Yesterday, in a freak accident that I am having a hard time not blaming myself for, my 6 year old female blue heeler ran into the edge of a cars exposed front bumper beam. She was chasing a frisbee that I threw and hit my project car that was sitting in my neighbors driveway.
Imagine a metal wedge going straight into her left should blade at cattle dog speed.
She is currently at the emergency vet and we are waiting to transfer to an orthopedic surgeon and I could use advice.
I am anticipating the need to choose to attempt to repair her shoulder vs amputating.
I am wondering if anyone has experience to share related to heelers recoveries from major surgeries (I’m imagining it sucks) or experience with amputation recovery and 3 legged dogs (missing front leg).
Any help, prayers, good energy is appreciated. Thank you.
UPDATE: She is staying another night at the emergency vet. We still haven’t been able to find an orthopedic surgeon in Ohio to take her on. She has a 5” cut that is 3+” deep (currently packed and will get cleaned daily) and a fractured scapula. Am told humerus looks okay. I had them send x rays, but I don’t know how to read them.
Thank you again for all the kind words. All signs point to them trying to repair any damage, but again, appreciate experiences with any possible outcomes. Part of my thinks amputation would be easier for my beautiful crazy dog, so really need help building confidence that I can contain her if she ends up with a longer recovery.
Edit 2: For those wondering about the bumper beam:
UPDATE 2:
We managed to get her down to MedVet Columbus after OSU said they were slammed on Wednesday. In retrospect we should have just went for Columbus area from the start because there are tons of orthopedics down there. I guess Columbus suburbs have more money for their pets. She is at home and we are traveling as needed for her care.
Basically we will attempt to repair the shoulder after her giant wound heals up a little more. Her scapula is cracked more toward the shoulder joint than up high which really sucks With the big deep round, she is also high risk for infection if they attempt to throw any hardware in there too soon.
Tentatively we have a CT scan Monday to see if the inside of the joint is intact and if the joint is in fact repairable. If it’s repairable, and depending on the wound healing, maybe surgery next Thursday or the following Monday.
If it’s not repairable we will have to decide between fusion of the humerus and scapula or amputation. Still trying to gather info to help make that decision should we get to it.
We are currently on our 3rd drive down to Columbus since her bandages keep slipping off. She had a bad ride Wednesday with the pain meds wearing off but we are managing it better now. I think she’s getting more use to the drive and some of her whines are returning to happy/excited ones from her usual triggers at home.
Here’s some more pics, I put the GROSS one at the bottom of the Imgur post
Imagine a metal wedge going straight into her left should blade at cattle dog speed.
She is currently at the emergency vet and we are waiting to transfer to an orthopedic surgeon and I could use advice.
I am anticipating the need to choose to attempt to repair her shoulder vs amputating.
I am wondering if anyone has experience to share related to heelers recoveries from major surgeries (I’m imagining it sucks) or experience with amputation recovery and 3 legged dogs (missing front leg).
Any help, prayers, good energy is appreciated. Thank you.
UPDATE: She is staying another night at the emergency vet. We still haven’t been able to find an orthopedic surgeon in Ohio to take her on. She has a 5” cut that is 3+” deep (currently packed and will get cleaned daily) and a fractured scapula. Am told humerus looks okay. I had them send x rays, but I don’t know how to read them.
Thank you again for all the kind words. All signs point to them trying to repair any damage, but again, appreciate experiences with any possible outcomes. Part of my thinks amputation would be easier for my beautiful crazy dog, so really need help building confidence that I can contain her if she ends up with a longer recovery.
Edit 2: For those wondering about the bumper beam:
UPDATE 2:
We managed to get her down to MedVet Columbus after OSU said they were slammed on Wednesday. In retrospect we should have just went for Columbus area from the start because there are tons of orthopedics down there. I guess Columbus suburbs have more money for their pets. She is at home and we are traveling as needed for her care.
Basically we will attempt to repair the shoulder after her giant wound heals up a little more. Her scapula is cracked more toward the shoulder joint than up high which really sucks With the big deep round, she is also high risk for infection if they attempt to throw any hardware in there too soon.
Tentatively we have a CT scan Monday to see if the inside of the joint is intact and if the joint is in fact repairable. If it’s repairable, and depending on the wound healing, maybe surgery next Thursday or the following Monday.
If it’s not repairable we will have to decide between fusion of the humerus and scapula or amputation. Still trying to gather info to help make that decision should we get to it.
We are currently on our 3rd drive down to Columbus since her bandages keep slipping off. She had a bad ride Wednesday with the pain meds wearing off but we are managing it better now. I think she’s getting more use to the drive and some of her whines are returning to happy/excited ones from her usual triggers at home.
Here’s some more pics, I put the GROSS one at the bottom of the Imgur post
