When little Nubby was born, a veterinarian suggested the Boxer puppy be euthanized as he did not have front legs.
Instead, Nubby is alive and well and growing stronger and more rambunctious every day, thanks to Lou Robinson and her husband, Mark Bowlin, who agreed to foster Nubby, and may even keep him.
Nubby couldn’t stay with his family because his siblings would knock him out of the way when he tried to nurse, so Robinson, a longtime animal rescuer who lives outside of Houston and runs the rescue group Warriors Educate About Rescue, agreed to foster the little tyke.
‘From the start, he had a will and what we felt like the soul to live,’ Robinson wrote on Facebook.
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Nubby, above, was born seven weeks ago without any front legs and just tiny ‘nubs’
Nubby couldn’t nurse from her mother because her siblings would push her out of the way
She came to the home of Lou and Mark Robinson of Warriors Educate About Rescue
‘Nobody wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, I wish a missing limb six-hour old puppy would come this way, that would be cool. But Nubby was here and he needed help,’ Robinson told WENN.
At first, the couple didn’t think Nubby would make it, but soon he gaining weight and energy. ‘He thrived!’ Robinson told The Dodo.
Mark and his wife, Lou, spent a lot of time bottle feeding little Nubby
Just because Nubby wasn’t born with front legs doesn’t mean he doesn’t love to cuddle, and has lots of energy and ‘fight’ in him
Nubby was doing well until about three weeks old when he started having health problems
He was diagnosed with an esophageal abnormality but has since recovered, though his future is still uncertain
‘His eyes opened, his ears developed, he found his sounds, smells and voice,’ she said.
But at around three weeks old, suddenly little Nubby was sneezing, not pooping, and milk bubbles were coming out of his nose.
‘He was going downhill,’ said his worried foster mom.
It turned out Nubby had pneumonia and an esophageal abnormality that was trapping milk in his esophagus.
Nubby gets more energetic by the day; right, he snuggles up to one of the couple’s pooches
‘He was fighting’: Nubby managed to come back from the brink of death
About three weeks old, Nubby started having trouble swallowing milk and wasn’t pooping, he was put into an oxygen tank
The couple hope that maybe they can keep Nubby and bring him to schools to show students it’s okay to be different
After an IV of antibiotics, Nubby began to slowly recover inside of an oxygen tank.
‘He was not giving up. He was fighting,’ Robinson said.
Today, at seven weeks old, Nubby continues to get better and more energetic. Robinson posts videos and updates on Facebook of Nubby trying to do the ‘Army crawl’ on his nubs, and the couple have put pads down on the floor to make it easier for him.
Nubby has his own Facebook page which is updated with his progress
The couple are hoping that Nubby’s abnormality won’t get worse and can one day be fixed when he’s older. Then they may keep him.
‘We are still having some minor set backs in his esophageal abnormality but we are still very hopeful,’ Robinson told DailyMail Online. At eight weeks, he will return to the vet for more testing. The couple has a fundraiser to help with his medical care.