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Oscar
When I got Oscar my whole life changed, he was the most beautiful little
thing I had ever seen, he was so small as a puppy he would love to sit on my
shoulder or fall asleep on my shoe. But now he's pretty big, a Ridgeback x
Mastiff, but he's more beautiful now then ever! He is a handsome and
intelligent looking dog, and he loves people and other dogs so much! He
taught me so much about love and responsibility, the fact that you get back
10 fold what you put in and that in a dog's eyes you really are their entire
world!
One Saturday night I was at a friend's house and Oscar was at home with his
best mate Shay (Neapolitan Mastiff x Staffy) and my cousins girlfriend, Peta
(I lived with my cousin at the time, Shay was his dog). It was one week
before Oscar's first birthday. The dogs were outside playing and Peta heard
Shay barking, she said she knew it was a different sort of bark, a
distressed bark. Peta went outside and there were no dogs to be seen in the
backyard, she then went out the front and Shay was standing there howling in
distress. She couldn't see Oscar, she grabbed Shay and starting calling him
looking everywhere in panic. She then heard a bark in the back yard and when
she opened the door she saw Oscar covered in blood with his rear leg hanging
behind him, he ran inside and went straight to my room, laying on the floor
panting in pain. Peta tied Shay up and called me straight away, she was in a
state of absolute panic. All she could say on the phone was 'Oscar's in
trouble! I think his legs broken, I think he's been hit by a car!' I hung up
the phone and went straight there, it's a bit of a blur but I was shaking so
badly my friends Jay and Vanessa drove me home. I was only 5 minutes away
and I ran into the house and went to Oscar, through all the pain he must
have been in he still got up to greet me wagging his blood stained tail. It
was 11pm and we rushed him to the Animal Emergency Centre about 20 minutes
away, it was the worst car trip of my life he was in so much pain the poor
thing. When we got there they ran him straight into the clinic, Jay and
drove with Oscar and Peta and Vanessa with Shay. We waited anxiously for
about an hour, with Shay being beside herself with worry, she couldn't get
close enough to me and the look on her wrinkled face said it all. When the
Vet came out she took me into another room and told me the news wasn't good,
aside from the obvious leg injury he had a very hard hit and there was blood
in his lungs, he had lost a lot of blood and they had to transfuse some into
him and also he was in terrible shock. They weren't sure if he was going to
make it through the night they told me it already would cost me at least 2
thousand dollars to keep him alive and suggested I put him down. I couldn't
bear the thought of it and told her to do all they could to save him. I had
to pay fifty percent up front to leave him there (which presents a big issue
I think, there has to be a better way!). I went and said good bye to him and
again he got up to greet me, I laid back down with him and wrapped him in a
blanket. I hated to leave him but they said I had to. I went home for the
night but Shay and I stayed up all night crying.
I called back the next day and he said he wasn't any better or any worse,
that it was still touch and go and that I could come in for a short visit. I
went in and he had lots of tubes and things in him, he looked like he's lost
2 kilos already and basically I thought then I was going to lose him for
sure, he couldn't even lift his head to say hello to me. He needed oxygen
to be fed through a tube in his nose but they said he simply would not allow
them to insert the tube and it was more damaging for him to be that
distressed. I let him rest and went home. The next day they called and said
they nearly lost him but in the end put a big bag over his head that fed the
oxygen that way. After 4 days he was finally out of the critical situation
and I had to take him to his normal vet to deal with the other injuries. I
went and got him and boy was he happy to see me! Even though I visited him
every day while he was in Animal Hospital I think he knew that day I was
taking him home. Even the vets were laughing with me saying he's the only
dog they've met that wags his tail when he gets examined, he just loves
people!
