We were only at the shelter to drop off a stray shepherd that was blocking traffic and endangering itself on a busy street. While we were there, two young men dropped off a pit mix puppy. She was very sweet, light tan, with bright eyes and a wagging tail. But it only took a quick look and our director was on her cell phone looking for a vet that would see a dog after hours, on a holiday weekend. Her leg appeared infected but she did not seem to be in pain and was able to put weight and walk on it. Never did she yelp as if hurt. After several phone calls and messages, Dr. Kromp of Fruitport Animal Hospital responded positively. His office had just closed and he would wait for us. So Don and I took the pup to the vet, while the volunteers at the shelter prepared a special cage for her in the Safe Room for the holiday.
3:00PM – We met the vet at his office. He examined the pup. She is about six months old, her adult teeth were all in and she weighs 21#’s. He was stumped by how a leg and foot could have gotten in this shape. What we did learn was that she had no feeling below her elbow joint on her right front leg. The nerves were damaged or dead, and the tissue was dying. By the look, smell and swelling of her foot, it would be touch and go if her skin would die soon and begin to fall off. With the swelling, you could not see her toes. But she has a normal temp and strong vital, so he is going to take an x-ray to make sure nothing is broken.
The films were normal, so Dr. Kromp decided to apply bandages, put her on antibiotics and wait out the weekend to see what happens. He expects to take the bandage off after the holiday and see dead tissue falling off. We would take her home for the weekend so she could rest and get medications regularly, and take her back on Tuesday. Amputation was a very real option, bringing about the tough possibility of her being put down. This is Muskegon County and the dominant species in her is a pit bull terrier; the second strike would come from being a three-legged dog.
5/24
The pup was hungry and clearly ready for a warm blanket and dish of food. She was no trouble, left her bandage alone, and slept a lot. She doesn’t realize she is hurt or shouldn’t be able to walk. We are calling her Zena; one of the girls names the on list. If she gets through this she will be have earned a “warrior princess” title.
5/26
Note to Connie, our director.
Dr. Kromp was pleased with how her leg is looking after the weekend. The infection is coming out and there is still blood flow, so even though she has no feeling in her foot, it may come back and the tissue does not seem to be dead, so she got another bandage today. Do we have clindamycin at the shelter? Also, tomorrow he wants to put a splint on her leg so she is not walking on it as much. I take it we are going through with treatment for her in the hopes of saving her leg? Let me know if that is different. She is about 6 months old, and very sweet. I have not heard a whimper or a bark out of her.
5/27
Need to take more drastic measures to keep her foot dry and bandaged. A split was applied to keep her from using her foot so much and to learn to walk on her foot instead of her wrist as she was.
5/29
Back to the vet for a bandage change. The tech said she has never seen anything so gross. There was a hole in the back of her leg 2” long, exposing the bone, her leg hairless, and foot red and swollen with infection But this pup does not let that bother her. It was clears, she wanted to heal the tech told us. So we set up another appointment on Monday and Zena was put on an additional antibiotic – one to help heal internally and one to help heal externally.
6/1
An update on Zena to the group
“The tan six month old boxer/pit mix, dropped off last week with what appears to be a chemical burn/or her leg was stuck in boiling water. She wants to get better and is working really hard on healing her leg. It looks like if it keeps going like it has this past week, she will keep her leg and recover quite nicely. She has it bandaged and with a splint nothing stops her from running around the yard. The vet says that's good for her. She is the sweetest little thing. So keep the antibiotics on the shelf Mel, they are working! You can tell she is feeling better, because it is getting harder to convincer her to leave her bandage alone and not chew on it. She must be feeling something going on under the bandage, healing sometimes itches….so an e-collar will help solve that. She still eats just fine and ignores the collar.”
6/7
Friend brought us an article from Sunday’s Parade magazine, about a dog that had a chemical burn on its leg. The details and road to recovery sounded a lot like Zena’s injury. We are very hopeful for an outcome as positive as that beagle was. His leg healed fine. But we will always wonder. Was she burned with an acid, dipped in a boiling pot of grease or water, burned in a fire and was lucky to have escaped? We will never know.
6/8
We are on the right track. Two weeks have gone by. The tissue and skin are beginning to regrow and the blood vessels are starting to form and reach out to meet. Zena is very small and Dr. Kromp said she always will be. She was not given the proper nutrition when she was in her puppy growth stage, so was not allowed to develop. We wormed her last week and hope she gains a bit of weight.
