This is Rocky. He appears to be a beautiful red standard boy and is 1 1/2 years old. Rocky weighed in at 16 lbs, pretty good for a dachshund - what you cannot see in this photo is that he is skin and bones. He looks pretty good in the head and face area because he he swollen from a puncture wound that caused a hole in his trachea and allowed air to seep into his tissues around his head and neck. According to our vet he should weigh 20 to 22 lbs. Rocky was surrendered by an older couple who had several yard dogs that they could no longer care for. Rocky was the smallest and was probably injured fighting for his food. He seemed fine when we picked him up, a happy, energetic, fun loving pup - but within hours it looked like you had inserted an inner tube around his neck and started pumping in air. He was rushed to the emergency vet and spent the next 36 hours in an oxygen chamber and being pumped full of medications. The emergency vet bill was $1100.00 dollars and he has not even made it to his foster home yet. We got Rocky on Saturday Feb. 13th, 2010 - as of Feb 16th he is back at the vet getting fluids, because he is refusing to drink. He is starting to eat a little and seems to feel a little better as the air dissipates from around his head. This beautiful boy, who just wants to be loved, is not through yet. He may still have to have an expensive surgery to repair the trachea, if it is a tear and not just a puncture and he does not continue to improve. Everyone involved in his care has said, he is the sweetest boy and has taken all his treatments like a trooper. Please donate to Rocky's care through PayPal or send a check to: Neil Cortus, DRNA, 226 E. Central Ave., Greensburg, IN 47240 with a memo for Rocky # 8044. He has so much life left ahead of him if we can get him well and will make a wonderful family dog for the right adopter. Thank you! UPDATE: February 19, 2010 - It appears that Rocky has turned the corner and the trachea is healing. He did not have to go the the vet for fluids yesterday and got to have his IV cath pulled. He is eating and diet high in water, (home made chicken and rice with lots of liquid) and he is keeping it down. He still has a lot of air in his body, which feels really strange when you pet him, but it is getting better and not worse. He will have to wait two weeks to get his shots and neuter, we don't want anything to upset him and cause more problems, so my pups are very unhappy to have a stranger in the house they cannot see, but is taking up mom's bedroom. I also had to make a special potty area for him, as I cannot put anything around his neck to walk him and don't want him running loose in my backyard where my dogs go. ALL that said, he is sweet and beautiful and craves loving. Thank you for the prayers, donations and please pray the the healing continues. |
