Rescue dog who was too obese to stand is transformed by £18,000 life-saving diet

救援狗狗：一只肥胖得站不起来的狗狗被1.8万英镑的救命节食改变了

Beagle pug cross Bertha was in a terrible way when Meredith Wille say a plea from help on social media, but she's now got a whole new lease of life thanks to a lot of hard work

当梅瑞狄斯·威尔在社交媒体上请求帮助时，比格犬帕格·克罗斯·伯莎的状态非常糟糕，不过多亏了一系列的努力，她现在有了全新的生活。


Meredith meeting Bertha for the first time (Image: PA REAL LIFE COLLECT)

梅瑞狄斯第一次见到伯莎（上图）

When Meredith Wille saw a photo of rescue dog Bertha on Facebook, she believed the poor animal's huge size meant she only had about two months to live.

当梅瑞狄斯·威尔在脸书上看到救援狗狗伯莎的照片时，她认为这只可怜的动物的体型意味着她只有两个月的生命了。

At 4st 7lb, the beagle pug cross was so chronically obese that she couldn't stand up.

这只比格杂交犬体重4英石7磅，由于长期肥胖，她甚至都站不起来。

And when dog fitness trainer Meredith, 49, met Bertha for the first time she realised the problems were even worse than she thought and the photo didn't show how bad things were.

当49岁的狗狗健身教练梅瑞狄斯第一次见到伯莎时，她意识到问题比她想象的还要严重，而照片并没有显示情况有多糟糕。

But after a lot of hard work and dedication, and a new £18,000 diet, Bertha has now completely transformed in a sleek beauty.

但经过一番努力，再加上1.8万英镑的节食，伯莎现在已经完全变成了一个时髦美媚。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Meredith from Beaver County, near Pittsburgh in the US, said: “Bertha couldn’t stand, let alone walk, and was so unbelievably fat, you could barely see her head.

来自美国匹兹堡附近比弗县的梅雷迪思说：“伯莎连站都站不起来，更别说走路了，她胖得令人难以置信，你几乎都看不到她的头。”

“It was very sad to see."

“这让我很伤心。”


She was in a lot of pain before the weightloss (Image: PA REAL LIFE COLLECT)

在体重减轻之前，她一直很痛苦（上图）

“I’m pretty convinced she wouldn’t have survived another month or two without tackling her chronic obesity.”

“我非常确信，如果不解决她的慢性肥胖问题，她不可能活过一两个月。”

Meredith first saw a horrific picture of Bertha on Facebook alongside a plea for someone with the right skills to help her, in November 2019.

2019年11月，梅瑞狄斯在脸书上第一次看到了伯莎的可怕照片，并请求有合适技能的人帮助她。

The message explained she had been rescued along with six other dogs from their former home by Animal Control.

这则消息解释说，她和其他六只狗是被动物管理部门从原来的家里救出来的。

As the clinical director of the Steel City Canine Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Clinic in Pittsburgh, who had previously worked as a veterinary technician, Meredith knew if anyone could save this poor dog, it was her.

梅雷迪思是匹兹堡钢城犬类康复和运动医学诊所的临床主任，她以前是兽医技师，她知道若有谁能救这只可怜的狗狗，那就是她自己。


She's been swimming to get back into shape (Image: PA REAL LIFE COLLECT)

她一直在游泳以恢复身材（上图）

She said: “When I saw this absolutely horrifying picture of the dog with the message alongside asking ‘hey, does anyone want a challenge?’ I thought I could help her.”

她说：“当我看到这只狗的照片，上面写着‘嘿，有人想挑战吗?’我想我可以帮助她。”

Bertha, as she was named by the Animal Control workers who rescued her, was probably aged between eight and 10 years at the time – and a lot of work would be needed to save her.

伯莎，救它的动物管理人员给它起了这个名字，当时它大概8到10岁，要救它还需要做很多工作。

Meredith, who is single and lives alone with her six pet dogs, said: “I wrote to the vet at the shelter in Ohio where Bertha was being cared for and said this is what I do for a living.

目前单身的梅瑞狄斯和她的6只宠物狗生活在一起，她说：“我写信给俄亥俄州收容伯莎的收容所的兽医，告诉他我就是靠这个谋生的。”

“I listed everything I could do for her, but the vet came back and said that’s kind of you, but we just don’t have the money for all that.

