06/11/2020
Who can help us make a difference in the life of a shelter dog?
“Bruce" is one of the sweetest, most good-natured, big-hearted dogs you could ever meet at the pound. This gentle giant is only about 1.5 years of age but was dealt a bad hand early in life. Bruce was picked up by our local shelter's road officers (here in South Florida) after being hit by a car on April 11th. He arrived at the shelter with a hugely swollen right hind leg, road rash and a bloody face. The shelter provided him with pain relief and basic care but with their limited resources there was not much more they could do except for cage rest. He’s super friendly and a goofball with everyone … he would probably make the worst guard dog because he just loves everybody!
With his big smile and happy personality, Bruce won the heart of our vet Dr. Kramer who decided we would foster him while his injuries healed. But even after 6 weeks of cage rest at the shelter, he continued to show signs of being in pain and not walking normally. His right hind leg was starting to show signs of muscle atrophy too since he wasn’t using it well. We decided to bring him to a veterinary clinic to get X-rays and blood work done. The x-rays show that Bruce will need hip surgery to repair a fracture. When he was hit by the car, the ball-and-socket joint of his right hip was damaged. The “ball” part of the joint fractured off from the main part of his femur bone. In dogs, this is repaired by a technique called an “FHO" (femoral head ostectomy). This is the surgical removal of the head and neck of the femur. In simpler terms, it is the removal of the “ball” part of the ball-and-socket that makes up the hip joint. This prevents any further grinding of broken bone upon broken bone and relieves the pain of this injury. After this corrective surgery, the muscles and ligaments of his leg would strengthen enough to compensate for the loss of this joint, which would allow the leg to function well again, without any pain.
After this orthopedic surgery, he will need physical therapy and further care. Project PetSnip really wants to give Bruce a chance in life but we cannot do this without some support from you. We are willing to keep Bruce under our care until he is completely healed which could be 8 weeks or so but we are in desperate need of funds in order to cover all the costs involved. We know that everyone is going through a hard time right now but if your situation allows it we would greatly appreciate any donation. Funds will be used to cover the cost of the x-rays, bloodwork, pain-medication, antibiotics, FHO surgery, physical therapy and any other care he may need. Once he's past his surgery and recovery, we'll look to find him a great home.
Thank you so much for helping us to save Bruce and giving him a pain-free existence where he can run and play with all his four legs again!
Who can help us make a difference in the life of a shelter dog? Bruce" is one of the sweetest, most good-natured, big-hearted dogs you could ever meet at the pound. This gentle giant is only about 1.5 years of age but was dealt a bad ...
