My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help!

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lyoung_123
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My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help!

Post by lyoung_123 »

Last Thursday my son went to work and slammed the door shut, but it didn't close properly and our Shih Tzu mixed dog went outside. We did not find her until 3 hours later because she was thrown about 20 feet into a culvert or ditch. We immediately to her to the local animal hospital and had a vet look at her. He showed me the x-rays. She had broken her pelvis in four places and broke her right leg. They also said they needed to amputate her tail and put a plate in her back. He said they will get her on pain meds and fliuds, as she was in shock at the time. He said after surgery she should recover from this, but may have an accident here and there. She is home now and resting comfortably in a play pen. We are expressing her bladder three times a day. We also give her 2 different pain medications and an antibiotic. We asked the vet is there a chance that she may never walk again? He said there is a chance, but very unlikely. Tomorrow will be one week since she has had surgery. She hasn't attempted to stand as yet. Does any one know if it is to soon for her to stand? She is drinking water and will eat some cheese as we have to put her pills in the cheese because she clamps her mouth shut when we attempt to give her the pills. I have been reading all these horror stories about dogs being paralyzed after getting hit by a car..So this concerns me. She has three scars about 8 inches long, one on her mid back and one each one both sides on her hind legs. We take her in next week to get her staples removed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just held her for a while and gave her some water, which she did drink. There was a concern by the vet that their is blood in her urine, but the vet tested her kidneys and he said they are fine. He said the blood may be from the trauma from the
hit and or surgery. When we expressed her bladder we could see that her urine is very dark and pinkish brown. Should I be concerned? I noticed on the website that the vet that took care of her is an intern from Texas A&M University. The orthopedic surgeon graduated at the same university 6 years ago. Does any one know if a vet over sees an interns work ? Sorry for the long post. Layla is about 12 inches tall and with a medium built. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. ..I tried to post a pic, but it says it's to big. I will try with my camera later.
Bobbie
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by Bobbie »

First and foremost- she can do fine if she doesn't walk again. But one week is really early after a trauma as swelling has to go down. However, what worries me here is that you are expressing, which suggests spinal cord damage, and that wasn't what the surgery was for. Spinal cord damage can heal with rest but it can take time.

Second, in my experience (Davis vetmed in California) yes, a vet supervises the intern. It usually went students, then intern-resident, then vet would see us.

Very dark urine may be not drinking enough but you may want to take a urine sample to be tested (no need to take the dog) to see if it is something else. It's easy to get a UTI at this point.

I'm unclear as to where you went- is the intern working with an independent vet, or were you at Texas A&M? Feel free to call your vet with questions- don't expect to get on the phone with the vet every time but eventually you should hear back. This is a serious injury so you should be able to get information as needed.
Bobbie Mayer
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CarolC
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by CarolC »

I'm so glad you found her if she was off to the side like that. If my pelvis was broken in 4 places and my leg was broken, there is no way I would try to stand up and bear weight. The fractures would need to heal, and bones themselves actually can send pain signals to the body even though bone seems to be hard and inanimate. Pain can come directly from the bone. She has at least 5 locations where pain can come directly from the bone. I would expect structurally speaking, when she puts weight or pressure or resistance on those fractures in the pelvis that are healing, or her leg, her body sends her a signal that says "Don't". She is probably also somewhat sedated with the pain meds, which is probably good, I would want to keep her that way if it was my dog. It's a miracle she did not break either hip.
:angel:

I'm sorry for so many questions but which leg was broken, her right rear? Was her tail broken where it joined her spine and how far up did they amputate it? Does she have an inch or two left, or was it completely amputated?

