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My sweet and gentle golden retriever mix, Trixie, who is a 4 year old rescue, escaped from our yard on Sunday afternoon. After searching the neighborhood for hours and posting on all of the neighborhood sites and social media, I received a message Monday morning that she was found on someone's lawn in a nearby neighborhood but was in very bad shape. When I met them at the nearest animal hospital, her front left leg was snapped and her bone was protruding. Her front right leg also had large gaping wounds and I wasn't sure if that leg was broken too. Thankfully, the vet said that all of her organs were in good condition, but that they would not be able to save her front left leg without too high a risk of sepsis. I am devastated. Trixie had just gone a run with my Sunday morning before she got out-- it's so hard to imagine her enjoying life without her leg.
Thankfully, surgery went well and we have pet insurance. She just came home from the hospital last night and it is so hard. She is not able to get around because of the open wound on her other leg, which is also hard to watch. She is currently just lying in her bed and lying in her own pee until we change the pee pad and bedding. Thankfully, her other front leg was not broken, but she has exposed tendons on that leg that is causing her a lot of pain. I hate seeing her this way. I am trying to get her as much pain medication as the vet will give us.
This is very hard and I feel a lot of guilt and shock that this happened to her while she was in our family's care, even though I was not the person who left the gate open (and sometimes I am feeling anger at the person who did accidentally leave it open). I wish I could rewind the clock and have come home 10 minutes earlier, when she was spotted in our neighbor's driveway camera, or that I had driven down a different street when I was looking for her. And the horror of seeing her with her leg completely snapped is stuck in my mind. I just hate that this happened to my sweet girl and that she was out all night, potentially lying there in pain. She has been an angel and best friend to my 18 month old daughter, and I just want her to feel better as soon as possible and be able to get around again. I feel very powerless to help her at the moment and just need support.
Hello sweet Trixie and her humans. Sorry you find yourself here under these circumstances but this is the best place to be for support information and knowledge. Your post has been approved so ask away with any questions etc.
Want to address the guilt and anger thing first. That's what humans do. We look for reasons to feel guilty, the wudda cudda shudda syndrome, the anger Etc this is not what Trixie would want from any of you. She doesn't blame, she isn't angry, she's just ready to get on with healing and being with the humans that she loves and who love her.
As hard as it is right now, it's important to keep your energy positive, upbeat and focused on the present. You were faced with a horrible unexpected experience, Sowly but surely you will move past that and on to watching Trixie amaze you with her resilience and desire to be Trixie again..
Recovery is no picnic for the first couple of weeks, especially with all the extra soreness, scrapes and bruises she encountered. What pain medicines did they send her home with? What dose, frequency and how much does she weigh? It's important to stay on top of the pain and not let it get a head start.
It's important that she drinks and pees, however she may not feel like eating much and may not poop for several days. That's all normal. If she needs help getting up you can use a towel as a sling to help support her. It may take several days before she's able to be mobile enough to get up on her own. She'll get there though, promise!
If you have hardwood floors you'll want to put down some non-slip scatter rugs for traction . It also helps to have raised water and food bowls. You can gently massage her up and down to help relax her tense muscles.
Stay connected and let us know how things are going. Remember, recovery doesn't last forever it just feels like it right now!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Oh my gosh I'm so terribly sorry this happened to your family and Trixie. It's devastating for everyone but as Sally said (and I can't really say it better myself), Trixie just wants to move on with life and feel good. And she WILL! She's on the way to recovery.
Dang I wish you could have been there on our support Zoom call last night. If you want to talk in person our Tripawds Helpline is always available OK?
Meanwhile, everything Sally mentioned is 100% spot on. You may want to check out Jerry's Required Reading List to get your house ready for her life on three legs. It's not a big deal to make those modifications, doesn't have to be expensive, and really, you would have done it anyways for her when she gets older. You're just doing it sooner now.
And don't worry that she can't "run" with you anymore. As time goes on she'll be able to do walks of course, but you can always get her a dog stroller and then she can "run" with you indefinitely!
Just stay positive right now, try to release the hard emotions you have about the event (I know that's super difficult), make sure she has good pain management (what did she come home with?), and ...
consider canine rehab therapy for her. She's been through a lot and a rehab therapist can help her heal faster, better, and show you how to ensure she has a long, pain-free life on three. The Tripawds Foundation can even pay for a first rehab visit if your insurance doesn't cover it so let me know if you want help finding a therapist OK?
We are here for you. You and Trixie have got this! Keep us posted.
Thank you both! She is currently on 300 mg gabapentin 3 times a day. After her fentanyl patch wore off, she actually started to act more normal so I think her extreme lack of alertness and energy was from the drugs when she first came home. Also, once I saw her open wound, I could understand why she doesn't want to move. When she came home, you could see not only her tendons, but her bones in her right front foot (which was not amputated). Thankfully, her deep wound is already looking much better after four days at home. You can no longer seen bones and the tissue is coming back in. She is still only able to hop around for 30 seconds before lying down because of her other injured leg, but I am much more hopeful now that I see her making some slow progress. We are just loving on her and spoiling her as much as possible as she heals.
That's a pretty good dose of Gabapentin, it does sound like she's getting good pain control. And yep, her body has been through a LOT so she is naturally going to take much longer to recuperate. Don't look at YouTube videos and think "Why isn't Trixie moving like that?!" She's her own girl and will heal on her own timeline. You will be amazed at the physical and emotional progress she makes over time, much faster than a human would.
I'm glad she is doing better and you sound better too! Please keep us posted.
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