Picture: Rita Vollenweider, Zürich
18. August 2023
Fate has hit Elia, an eight-year-old Maltese dog, hard. After suffering two cruciate ligament ruptures, he struggled with an autoimmune disease and a tumour on his paw. Elia received the best possible treatment, without his family, husband and wife Ueli and Eveline Meierhans, having to worry about meeting the costs thanks to their pet insurance.
The difference between the two male dogs Winnie and Elia is immediately evident: Winnie runs around the garden all excited and allows himself to be stroked and patted, whilst Elia lies in the shade gnawing on a chew bone, watching Winnie playing. Eveline and Ueli Meierhans have been parenting dogs for almost ten years. Their great love for the two animals is immediately obvious. Looking at this scene, you wouldn't have expected to learn that there had been a number of worrying times over recent years and that Elia's life had hung by a thread.
How it all started
The original desire for a dog came from Eveline. After the children had moved out, the grandchildren had reached an age when they were no longer able to visit them as often and Ueli continued to work, she longed for a little more structure. This was to be provided by a dog. After thorough research and because she was familiar with this breed from friends, Eveline decided on a Havaneser. On the one side, these animals are peace-loving and ‘homey’. On the other, they don’t have any undercoat. "It was important to me not to have hair lying all round the place." After having visited various breeders, the couple decided on Winnie, who they named after Winnie the Pooh.
"We knew from the outset that Winnie would not only take up a lot of time, but would also be financially costly," says Eveline In addition to the vet’s bills, there’s food, hairdresser and dentist to take into account.
The family grows
At a dog sitter’s, Winnie met Elia. They became friends at first sight. Over time, Eveline also got to know and appreciate Elia. After Winnie and Elia had romped around together regularly for over a year, Eveline and Ueli learned from the dog sitter that the owner had been forced to give up Elia for financial reasons. There and then Eveline and Ueli decided to take Elia home to live with them.
The wretched seventh year and its consequences
The first six years with the two dogs went smoothly and without any major accidents or illnesses. But in the seventh year – "the wretched seventh" as Ueli calls it – Elia suffered his first cruciate ligament rupture. It quickly emerged that: although Elijah is enormously brave he’s clearly the problem child when it comes to health. Not long afterwards he also tore the second cruciate ligament. The minor surgery went well. Unfortunately, this was only the prelude to Elia's history of illness.
"Elia was out here when he suddenly winced. A wasp crawled out of his fur. We think that's how everything started," says Eveline. "Everything" is an autoimmune disease that was discovered in Elia a few weeks later. Between the incident and the diagnosis, Elia became weaker and weaker, hardly ate and slept a lot.
By chance, during a visit to the physio where Elia was getting his body back into shape after recovering from the cruciate ligament ruptures, the physiotherapist noticed that the colour of his gums was much too light. That wasn’t a good sign. During the subsequent appointment with the vet, the dreadful, suspected cause was confirmed: "The doctor told us that Elia would have had one more week, then it would have been too late for him," says Ueli.
Learn about what happened next with the family and Elia in the Article.