Are you expressing her because she is dribbling? Does it require much pressure to express, or is it fairly easy? :arrow: Are you having any issues with urine in the bedding, with her lying in it, especially with the incisions on both sides? It sounds like she is going to be lying on an incision on either side she lies on. I am so glad you are successfully expressing if that is needed. Especially when you are having to handle and compress the bladder on a dog who has been through so much trauma. You must have had to really steady yourself to do it the first few times, part of you must have been scared to even touch her. That is really impressive, she is a lucky dog. I wonder if you have a medical background, the way you are on top of the nursing care. I am not a vet but I wonder if the darkness in the urine is just left over blood cells from the general bruising her internal organs received from the accident. The inner lining of the bladder may be shedding them off now. It has only been a week. If her urine smells OK, and she is on antibiotics, it might just be from contusions. Like I say, I am definitely not a vet.

If she has the shih tzu coat, you may want to shave her bottom and the insides of her legs to help keep her clean right now while you are expressing. I imagine they shaved her other places for the surgery, but maybe not on her bottom.

Was the plate at midback to stabilize a spinal fracture?

Is she defecating OK?

:flicker:
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theservs
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by theservs »

Hello,
I'm so sorry to hear about your fur-child. Someone forwarded me your post so I thought I would share a bit. My 4lb maltese was struck by a tree in May of 2008, sustaining a spinal cord injury and ruptured bladder. I was (as the leaders of this forum will attest) a basket case! As it turned out, her back was broken further down, so it didn't interrupt her ability to walk/run/play (after 8 weeks of crate rest) but left her incontinent.

Let me share a bit of what I went through, in hopes it might help you. While I'm not a vet, I'm just a mom that is speaking from my experience:

1. My little one didn't have a broken pelvis or legs and she was crate-rested for a minimum of 8 weeks! And I followed the advice of those on this forum and she did not leave that crate for 8 weeks! I cleaned her continuously and didn't leave her side. It was heart-breaking, but SO worth it!
So, I would NOT push walking or standing..

2. I'm a nurse by trade and obsessed about keeping her hydrated so she would flush her bladder out. I found that boiling a fresh chicken breast in a pot full of water, then refrigerating the water (made chicken salad out of the breast!) made the difference! She loved it and drank all she could get!

3. My little one didn't eat a lot either at first, I didn't push it at all...they are in pain and as long as I could get her to drink, I would soften food and offer it to her. Sometimes I would just give her the food one piece at a time, but never forced her. In fact, she weighed 4 lbs at the time of the accident and 2.8 lbs when we brought her home from Auburn small animal critical care unit. It's possible the pain meds are making her a bit nauseous too.

4. I think your little one has some swelling near or in her spinal cord. Please don't feel compelled to ask these of your vet, but I would flat right out ask why the tail was removed if she doesn't have a spinal cord injury. And if they put a plate in her back, that makes me again think "broken back".

5. While the broken back didn't affect my little girls legs, she never walked the same again (I personally think it's way cuter, but I'm a proud momma!). I would offer that when your little one does start walking, it will be just as cute!

If she turns out to have a broken back, then it's all about crate rest. However, I am wondering if you have water therapy near you for rehab from the broken pelvis/legs. We didn't use it, but I've seen it at Auburn and it's amazing! I'm just a bit concerned about total crate rest with a broken pelvis/leg, but pushing her too soon might be too much. I'll just throw that out for thought.

It's been 7 years since the accident and my girl is doing great. It can be done and requires a lot of work, but I would do it all over again if needed. They are so resilient.

My advice (if your asking, and you are not, but that's ok). Don't push. I wanted to see her be "normal" so bad and there were multiple days that I looked into her eyes and begged her to tell me if she wanted me to stop. But I listened to the folks on this forum, sat on my hands and just petted her, loved her and even played with her in that crate for 8-9 weeks. After that it was adjusting to incontinency.

On that note: I found an angel that makes my little girl her panties and I have a whole other routine with that, which I won't bore you about, but If you or anyone else wants that rundown, I would be glad to provide that story (albeit, long! HA!). Bottom line, my little one has been in panties for 7 years, cleaned every three hours during the day (6 hours overnight) and hasn't had an infection or urine scald! So, it can be done! In fact, her panties are so much cuter than mine! I have them for every occasion/every color! I've attached a few recent picks to give you an idea.

