Doing Well

Maggie's surgery was on Friday, and she has been doing well afterwards. After the first day she ended up taking out about 5 or 6 of her staples on her tummy, so we had to take her back and they drained some fluid and stitched her back up. Her tummy is still pretty big, but Dr. Henderson told us that was just a combination of fluid and swelling.

When we brought her home. Still really out of it!

This is her tummy... BEFORE she ripped all of her staples out!

Since she hasn't really been eating, he told me I could start feeding her some Ensure, baby food, or some yogurt for some nutrition. She has been eating that, but she still has mucusy diarrhea, which has been going on for a while. I just hope to get her back in the routine of eating her normal hard food but I don't really know how to.

My dad's sense of humor.

Her incision looks good. I'm actually surprised its holding up, the collar she has isn't big enough so she can get around it and lick and bite at her stitches and staples. She has been resting a lot, but one thing that has been bothering me is her shaking. Not normal little dog shaking either, almost like a Parkinsons (for a human reference...) like shaking. It comes and goes, and I don't think she is chilly. She also gets very, very anxious and restless sometimes, mainly at night. She won't calm down and will just yell and whine at us. I'm hoping she is just wanting out of the kennel and she isn't in pain.

Oh, and also... I noticed some blood on my hand after holding her Friday. I checked it out, and her poor little nipple was barely hanging on! I asked the vet about it when we took her to get some stitches in, and he said the clippers caught it. They just about took it off... that has to hurt.

Otherwise, she is doing GREAT! I'm so excited to see that she has progressed so much in so little time. I am so very thankful. We will return to the vet on Friday to get her staples and stitches removed, and probably discuss her pelvic surgery. We'll see.

Relaxing next to momma :)

Sleepy time.

Good and Bad News

Good news! Sensation has returned in her right foot. When you pinch it or touch it, she looks back to check out what you're doing. Yay!

Resting with momma :)

Maggie had a check-up visit today with Dr. Henderson. We informed him that her appetite has diminished to close to nothing, and she is still having loose stools with mucus in them. He checked her out and did another X-Ray. He said her loose bowel movements are to blame on the medicine, Previcox. He noticed her tummy is still pretty big and the attention immediately turned to that. He palpated her stomach for a bit and told us she has an abdominal hernia, and will need surgery tomorrow morning. Her belly is so big because that is her intestines. This is why she has no appetite. We are keeping her tonight and she will be able to come home after the surgery tomorrow. He told us the surgery is common and nothing to stress about. I hope so. Wish us luck!

This is her belly. Its a lot bigger on the right side than the left.

Day 5

Yesterday was a little less easy going than the last, but not too much. Since she has not been eating her hard food, we have been giving her soft canned food. Like I mentioned earlier, this loosened her bowels and she went to the bathroom 4 times yesterday. She is a fluffy thing, so it got all over her fur on her back end, and I would have to clean her up every time. 

The vet advised us not to bathe her just yet, but I want to so bad. The first time was really messy, so I just held her up and ran her back end under some warm water and cleaned her up. After that, which was really difficult to do myself, I have started holding her tail up while she does her business. Sometimes when she urinates she will get some on her leg too. I clean her up with some doggie wipes or Huggies Baby Wipes afterwards. I am so proud she hasn't had an accident in her kennel!

These are the wipes we use. We got them at a grocery store and they work really well!

She slept well during the day yesterday, but got very anxious and restless towards the end of the day. I didn't know what to do. I took her out because sometimes she starts to whine and move around when she needs to go outside. That wasn't it, so I figured she was either in pain or was just plain pissed she was in that kennel. She was shaking (which she used to do before the accident, anyway) but then she would start panting, which is a sign of pain. Couldn't tell if it was just her being worked up or not. Also, while washing her off, I realized how badly bruised she is. Basically the entire back half of her body is dark purple, besides her left leg. Her right leg is still extremely swollen and bruised as well.

Dr. Henderson is trying to wean her off of her narcotic pain medication, so we were sent home with a very, very small amount to last us until wednesday. She was getting 1 ml in the morning and 1 ml at night, and we got sent home with probably about 2 - 2 1/2 mls to last us a week. We really have to ration it and it's killing me seeing her hurting! But she is also getting a non-narcotic pain medication and anti-inflammatory as well as an antibiotic everyday. Hopefully that is doing something. I give her about 1/4 ml if she looks to be hurting and see how she acts after that.

