Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

TUESDAY MAY 25 2004

NOON UPDATE

Erin reports ...

Patch's first surgery went well

      The surgery went well, Dr. Arnold said. Dr. Arnold, who has a special interest in orthopedics, deepened the groove where Patch's knee cap is supposed to be and put the attachments in the right place so Patch can have more of a normal plane of motion. "Dog's legs are put together much like ours," Dr. Arnold said. "Imagine if your knee cap was on the outside of your leg." Dr. Arnold has seen a few little dogs with congenital problems of knee caps being on the inside of the leg, but he had never before seen Patch's condition, where the knee caps were formed on the outside of the legs.

      Patch's condition was a "Grade 4." If it had been a "Grade 2" or "Grade 3" he may have had a better chance of 100% mobility after recovering from the surgeries. Dr. Arnold said that Patch has a 70% chance of regaining full motion in his legs. Without the surgery, Patch would most likely have had debilitating arthritis within two years. At least now, because of Angie, who saved Patch's life, this nice doctor, our wonderful contributors, and our Straydog caregivers, who will be helping to nurse Patch back to health, we will be giving Patch a chance for a decent life!

      Dr. Arnold is leaving Sherrill Veterinary Hospital in six weeks for another position out of state, where he will be able to study orthepedics further. He will schedule Patch's other leg surgery for right before he leaves Texas, and he will keep in touch with us about the recovery.

      This morning the doctor wants to see how well Patch is getting along on his new "good leg." Then he will call us and tell us if we can bring Patch home to Straydog today.

Puppy Thelma is now Puppy Coco

      Thelma's new name is Coco. One of her new dad's children named her Coco over the weekend. Everything is going fine at their apartment. Tina talked to the guardian yesterday afternoon, and this gentleman (whose name is Russell) said that they aren't using the crate and there have been no messes! Coco is being a very good girl! Russell left for work yesterday at 7:00 a.m., and his roomate got home at 1:00 p.m., and Coco had not pottied inside.

      Also, per Russell, the door that blows open is supposed to be repaired soon.

      We recommended a vet in their area for Coco's spay surgery in a few weeks and hope things continue to go well for little Coco (formerly of the Thelma and Louise duo).

Operation Kindness's 10th Annual "Dog Day Afternoon"

      Operation Kindness, a no-kill shelter in the Dallas area, has invited Straydog to participate in their Dog Day Afternoon event on Saturday, June 5th from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. It's a day of fun and bonding for families and dogs, benefiting the homeless animals at Operation Kindness.

      Some of the events include an 'honor walk', canine contests, an agility session and entertainment!

      Pre-registration is going on now for those who want to participate in the events with their dogs. Spectators can attend for free! See more details at www.operationkindness.org and click on "10th Annual Dog Day Afternoon."

      For Straydog to have a spot reserved we will need a tent. Does anyone have a tent we could borrow, or know of where we could rent one?

      Thank you!

Bill reports ...

Today's visit to Dr. Reeves' clinic

      Tina and Erin will be taking a van full of dogs to Tyler this afternoon, and there will be a report on the vet visit in tomorrow's update.

Baby Girl's back in with Sandy, and Jeannie's back in her hospital kennel

      Although Jeannie and Sandy seemed to get along well together yesterday, Sandy got all excited about a pair of dogs passing by his kennel during their trip to the big play yard, and he attacked Jeannie and was beating her up until Tina finally got in their kennel and broke up the skirmish with a water hose. No one was hurt, thank goodness, and Jeannie was immediately taken back to her inside kennel in the hospital.

      An hour or so later Erin arrived with Baby Girl (returned to Erin in Plano by her guardians yesterday), and Baby Girl fit right back in with Sandy, whom she had been kenneling with for a couple of weeks. No problems.

Thanks to Pam and Gary Bollinger, who visited last Friday looking for another older dog

      The Bollingers, longtime supporters of Straydog, have already adopted two older dogs from us--Maggie (a Black Lab) and Dallas (a Rottweiler mix)--, and they came out to visit this past Friday to maybe pick out a third dog. They looked at every dog here and went home with some candidates to talk about and consider. Pam (who works in a medical laboratory) also showed us more about how to use our microscope.