“我列出了我可以为她做的一切，但兽医回来说，你真善良，但我们没有钱做到这些。”


She looks incredible now (Image: PA REAL LIFE COLLECT)

她现在看起来难以置信（上图）

“So I suggested they allow me to foster her."

“所以我建议他们允许我收养她。”
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


The vet agreed and they met in a Walmart car park in Ohio, a three-hour drive from Meredith’s home, for the handover.

兽医同意了，他们在俄亥俄州距离梅瑞狄斯家有三个小时的车程的沃尔玛停车场会面交接。

“The vet got Bertha out of the car and put her on the ground which is when I realised the photo I had seen on Facebook did not come close to the horrible health she was in,” Meredith said.

梅雷迪思说：“兽医把伯莎从车里抱出来，放在地上，这时我才意识到我在脸书上看到的那张照片根本比不上它糟糕的健康状况。”。

Kicking into professional mode, she took Bertha to a vet for blood tests in Pittsburgh and discovered the pooch had an underactive thyroid, which would have caused her to become obese.

她带着伯莎去匹兹堡的一家兽医那里验血，结果发现这只狗的甲状腺机能不足，这会导致它变得肥胖。

She also had a snapped tendon in her left hind leg which would have made walking difficult and painful even without her excess weight.

她的左后肢肌腱断裂，即使没有超重，这也会使她行走困难和疼痛。


She built up her time on the treadmill (Image: PA REAL LIFE COLLECT)

她在跑步机上锻炼的时间（上图）

And on top of all that, Bertha was borderline diabetic and in danger of developing both pancreatitis and liver failure.

最重要的是，伯莎处于糖尿病边缘，有胰腺炎和肝功能衰竭的危险。

Meredith said: “It was a little worrisome hearing all her medical problems.

梅瑞狄斯说：“听到她的医疗问题让我有点担心。”

“I thought, ‘well if I can get this dog to live for four to six months we might be at a good point’.

“我想，‘好吧，如果我能让这只狗活4到6个月，我们可能就处于有利的状态了。’”

“But I wasn’t certain she was going to survive. I was going to do my best.”

“但我不确定她是否能活下来。我要尽我所能。”

With the vet agreeing Bertha could not undergo surgery to fix her leg until her 4st 7lb weight was back under control, as she would not survive the anaesthetic, Meredith devised a weight loss programme, supported by gentle exercise and thyroid medication.

兽医同意在伯莎4英石7磅重的体重得到控制之前不进行腿部修复手术，因为她无法在麻醉下存活下来。梅瑞狄斯设计了一个减肥计划，辅以温和的运动和甲状腺药物。

She explained: “My goal was that Bertha should lose between four to five per cent of her total body weight each month – which meant it would take a year or so to drop half her body weight.”

她解释说：“我的目标是伯莎每个月应该减去她总体重的4%到5%——这意味着需要一年左右的时间才能减掉她一半的体重。”


She's much happier now (Image: PA REAL LIFE COLLECT)

她现在快乐多了。（上图）

If she made it through the programme, Bertha would weigh a much healthier 2st 2lb – but an uphill battle lay ahead.

如果能顺利完成这个计划，伯莎的体重将会更健康，达到2英石2磅，但前面还有一场艰难的战斗。

Bertha was too fat to walk, even having to be carried out of her bed and lifted into the backyard to go to the loo as she was too obese to move, so starting a fitness programme was going to be difficult for her.

伯莎太胖了，走不动，甚至不得不从床上抬起来，抬到后院上厕所，因为她太胖了，动不了，所以开始健身计划对她来说是困难的。

Meredith’s solution was to start her off on the clinic’s underwater treadmill – a set-up that sees the exercise machine placed underwater so the dog’s joints are supported by the water as it walks forwards.

梅瑞狄斯的解决方案是让她在诊所的水下跑步机上开始锻炼——把健身机放在水下，这样狗狗向前走的时候，水就支撑着它的关节。

Meredith said: “Bertha could only walk for around two minutes at first and that was a big effort.

梅瑞狄斯说：“伯莎一开始只能走大约两分钟，这太难了。”

“It was about three to four months before we got her up to 15 minutes – I was only adding thirty seconds to a minute at a time.”

“大约三四个月后，我们才把她的锻炼时间增加到15分钟，我每次只增加30秒。”

As Bertha’s fitness began to improve, she was also able to use a special swimming pool for dogs, belonging to one of Meredith’s friends, so she could swim around 18-22 metres a time.

