BACKGROUND - APRIL 2019

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From No Paw Left Behind

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Goober recently came to our rescue needing immediate medical attention. He was originally rescued from Broward Animal Shelter and brought to a clinic with a large opening on his back with his lower vertebra visible through the opening with large amounts of puss draining all down his back side. He was in extreme amounts of pain. He was quickly sedated and given some medication for his pain and was prepped for surgery. Even with sedation and pain medication, he still wanted no one near his backside and screamed in pain if anyone tried to lift his tail. The surgery showed significant evidence that this area was exposed to the air for a long amount of time as his skin around the wound was fully healed improperly and needed to be resected to reattach the edges of his skin. The clinic tried their best to clear the infection and irrigated the area as much as they could, closed the opening and put in drains to help aid in further drainage of the infection. During the surgery Goober struggled to keep his temperature up and he was wrapped in warming blankets, given warm IV fluids and even had socks on but he was so emaciated that he struggles to keep in any body heat. Once the surgery was complete, they quickly brought him in to get x-rays before he woke up so they could get the pictures they needed without causing extra discomfort. The radiographs showed he previously had pins, screws and bone cement placed for a reason that was not evident at the time. He was started on large doses of Antibiotics but seemed to still have drainage to continue to pour out and his drain holes were not closing. He came back to the clinic for a recheck a few weeks later and the veterinarian decided that the pins, screws and cement were holding on to the infection so they needed to come out ASAP before the infection killed him. At this time the previous rescue did not have the funds to cover this surgery and one of our volunteers stepped in and he was transferred to our rescue. On Monday he was taken to one of our trusted veterinarians to see what could be done. Immediately they collected a sample of the puss to see what kind of infection we are dealing with and if the antibiotics he is one are going to help clear it. When the results came back it was an antibiotic resistant E. Coli. Luckily there is a antibiotic that can clear this type of infection but it is very expensive and is very harsh to kidneys so he will need to be started on a low dose and could possibly need to be hospitalized while on it to give him round the clock care. We also took him in for a CT scan to see how deep the infection has gotten and if the screws, pins, and bone cement needed to come out and why he needed them in the first place. The results of the CT showed that there is no current or old fracture in his spine or pelvis and the reason for the surgery is unknown. Currently the bone cement has no contact with the screws and pins so they are not stabilizing anything and have no purpose. This means that everything can come out safely and will not need to be put back in as his mobility is fine. Our veterinarians would like to take everything out at this time but it is going to be a very expensive surgery. We have goober meeting with 2 orthopedic surgeons tomorrow to see it they are willing to take on his case and we will hopefully have an estimate by tomorrow afternoon. Please help us give this deserving dog a second chance. It won’t be easy but he deserves the best care he can get and we can’t do it without donations. Please donate and share! No amount is too small!

CAUTION: Some images may be considered graphic