The good news is that Greta is heart worm negative and she is now spayed. The bad news is that she has severe case of Legg-Calve Perthe (necrosis of the femoral ball) and it may be too bad to successfully operate on. If they can operate, they will attempt to do a FHO surgery-replacing the ball joint in her hip for a flat joint and alleviating the pain. However, she is already so scarred that might not be an option.
Neither is pain-so I suggested amputation-just take the leg off so it doesn't hurt any longer. Or we can look at a cart.
WWW.handicappedpets.com this place has some cool options, including do it yourself ones.
Poor little thing-that explains in part why she is so timid and nervous-she hurts. Now, how many people picking up a "free dog" would take the time and the money to get her the treatment she needed? I have e-mailed the lady to see if she has any information from her vet, but my suspicion is she already knew what was wrong, told me she was limping from a past surgery and let us go on our way. So, rather than feel guilty about seeing a pain riddled dog every day, she gave it away and dumped that karma on someone else. Chances are, a person looking for a free dog is not going pay more than the cost of a healthy dog to have the free dog fixed.
You know what lady? It would have been more honorable just to put that dog down if you didn't have the funds to fix it. Putting it out like you did is no better than putting it on the street. She would have likely ended up tossed in some cold backyard or as a bait dog.
It sucks to have to do that. I was given a puppy mill dog that was completely and utterly insane. She would hop up on the coffee table to to pee-she was that messed up. But she was cute as could be-a little brown and white rat terrier, but completely unresponsive (catatonic really) with people. When I realized I couldn't make it work, I didn't just dump her off at the pound to either wait out her time and be put down, or worse, be adopted out and misused (she really wasn't pet material). I took responsibility and had her put down. I could deal with the euthanasia better than I could deal with knowing she was probably going to have a very rough life.
So, go pat yourself on the back for solving your problem and telling yourself you did the kind thing because you are too tenderhearted to ever put one of those little ones down. By the way, the disease is hereditary, and if you were telling the truth about having her full sister I HOPE you were telling the truth about having her spayed.
So here is another truth about dogs-they get sick and sometimes you have to make hard decisions. If you can't handle that, don't get a dog.
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4 comments:
Poor Greta! I have two cats that had to have FHO surgery when I got them (both had old Hit by car injuries) One recovered really well. The other has an off kilter gait, but no pain. I wish her the best.
I recently decided not to adopt another dog, because, at the moment, my savings are depleted and I couldn't afford the vet bills if something serious happened.
If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet.
Sometimes those tough decisions have to be made from the heart, not your common sense. That's what the www.HandicappedPets.com site is all about.
If this were a young child, there would be no doubt that the availability of money is not to determine whether he lives or dies.
... and who has the wisdom to decide what life form your 'children' take?
It's a personal decision and I believe that the choices of these caretakers need to be respected.
Warmest Regards,
Mark Robinson
www.HandicappedPets.com
The neat thing about dogs is that don't CARE if they are in a wheelie chair-they are just happy to be there. I wish every nursing home and childcare center could have a wheelie dog around-it would give us all a new perspective.
Mark, if Greta needs you, we'll be looking you up.
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