From as early as four months old, Bear – a German Shepherd-Labrador mix – experienced occasional seizures which were managed by his family daily through timely medication. On his many good days, Denise wrote, he led a happy, goofy life—running, playing, and even making random visits to doggy daycare.

In the early hours of that January morning, this changed. Bear had a mild seizure while asleep but quickly recovered. He was waggling his tail and walking around as if nothing happened.

“But knowing that seizures often came in clusters, we braced ourselves for what could be a difficult night. Shortly after, everything changed.”

Bear began seizing again, but this time, the seizures were stronger, longer, and relentless. He had no time to recover before the next one hit. Denise initially tried using Diazepam, a suppository meant to stop the fits, “but it was all in vain”.

She immediately tried to get in touch with Bear’s vet but at 3am, she was unreachable. Desperate, Denise then called the emergency vet number, on her second attempt, the on-call vet finally answered.

He said that they had two options: keep trying to reach their vet or bring Bear to his clinic in Mosta, where he would administer sedation until our vet could see him in the morning. However, as a 43kg dog who was actively seizing, transporting Bear was impossible.

The emergency vet then provided Denise with a list of veterinarians who did house visits.

“I called every number, hoping for help. Most didn’t answer. When one finally did, I barely had time to explain before she started laughing.”

This vet initially assumed that Denise was a previous client but upon correction, she “mockingly” replied “But you need to call your own vet”.

Denise explained the situation, she told her she’s in dire need of help to which the vet laughed again and said “On top of that, you’re going to shout?”

“I wasn’t shouting. I was panicking. I was hurting. I was begging for help, and all she did was mock me.”

Denise apologised, despite knowing she did nothing wrong, and pleaded to the vet who instructed her to call her own vet again and call back if this fails.

Denise’s vet still wasn’t answering so, with no other choice, she called back the vet from earlier.

“This time, she laughed again and said, “But now you woke me up at four in the morning! And I don’t even do house visits!”

“I froze. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Finally, at 4am, Denise’s vet called back and she instructed to give him two pills from his usual medication within 15 minutes.

“To put this into perspective—one of these pills is the size of a human antibiotic, and the other is slightly smaller. Even when he was awake, I had to give them in halves, and sometimes it took several attempts. How was I supposed to make him swallow them while he was seizing?”

Nonetheless, they tried. On the first attempt, Bear bit Denise so hard that she thought she’d lose her finger.

“Blood was everywhere. The pill was spat out. We tried again, tilting his head back and forcing it down, but his rapid breathing pushed it right out.”

After several attempts Denise and her daughter believed he swallowed some. And they began to wait.

By 5am, the violent seizures stopped.

“He was still trembling, paddling slightly, and his eyes remained fixed, unblinking. I stayed beside him, cooling him with wet towels, massaging his body, trying to get him to react. But he was different. He looked lost. Defeated. Fragile.”

At 7am, she sent her vet a video of his condition and asked what to do next, since it was the usual time for his medication the vet responded with three words: “At 10, give.”

At 10am, Denise crushed his medication and administered it with a syringe. She then called the clinic and explained that after over 50 seizures, he needed immediate care.

“We can squeeze you in at 1 PM,” the receptionist responded, disregarding the urgency of the situation. 

With the help of two male family members, Denise and her daughter carried Bear downstairs and took him to the clinic. The vet said he was still experiencing mild seizures and that they would run blood tests before inducing a coma. When they tried waking him, they would assess the damage and decide on the next steps.

“We left Bear there, still clinging to the hope of a miracle.”

At 6pm, the clinic called Denise. When they tried bringing Bear out of the coma he started seizing again and his blood tests showed liver inflammation. He had suffered brain damage and lost his eyesight.

“There was nothing more they could do,” Denise said before telling Lovin Malta that she had to put Bear down.

Denise concluded the emotional post by saying that she doesn’t know if he could have been saved with the right help earlier, but she does know these five things:

“We need an emergency veterinary service available for home visits in Malta and Gozo. We need a 24/7 animal hospital for severe emergencies. We need a roster system for after-hours, Sundays, and public holidays—just like human healthcare. We need a centralized system where any vet can access a pet’s medical history, eliminating red tape and the excuse of ‘not my client.’ We need to end the stigma that if you’re not a registered client, you don’t deserve help.”

“No pet owner should be left alone to cope. No animal should suffer because of a broken system. Bear deserved better. All pets do.”

Animal healthcare services in Malta

Malta’s only 24/7 animal hospital in Ta’ Qali was closed down in 2023 due to extensive damage sustained by electricity cables during road works.

Last year, the Agriculture and Education ministries entered a deal to reopen the hospital and double it as a training ground for students taking part in a new veterinary course at MCAST. This was meant to open at the start of the last scholastic year but was delayed for unknown reasons.

It is unclear when this hospital is expected to reopen. Lovin Malta sent questions to the Agriculture Ministry and is currently awaiting a response.

Bear’s story sheds light on the outrageous animal healthcare situation on the island. Without a 24/7 animal hospital owners and their beloved pets have been left with little access to help.

The Malta Veterinary Association has set up a small animal emergency service to help deal with this demand, but a lack of resources has made it difficult to cope.

UPDATE:

The Agriculture Ministry informed Lovin Malta that the reopening of the hospital is now under the remit of the Education Ministry. The newsroom has subsequently sent the ministry questions.

Have you ever experienced a similar ordeal and want to share your story? Reach out to [email protected]