As for her ACE bandage sling we have been using to help her have support and balance while sniffing out the perfect place outside, I think she really enjoys it. She won't stop! Its almost like she gets very frantic but in a very excited way. I have to stop her and tell her to calm down, I don't want her to hurt herself. She is really impressing me!

Surprisingly she slept well last night, she finally calmed down and went to sleep. I have been sleeping on the living room floor next to her kennel and she only woke up once and whined for a minute then went back to sleep. She is doing well this morning, but had another loose BM. Tried to get her to eat hard food with no avail, checked her teeth to make sure her mouth isn't injured (per advice from a forum, didn't even think of that) and she was fine. Heated up some hard food with a little water to soften it, and mixed a very small amount of the canned food with it to give it that smell. She ate it! But she isn't drinking as much water as before. She is being so good, though. More to come later!

Resting well with her friends!

Puppy Love!

Maggie is doing well. I was so, so nervous about bringing her home, although excited, I didn't know what to expect. I set up her cage, put her favorite blanket in there (it is so soft and cuddly!) and put her some friends to snuggle up to and keep her company in there as well! Millie (our other dog) was so curious, she didn't know what to think. We don't put our dogs in the kennel or anything (I know, I know). When I lived on my own I put Maggie up, but since moving back in with my parents we don't. I knew she was going to hate it.

Curious Millie.

She cried and whined so much once I put her in there! I felt so horrible. Millie was being so sweet though and wouldn't leave her cage. She would lay down and put her nose against the door and just stare at her. Maggie really couldn't get comfortable; she kept getting up, going in circles, laying down, and repeating. I could tell she was getting frustrated, so I took her out and laid with her on a blanket for a few minutes to calm her down. Dad came home from work, and after a very excited greeting I put her back in her kennel to sleep.

Millie is so sad that Aunt Maggie is hurt!

She ate a good dinner that night, and guess what? She had a bowel movement! I was so thrilled. I'm guessing that means her nerve damage was only temporary. It was very small and hard, but no blood was present. She had another normal sized one this morning too! She won't eat her normal dog food, so we are giving her the soft canned food. I want to try to get her to eat her normal food again so this new food doesn't loosen her bowels, but I don't know how. Tried mixing it, but she just eats around it.

Getting spoiled with the good stuff. You can kind of see how out of line her hips are here.

She is taking to the sling well also. I use an ACE bandage around her hips and hold her up with a little support while she finds a good place to do her business. Dr. Henderson called this morning to check on her, and he was just as excited as we were about her BM. She is resting well this morning. More updates to come soon!

Day 3 After The Accident

We went to the vet to visit her again today. No bowel movement yet. Dee, the tech, (she is my favorite!) said she periodically takes Maggie outside to see if she will urinate on her own, and she hasn't yet. I took her outside and she went! I was so excited! Dee said she was walking a little better today than she was yesterday but I couldn't see it. She also ate a little bit more while we were there. The even better news: we are meeting Dr. Henderson and 4 p.m. today for discharge information and to take our baby home! They told us that she will have to stay in the kennel all day every day, except to go outside. My mom and I went and bought her some soft dog food, hoping it would be a little easier to digest, and a new soft toy to cuddle with in the kennel. I'm nervous, but excited. We have a very rambunctious dog in our house, so we'll have to keep her calm. Now, I have to find her favorite blanket and set this thing up!

The Beginning

Hey all,

On Tuesday night, April 26, 2011, my sweet baby Maggie was run over by a truck. I decided to begin this blog to document her progress, recovery, and story; hopefully helping someone out there in the same situation as other blogs I ran across have helped me already. It helps me keep a positive outlook. Maggie is a 2 year old Jack Russell Terrier and the love of my life! She is such a sweet, loving and playful dog with a huge personality. BUT, my dad said this and I'll repeat it: I think she believes she is a cat with 9 lives (she might be on number 3 or so, she needs to chill). This dog has been through hell and back already and pulled through some pretty tough ordeals. She's definitely a trooper, and I know, I just know she'll come out of this leaving us impressed.

My cute little thing taking a nap.

