Zadi is a beautiful 4-year-old patient of our clinic. On Halloween, a squirrel was too tempting for Zadi. She ran out onto the road in front of her house and was struck by an oncoming car. She was immediately brought to our clinic to assess her. She was in shock and had extensive wounds to her legs that needed treatment, and needed intensive care for her injuries. She was transferred to the emergency clinic to continue her treatment, due to the severity of her wounds.
She had road rash on all of her legs, but her most affected leg was her right hind leg. This leg had been broken below the ankle in multiple locations and had severe damage to the skin. Despite attempts to treat this leg to heal the skin wounds, the leg, unfortunately, continued to worsen and become more diseased due to its severe injuries. Her injured leg was so infected and painful that she was not putting any weight on it. No improvement was seen after a week of bandaging, multiple therapies with silver (which aids in healing), and antibiotics. After over a week of treatments that were failing, Zadi’s owner made the decision of going forward with a leg amputation.
For most people thinking about the option of a leg amputation, it may seem an extreme and undesirable option to pursue. However, in situations like Zadi, it is the best (and sometimes the only) option to consider. Zadi was a young, healthy and active dog, and she was a great candidate to do well on three legs.
Zadi’s surgery to amputate her right hind leg was performed at Fairmont in early November. We are thrilled to say it was a wonderful success! Zadi was moving around even the day after surgery. She seemed to have a smile on her face- so happy that the source of her pain and discomfort was gone! She continued to thrive using her remaining three legs- we have attached a video showing how well she is walking at two weeks after surgery!
Thank you to Zadi for being so patient and pleasant for all of her treatments, her caring owner, the staff and surgeons at the emergency clinic who did their best to heal Zadi’s leg and the staff at Fairmont for helping with every step of her recovery. She is a very lucky girl- to survive a face-off with a car- and to have such a wonderful owner devoted to her recovery.
Blog by Christina Parker, Veterinarian
