care Center, she was so thin that you could see every vertebra on her spine. She was in awful shape. The PACC clinic determined that she had a severe case of Valley Fever and tick fever. The Valley Fever fungal infection had moved into her skin, bones, lungs, and organs. She had gone untreated for so long that one of her back legs had lost its muscle mass and was unusable.

Mocha shortly after she came to PACC.

Despite everything she had been through she had a spark in her that we couldn’t give up on. A foster took her in and began aggressive treatment with Fluconazole. The initial result of her Valley Fever test was ≥ 1:256, the highest possible. While she showed minor improvements, the Valley Fever in her lungs was getting worse. Thanks to donations, Friends of PACC was able to get Mocha in to see a specialty vet. This vet shared that her prognosis was not good and that to have any chance she would need to go on expensive and rigorous IV treatments of Amphotericin 8 (Abelcet).

Thanks to donors and a dedicated foster, Friends of PACC got Mocha the treatment she needed. Three times a week, for five weeks, Mocha’s foster brought her into the PACC clinic to receive her hours-long IV treatment. This medication had never been administered at PACC before and was only possible through donations that help us go above and beyond in caring for homeless pets.

Mocha shortly after she came to PACC.

The Abelcet treatment saved Mocha's life by clearing up the Valley Fever in her abdomen and lungs. Once those treatments were over she switched to Itraconazole, the second, more expensive, line of defense after Fluconazole. In PACC’s care Mocha has gained weight, recovered from Tick Fever, is using her back leg, and has a Valley Fever reading of 1:128 as of her last test.

Her foster has seen tremendous change in her, sharing that “when Mocha first came to me she wouldn’t leave her bed and didn’t want to eat. She didn’t act like a dog. Now she has so much energy! She runs around the yard, plays with toys, grooms her canine siblings, and jumps and spins for her food. She is a completely different dog.”

She is still being monitored and living in a loving foster home.  Our goal is to see if Mocha can eventually be weaned off of ltraconazole for Fluconazole, but it is likely she will need treatment of some kind for the rest of her life. When she arrived at the shelter her prognosis was grave, today she has a future.

Will you help us give other pets like Mocha the futures they deserve by donating today?

Mocha today!