Lily: One in a Million: ... A Miracle of Survival - Softcover

Hamilton, Laura

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1787111474 ISBN 13: 9781787111479

Publisher: Hubble & Hattie, 2018

Synopsis

Lily: One in a Million is the inspiring story of Lily, a puppy born with a rare disability. Lily was only four minutes old, nursing at her mother’s side, when already milk was pouring out of her nose and mouth, soaking her and everything around her. She received so little nourishment she wasn’t thriving, and within weeks she had a respiratory infection. Euthanasia was compassionately suggested to spare her further distress - even if she lived at all. Against all the odds, however, her owner decided that this sweet little puppy should have a chance at life.

Laura weaned Lily early, letting her lick puppy mousse from her fingertip. A month later, she was hand-feeding Lily pieces of water-soaked puppy kibble one at a time during frequent feeds, but still the puppy choked with almost every swallow. Eventually, Lily was diagnosed with a swallowing disability ... extremely rare ... and incurable. Amazingly, Lily has survived against the odds due to the creative and intensive management of her condition. Her story may give hope to others, and inspire them not to give up their animals who may have  life-threatening conditions. 

Lily even became a Pets As Therapy dog, and helps in schools and residential care homes - she truly is a working miracle.
 

About this title

About the Author

Laura Hamilton was born in Canada and later lived in the US with three dogs and three cats before moving to England to marry Jim, a British Airways captain. After Jim died from cancer, Laura bought a Golden Retriever, whom she named Pilot. Now, seven years later she also has Pilot’s offspring, Lily, who was born with a life-threatening swallowing disability. Lily's amazing story is told in Laura's first book, Lily: One in a Million, A Miracle of Survival. Lily now also features in a children’s book, The Adventures of Lily and the Little Lost Doggie, which was both written and illustrated by Laura. In 2019, Laura was given a Citizen of Honour Award for her work with Lily and Pilot in Pets As Therapy's Read2Dogs program in Fareham, Hampshire. Both Laura's books mention the work her 'girls' do in Read2Dogs.

Jackie Foster operates Honeybury Golden Retrievers and is a UK Kennel Club Assured Breeder.

Review

Lovely, lovely story not only about a stunning dog, but also about the shear determination of her owner to help her survive when most others would have given up. The book is a story from when the litter are first born, and is written step by step through the intensive car and steep learning curve on how to look after limit and for her to live. Lily's owner writes of all the trails and tribulations that have been agent through and that they are still going through in order for Lily to thrive. This moving and truly incredible story can only inspire others whose dogs are facing life-threatening conditions. Lily is unable to survive without help to feed and drink, however her owner's intensive and dedicated management of her incredibly rare disability is astonishing. An amazing paperback to read, which I didn't put down once started! Lovely photos as well. Well worth it. - Dog Training Weekly. This soft back of some 70 pages including a very useful index I found fascinating. I re-read the book on three occasions, learning something new each time. Well written and beautifully illustrated with over 30 colours photographs of Lily, the Golden Retriever star of the book. A very careful description of Lily's problems gives the background and shows just how dedicated her owner was in first of all noticing her problems with suckling then feeding and drinking. The sled to an incredible effort which resulted in this puppy growing to adulthood and training as a Pets as Therapy dog. Subsequent chapters lead the reader through Lily's everyday life, not a page of which I found boring. In my view the book is well worth every penny. - Trevor Turner. This book is about breeder ethics. It's a new way of seeing inter species relationships. It's a sharing of transcendent moments of healing and of inspiration of self and others. Despite being advised to put Lily down, Laura endured and was richly rewarded. This lives of Lily, Pilot and Laura are interwoven into a glowing tapestry of caring - not just for dogs, but for the society around them. - Geelong Obedience Dog Club.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hubble & Hattie
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1787111474
• ISBN 13: 9781787111479
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 72