Right after she was run over (I wasn't present, I was housesitting), my mother told me she was yelping and began dragging herself by her front legs, and was bleeding from her rectum. My parents jumped in the car and headed to the Emergency Vet Clinic. My dad even got pulled over by a state trooper he was driving so fast. Dad jumped out of the car (surprised the officer didn't freak out..) and ran to his window to tell him the situation. All he said was "Go, be careful but hurry." He didn't even check to see if they had a dog in the car, I'm guessing he must have a dog he loves at home! They called me after the vet had already seen her, which at first I got mad at them about but now I'm thankful I didn't have to see her in that condition. My father called me and told me, I freaked out. I'm surprised the neighbors didn't head over to check on my screaming. All I could say was "Is she alive?" I immediately jumped in the car and headed down the street in tornado weather (thankfully the vet was about 2 blocks from the house I was at). Her injuries were expectedly very extensive.

The X-Rays revealed a broken pelvis that was completely detached from her spine. S1, S2, and S3 vertebrae of her spine was broken. Her tail was broken and moved up about 2-3 inches and was parallel with her spine. Her hips were really out of whack, curving severely to the left. Her bladder was not visible, therefore possibly ruptured. She had no anal tone, meaning she suffered nerve damage from her broken spine and may be incontinent for the rest of her life. She was heavily sedated, her eyes were extremely glazed over, but I knew she knew who I was. It didn't look like my Maggie was in that body. I hugged and kissed her as much as I could, but didn't spend much time with her because she needed more pain medication. I didn't want her in pain, she was whining continuously. I said goodbye, and my family and I drove a quiet drive home.

The next morning, my mom and I had to transport her to our regular vet, Dr. Henderson, at 7:30. Good news - she had anal tone by the morning! When they took her temperature rectally, she tensed up which is such a good sign. She did urinate overnight but they weren't sure if it was voluntary or not, but no blood was present so that was a promising sign that her bladder wasn't ruptured. Trying the optimistic side, I can't believe being run over by a 5,000+ pound truck only did this to my 8 pound darling.

This is the day after in the car on the way to our regular vet. Still very sedated.

Dr. Henderson took a look at her X-Rays once we got there. He informed us that he would be keeping her for the next few days to manage her pain and assess her and her nerve function. He told us that most pelvic fractures in canines heal themselves, with the ability to walk, void, etc preserved. But, he told us that Maggies was so severe that hers would not. We could try to help her, but he sees little progress being made by that. An option we could look into would be surgery, but there is no surgeon in our area, we would have to go to a specialist at least 3 hours away or more, costing us approximately $5000. He also told me to go to www.caninecarts.com and familiarize myself with them. That just killed me. I realized that this is just going to be a long (and stressful..) waiting game. Every dog will heal differently, and there is nothing we can do but wait until we see progress, or not, and see how she is coming along.

The next day, I went to visit her in the morning. I was so excited to see her bright eyes and smiling face back! She wasn't as doped up on pain meds as before, and showed signs of excitement and happiness. She was licking my face and trying to get up and come to me. She did stand up, her left leg can hold a bit of weight (not much) and her right leg is worse. She has sensation in her left foot when you touch it. Her right foot though, she doesn't. When she tried to stand her right foot folded over and she kept trying to pick up her right leg to get it right, but she couldn't. Dr. Henderson told me she has not eaten at all, and they have removed her fluids they were administering subcutaneously. Later that day, they planned to take another X-Ray to determine if her bladder was intact or not. While I was there, she ate almost a whole can of dog food! She wouldn't drink water, so I would put some on my finger and stick it in the water bowl while she was licking it. She drank a good amount too!

Bright eyes and happy face are back!

I called the vet later and he told me her bladder is intact! It was visible on the X-Ray! She urinated right before the accident, I think that is what saved her bladder. I went to see her again that day, and the tech told us she had not had a bowel movement yet, but did urinate. Once again, they still aren't sure if it was voluntary or not. Her whole bottom half is very swollen and her whole belly is purple and bruised. She has been taking her outside but she won't urinate outside. She told us we could take her outside for some fresh air. She walked!! I mean, if you want to call it walking, but she did. My poor sweetheart, she was trying so hard. She is very unstable, and will walk about a foot then plop down. It was hard to watch. Her hips just kind of swing back and forth and her coordination is way off. I just wanted to cry, but I feel like she is a human and I need to show her my strength. I can see the confusion in her eyes and wondering what the hell is going on.

She has incredible willpower and I am hoping for the best. Keeping my fingers crossed. I will keep all of you who are interested updated. I will head to the vet in just a little bit and let you all know.