An elderly man has made a “complete turnaround” in hospital this week after he was reunited with his beloved dog Bubba.
James Wathen (73) was brought to hospital over a month ago. However, staff at the hospital began to worry about the man when his condition deteriorated rapidly and he stopped eating altogether. After looking at various reasons as to why this was happening, the staff soon realized that the elderly man was actually missing his pet dog, Bubba.
The one-eyed chihuahua had been given to the Knox-Whitely Animal Shelter according to WKYT and strangely enough, was going through the same problems as his owner.
“The dog quit eating a week ago, which is very strange,” said president of the animal shelter Mary-Ann Smyth to Today.com.
“The dog didn’t know where James was and James didn’t know where the dog was and believe it or not, they both stopped eating at about the same time.”
Staff at the Kentucky hospital looked everywhere for Bubba. (Pics: Knox-Whitley Animal Shelter)
Staff at the Kentucky hospital tracked down Bubba once they had pin-pointed the reason behind the man’s illness and began to plan for a reunion.
“We pulled out all the stops and found the dog,” chief nursing officer Kimberly Probus told WYKT.
Meanwhile according to Smyth, the pair were finally reunited on Saturday.
“He was so sad at first,” she continued. “We had him wrapped in a baby blanket and he was shivering…the minute we got about 20 steps from this guy’s room – I kid you not – his little head went up. His eyes got real bright and he was like a different dog.”
The animal shelter took to Facebook to share the incredible story adding, “When Bubba was handed to James he started to cry and then Bubba started to snuggle James. It makes you realize that animals are not just pets they are loved ones.”
Video via YouTube/Mary-Ann Smyth
