w w w . S t r a y d o g. o r g U p d a t e
POSTED EVERY DAY AT NOON CENTRAL TIME U.S.A.
Straydog Inc., The Late Pat Arnold's Happy Home for Strays, a No-Kill Dog Shelter
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147 * (903) 479-3497 * EMAIL: straydog@straydog.org

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

THURSDAY JUNE 17 2004

NOON UPDATE

Erin reports ...

Patch's leg is probably okay, says the vet

     Dr. Arnold (the original surgeon) examined Patch and took an x-ray and saw that Patch's pins were still in place. Patch must have just bumped his leg or turned it wrong. He did not mess up his pins or re-fracture his leg. Whew!

     Dr. Arnold gave us anti-inflammatory medicine and said that after using this through the weekend, if Patch is putting more weight on the hurt leg, then that means that everything will be okay. The fracture is not healing very fast, though, and because of this new injury, the doctor said, perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait eight or ten more weeks before doing surgery on the other leg. We are going to talk with Dr. Arnold more about this next week.

     Because of Dr. Arnold's schedule to move to Tennessee, he would not be able to do the surgery on Patch's other leg any later than June 23rd, but he did mention that he would be coming back to Dallas around Thanksgiving time. So, if we waited the eight or ten weeks, instead of costing around $300, the surgery would be $650 or $700 for the remaining leg. (Dr. Arnold thinks this is what Dr. Turner would charge. Probably the Dallas Surgical Center would be even more than this.)

     When we talked about the second leg surgery being on the 23rd of June, Dr. Arnold suggested that we get Patch a cart so that he can romp about and spend time outside without re-injuring his legs. The doctor would like us to get the kind of cart designed to let Patch begin using his repaired legs slowly. I suppose a cart would be good right now even if we have to wait the eight or ten weeks before the next operation. This may have been what Dr. Arnold had in mind too.

     I told Dr. Arnold that we want to do what is best for Patch and that we'd call him after the weekend and let him know if the redamaged leg is doing better.

10:00 p.m. report from Erin's house in Plano

Patch is a great, sweeeeet little dog

     Rather than driving Patch back to Straydog after the long drive and visit with Dr. Arnold in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, I brought the little fella back to my home in Plano to spend the night. Patch and I have enjoyed several short walks this afternoon. Patch wants to just sit outside and enjoy the shade, fresh air and summer breezes.

     I introduced him to two neighbors who thought he had a lot of "character." "Patch looks like the dog on the little rascals," one neighbor said. (This neighbor would love a dog but his wife won't have one. So, we know that won't work, unfortunately.)

     It is now 10:00 p.m., and Patch is perfectly crate-trained, and hasn't made a peep all afternoon or evening. I have heard Patch be very, very loud with his barking and whining at Straydog, but perhaps he realizes that my husband won't go for this, so he's behaving very well at my house. This gorgeous little Pit Bull or Pit/Terrier mix has had bowel movements twice at the side of my house (outside) and has urinated a few times on his short walks too, so I imagine he's okay for the night.

     I have to put him in the crate because although he gets along with my chow mix, Rosie, if he's loose, he just goes bonkers. When I first brought him in, I had him loose in a bedroom for a few minutes while I brought the crate in, and I saw him grab a shoe and swing it around, and it struck his repaired leg. Patch is just too playful to be let loose when we have to be so careful about his leg. I appreciate and know how careful the caregivers at Straydog have been with Patch, after seeing how difficult it really is to keep this little rascal quiet.

     I have an appointment with Dr. Messonier tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 10:30. I'll pay for it with my money. I just wanted to know if there's a more safe anti-inflammatory than Rimadyl. Dr. Messonier is both a conventional and holistic vet, and he writes a column for The Dallas Morning News. He just happens to be only a half mile from my home and happens to have a half hour available at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday). I can ask about Anthony's cancer/Toby's debilitating disease, and other questions too in my half hour with him, and I also hope to get possibly a safer anti-inflammatory drug for our Patches.

     Whoever finally adopts Patch will get a really fine dog! Again, I wish I weren't at my limit of dogs. Four dogs and seven cats is just really a bit much, though. I wish I could keep Patch, but I can't. But someone surely will not have exceeded their limit of pets, and will be able to adopt this lovely, wonderfully playful and sweet fellow! We'll get him all fixed up and ready to go, and I'll bet he'll find his forever home as soon as we begin taking him to Adoption Day! Patch is so sweeeet!

Email message about Patch's possible reinjury

From: Linda Russell
To: straydog@straydog.org
Subject: Patch's leg
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 17:37:29 -0500

Dear Bill: 
 
Just to put my two cents worth in about Patch's limping on his repaired leg:  Several years ago I adopted a dog who had been hit by a car.  She had been brought by a good Samaritan to a vet, who, without charge and because of his love of animals, operated on her hip, removing the ball joint.  I adopted the dog as she was in recovery.  Although at first she seemed to be recovering fine, after a week or two she started to limp on the affected leg.  The vet who had operated said sometimes a dog couldn't adjust and the next step would be amputation.  Before I would do that I took the dog to the orthopedic doctors at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center.   The specialists determined that the original surgery had left a little too much of the end of the bone which was rubbing and thus caused the dog pain.  After another operation the dog recovered beautifully and now, eight years later, is doing well with only a slight limp and a little less strength in that leg.   She doesn't even know she is limited.
 
Linda Russell
Dallas