GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Today a 6monthold labradoodle from Tavares wrestles with her owners and runs like a normal puppy, but normal she will never be to anyone who watched her monthlong struggle in intensive care at the University of Florida Small Animal Hospital, where veterinarians fought to save her from a severe tetanus infection.

Mocha Delight, or Mocha, as her owners call her, had the most severe case of tetanus ever seen or treated by UF veterinarians. When she arrived at UF on Nov. 13, no one thought she would survive.

"No one here can remember ever being able to treat and save an animal so severely affected by this type of infection," said Dr. Alessio Vigani, a veterinary resident in emergency and critical care at UF. "When she arrived, she was in a constant state of tetany. All of her muscles displayed extreme rigidity and she was unable to eat. If you visualize a bearskin rug, that's what she looked like; she was completely flat. That she could pull through at all is nothing short of a miracle."

Tetanus is caused by a neurotoxin released by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. Spores of the bacterium can survive in the soil for years and in the body for months, usually entering through minor punctures or scratches. Once in the body, the toxin spreads, causing painful muscle spasms in the neck, arm, legs and stomach.