Sent an email to the group with an update:
“Zena is doing great. Getting antsy in her crate so I know she is feeling better. Never hear her bark.....What are your thoughts on Zena going on TV. Right now she is wearing a cast and a cone, but underneath is a leg that we thought she would loose that is growing hair, getting blood flowing, and new cells are closing up the hole where once her bone was exposed and she wears a big tooth smile with a rambunctiously wagging tail. We could plea for a home once she is recovered and $ for her care. She is a cutie....Marc”
June 11
The neighborhood kids come over the play with Zena when she is out on her cable in the front yard. She is housebroken, crate trained, can sit, lay, and rolls over with joy. She takes my front porch steps to go out and come in, three at a time.
Don says she gets really excited at the vets office. She obviously likes all the attention they give her, and the great care she gets. One day I went to pick her up after a bandage change and they said I couldn’t have her. She was too sweet; they were going to keep her there.
June 12
Email to group:
Are the dhlpp's in, my pup needs one. Also, what about putting a Zena’s journal on our site like you did MR. Bones? She is draining our budget vetting twice a week for bandage changes, but her changes are good. She has hair growing back on her arm, something we did not think would happen. They are not sure she will get toe nails on her two toes again, and they are healing together, but that means there was not as much tissue and nerve damage as once thought. The hole in her leg is also beginning to show signs of healing, and the vet said you can see the blood vessels starting to reconnect. WOW! This gal is a trooper. I was also wondering at what point she can go on our foster list, even if it's with a disclaimer re: adopting her at a later date....
(Connie, your heart is bigger than the state of Texas)
June 15
Heard Zena bark for the first time. WOW, what a deep loud sound came out of that little thing. She is playing with a bone in her cage.
June 19
Zena is growing new nails on those two icky toes. The vet never thought that would happen. They are healing beyond what we ever thought. Today she got a pretty pink splint. She also is getting hair back on her leg. TOO COOL!!! Miracles can happen with Pound Buddies help.
June 21, 2009
Woke by Zena barking. She is telling us she has to go out and is hungry. Since its 8:00 anyway, I guess it is time to start the day, BUT IT’S THE WEEKEND! She has discovered she can reach her foot past the collar and tries to get at her bandage. Bad, but good. It shows she IS growing, and when you lift her to her crate, it feels like she is heavier. We’ll have her weighed with her next appointment for a bandage change.
June 22, 2009
Back from the vet. No splint, no bandage today. Have to keep her quiet, but we are down to one antibiotic and air to help heal the rest of the way. Her foot looks amazing. Right now she is sleeping on her back in the cage. What a goof. Her foot is nearly back to normal size, and you can see her hair and marking colors showing through where once there was raw skin. The hole is closing up, but she needs to walk gently on it. No more rambunctious pup for a few weeks. We can start taking the cone off for brief periods as long as we make sure she doesn’t like her leg and open back up what weeks of healing have done.
6-23-09
The hard cone of the buster collar is cutting into the fresh new skin on Zena’s leg, so we went to PetCo to get a soft one. We got the donut kind, but realize she can still reach her toes, so the buster collar goes back on for another night. We are gradually to wean her off any kind of collar, but need to also keep her from licking her foot and can’t monitor that at night. Zena now weighs 31#’s. I thought she was getting heavy. We have her in a stacked crate so the other dogs’ curiosity is curtailed.
In thinking back it was probably lucky for her that it was a Saturday and holiday weekend when she was found. I am also very grateful to Dr. Kromp for seeing us after hours, and for not hastily taking her leg off, but seeing which route nature would choose. She is allowing her foot to dangle a bit which I find a bit concerning. She was running when it was splinted, but the vet said to keep her quiet, and she seems to be following his orders without much correction needed from us. We’ll get a soft cone for her tomorrow. In the meantime, I guess some duct tape will soften the edges of the one she has been wearing.
I ask the vet why her foot seems to be dangling and her not using it as much. She was so “normal” acting in the splint. It seems that the month in the splint has caused her tendons to get lazy and her muscle tone was lost, so now is the repair and rebuilding stage. The soft collar is working great, she is leaving her foot alone, and appears to be so much more comfortable.
DESCRIPTION:
Zena is a happy little boxer/red nose pit mix with tan velvety hair and is always wearing a big grin. She only weighs 37#’s and will always be petite due to not getting the proper nutrition during her first month. She was brought into the shelter on Memorial Day weekend with what appeared to be a very infected chemical burn on her leg stuck. With Dr. Kromp’s patience and a strong will to heal, she kept her leg and runs on it just fine, taking the stairs to come in two at a time. She is crate-trained, can sit, loves to run and rolls over with joy. We are leash training her now that her leg is better. You will want to check your local ordinances to see if her breed is allowed in your neighborhood. Zena is fine with children, other dogs, and harmlessly tries to play with the cat. She is content just laying around and chewing on a Nyla bone, but comes to life with smiles of joy when the neighborhood kids come over to see her. She is spayed and up to date on all her shots.
Her adoption fee is $195.00 which includes microchip