I took him straight to his regular vet (I vet that I think is the best in
the world! Oscar loves seeing him and he loves seeing Oscar.) Geoff. He told
me that Oscar had severely damaged his hip and that I had two choices,
amputate his leg or go and see a specialist surgeon in the city for a
operation that costs $5000. I thought about it and decided to go to the city
to see the surgeon. I took him straight there and the next day he was in
surgery getting screws and wire to hold his hip together. The next week was
horrible, I had to leave him there and I wasn't allowed to visit. There was
no one at the clinic overnight and I was so worried about him being by
himself. Shay refused to eat the whole time he was gone so we were worried
about her too. She was so clingy and so sad all the time.
I picked him up and brought him home, for twelve weeks he had to on bed
rest, he wasn't allowed to move and I had to carry him outside to go to the
toilet and carry him to bed etc. I was lucky I could take him into work with
me and I didn't spend a second away from him during that twelve weeks. The
saddest thing was that him and Shay couldn't be together, but she knew he
was home and started eating again. At the end of the twelve weeks I had to
take him back for a check up and the vet then told me that Oscar should have
been using his leg more, he testing his feeling in his leg and then admitted
that during the surgery he nicked one of his nerves, the leg was now
paralysed. He told me there was a small chance that over time he might get
some movement back but suggested I amputate his leg. I was devastated all
this hard work, everything that Oscar had already been through!! I took the
chances and decided to give it some time.
Over the following twelve months I tried physiotherapy, I tried exercising
the leg and to push Oscar to use it, I got a special brace made up to make
it sit the right way but none of it helped. So just after his second
birthday I took him to Geoff and got his leg amputated. It was one of the
hardest decisions I have ever had to make. The day I picked him up I
couldn't stop crying, he was groggy and just slept when we got home. The
next day I let him outside and he RAN! I mean he was actually running
around! He adjusted so quickly and now 6 months on he is doing everything a
dog with 4 legs would do! He runs and jumps and is the happiest I've seen
him for a long time, when he still had his leg it was weighing him down and
now he has so much more energy! It really has been a happy ending and I
wouldn't change him for the world!
Sorry I don't have any full photos of him since the amputation, but this is
his beautiful face! And another one of him pouncing on Bam (sadly Shay
passed a year ago, she is deeply, deeply missed by Oscar and myself) my
cousins American Bulldog pup while he was sleeping!
Kelly Bates
Tuesday September 26, 2006
UPDATE:
Hi Cynthia!
Oscar is two and a half now.. the original accident happened a year and a
half ago and the whole thing ended 6 months ago when he lost his leg. He
really is so much happier now. No the driver didn't stop and it was such a
nasty blow he must have been speeding quite a bit. I found that very hard to
deal with, but then again I thought he may have wanted to stop but Shay was
out too and she was very protective, and scary when she wanted to be so
maybe he was too frightened to leave his car. I'm still not sure if Oscar
ran away after the hit or if he was laying on the ground, either way he was
hit really hard and I'm really disappointed he didn't bother to stop, if
Peta wasn't at my house I wouldn't have found him for an hour or so! I don't
know what people are thinking sometimes.
Yes the hip does work, but now there is just a stump (that's how I know he wants
a scratch behind his ear!). I asked the vet about the metal and what effects it would
have and they said that he may get arthritis when he's older but there is
medication that can help that. When I got it amputated (it's his rear left
leg) they said that the screws would have no effect at all because of the
minimal movement in that hip.
Although it doesn't get overly cold here, just for about 3 months a year and
never snowing or anything, but being a Ridgeback he's not too fond of the
cold anyway and he spends most of his time inside with me. I got him a
little waterproof coat with lambs wool for walks in winter too. But that is
really interesting and I will be definitely mentioning it to my vet next
visit! It sounds like Cassie is getting very well looked after and that's so
great to hear, I love it when I find people as passionate about their pets
as I am, and sadly all to many end up in the pound because people don't
think through the commitment.
Thank you so much for replying and for having such a great site! I hope
Cassie is doing great and Oscar gives her a big lick hello! Lots more photos
coming soon!!!
Thanks again,
Kelly
Thursday September 28, 2006
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