随着伯莎的健康状况开始改善，她也可以使用梅瑞狄斯的朋友为狗准备的特殊游泳池，这样她一次可以游18-22米左右。

Within four months, she had lost around 15-20lbs and as Bertha’s fat began to melt away, her character started to shine through.

在四个月内，她瘦了大约15-20磅，伯莎随着脂肪消失，她的性格开始显露出来。

“For the first four months Bertha wasn’t much of anything,” Meredith said.

梅瑞狄斯说：“在最初的四个月里，伯莎什么都不是。”

“She was like a lump on a log.

“她就像木头上的一块硬块。”

“Then slowly, her personality started to emerge.

“慢慢地，她的个性开始显现。”

“She’s a very cheerful and naughty dog – she’s always getting into things – and she’s very attached to me.”

“她是一只非常快乐和顽皮的狗——她总是陷入困境——她很喜欢我。”

In June 2020, Bertha was finally slim enough to undergo surgery to fix her injured tendon in her ankle.

2020年6月，伯莎终于瘦到可以接受手术来修复她受伤的脚踝跟腱。

And Meredith said the operation was a “game-changer”.

梅瑞狄斯说这次手术“扭转了局面”。

She added: “She was completely transformed. She could play more, do more and walk for longer – it was pretty outstanding.”

她补充说：“她完全变了。她可以更多玩乐，做更多的事，走更长的路——这真是太棒了。”

But a month later, calamity struck.

但一个月后，灾难降临了。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


To Meredith’s alarm, Bertha refused dinner and became listless and it turned out she had a serious gallbladder infection, meaning the organ needed to be urgently removed.

让梅瑞狄斯惊慌的是，伯莎拒绝吃饭，变得无精打采，她得了严重的胆囊感染，这意味着需要立即摘除器官。

And while under the knife, the vet discovered she had a lump on her spleen so that was taken out too.

在手术刀下，兽医发现它的脾脏上有一个肿块，所以也一并切除了。

“I was told she had a 50 per cent chance of surviving all that surgery but she pulled through,” Meredith said.

梅雷迪思说：“我被告知她有50%的机会活下来，但她挺过来了。”
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Astonishingly, within days Bertha was well enough to return to her fitness programme and in October 2020, she reached her target weight.

令人惊讶的是，没过几天伯莎就恢复得很好了，可以重返健身计划了。2020年10月，她达到了目标体重。

Now Bertha is a fit and healthy dog, even if she will never be naturally athletic.

现在伯莎是一只健康的狗，即使她不是自然的健壮体格。

In all, Meredith said, Bertha’s health and fitness training would have cost in the region of $25,000 (£18,000) – but she provided her part for free and was able to raise $10,000 (£7,000) through donations to pay for her medical bills and healthy food, which costs around $150 (£110) a month.

梅雷迪思说，伯莎所有的健康与体能训练成本在该地区为25000美元(18000英镑)——但她给伯莎提供部分免费，能够通过捐款筹集1万美元(7000英镑)来支付她的医药费和健康食品费用，每月大约150美元(110英镑)。

Meredith said: “She’s never going to be super-active but the transformation in her has been amazing to see.

梅瑞狄斯说：“她永远不会变得超级活跃，但她身上的变化让人惊讶。”

“Bertha is a wonderful dog.”

“伯莎是一只很棒的狗。”

Plenty of other people agree – for Bertha now has more than 7,700 fans on her own Instagram page, @bertha_gets_bitty, which has tracked her battle to fitness and also showcases how Meredith helps dogs at her clinic.

很多人都同意这一点，因为伯莎现在在她自己的Instagram主页@ bertha_get_bitty上有超过7700个粉丝，这个账号记录了伯莎减肥的过程，也展示了梅瑞迪斯是如何在她的诊所帮助狗狗们的。

And best of all, Bertha now has a forever home – after Meredith, who had only intended to foster her in the beginning, formally adopted her in December 2020.

最重要的是，伯莎现在有了一个永远的家——梅雷迪斯一开始只是想收养它，在2020年12月正式收养了它。

Meredith said: “After spending so much time with her, I realised she is an older dog and I didn’t want her to have to adjust to another new home.

梅瑞狄斯说：“和它相处这么久之后，我意识到她已经老了，我不想让它适应另一个新家。”

“She’s a very sweet and loving dog and just wants to be by my side.

“她是一只非常可爱的小狗，她只想和我在一起。”

“As long as she maintains her weight, that’s fine by me!”

“只要她保持体重，我就没问题!”