Best of luck to you and your family, feel free to reach out anytime!

Judy (Dolcezza's Mom)
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lyoung_123
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by lyoung_123 »

I want to thank everyone for their replys and mostly for support and information. The vet did say she had significant nerve damage. Her tail has been completely amputated (No Nub). She is completely shaved all the way to her upper abdomen. I am putting water in a syringe about four or five times a day and squeezing it slowly into her mouth. Sometimes she will drink on her own. I know it is way to soon for her to even sit up , never mind standing or walking. The vet told me the blood in her urine may be from the accident or the surgery.She has not gone number two yet because she really hasn't eaten much. We are out of chicken. I am going to go to the store after work and buy some breast and mix it with her dry dog food. She moves her hind legs so I don't think she's paralyzed?
The plate was put in her lower back because the vet said her vertebrae in her lower back was shattered. I am a hygienist, so I have a little bit of medical backround. The place I took her to is called The Alvarado Veterinary Clinic, Alvarado, Texas. It is a walk in Clinic with 13 Vets and 3 interns. It is a pretty big place. The intern graduated from Texas A&M vet school . I am taking a few minutes a day and holding her being very careful not to harm her. I think she has some depression. ..but it may be that she is still experiencing some pain despite the pain medication. She is not panting...I will post some pics this weekend. Thank you so much for the support.. I lost my job six weeks ago and are working Temp. work. My husband has COPD and congested heart failure and my nineteen year old son was just diagnosed with schizophrenia. I am under a great deal of stress right now. We had a tornado come through here that blew a hole in our roof and a tree fell on my husband's car and totaled it and we were without electricity for five days. I keep telling myself "this to shall pass".
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CarolC
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by CarolC »

You have got more major things going on right now than any one person needs. :( Why does everything have to happen at once, sometimes it almost seems to defy statistics?
I do think the doggy situation will get better, better days are coming. :wub:
I assumed you had to pay quite a bit for the veterinary care, I had no idea you did that while doing temp work, it shows how much you care about your dog. :angel:

It is amazingly good news to see your dog is moving her legs, that is beyond wonderful.

My one dog is dual incontinent and she wears denim doggy diaper covers, and I put a Poise pad in. Actually she is small and I use less than half a Poise pad, I cut one in half, then trim some more off each half. You might be able to use half with your dog, too, you'd have to see, it will depend on how quickly she wets it. My dog can go all day and not soak a half pad. Anyway, my 7-lb dog wears her denim diaper and half a Poise pad all day every day, no urine burn, don't have to change her during the day, she can go all day with one diaper. The secret for us is I lay her denim diaper cover flat and stick the half Poise pad in it. Then I squirt a little blob of Neosporin (generic) in it where her female area is going to be, and put it on her. She never gets a urine burn or redness since I do this, and she can wear her diaper from the time we get up until bedtime. Now, at night I let her sleep bare bottom, no diaper. That lets her skin air. It's healthy for her skin, and she'll groom herself, too, she's a good little groomer. She sleeps in a playpen and I do a load of doggy laundry every day or two (I am doing laundry for 2 dogs, if I was only washing for one dog it would be a load about every 2-3 days instead). So what I'm saying is, if you end up with a dog who can walk and get around but needs a diaper, it will not be much trouble, or much expense. Judy's dog Dolcezza has cute diapers and I think that would be fun to have, but my dog seems satisfied with her plain serviceable denim diapers. She's been wearing them since 2009, no problem. I seem to remember Dolcezza also had a urethrostomy, so caring for my dog is easier than it would be to care for little Dolcezza.

Attaching some photos. I actually dry the diapers in the dryer, I used to hang dry them but now I don't. :D
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lyoung_123
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by lyoung_123 »

I thought I would update ya'll on Laylah. She is doing very good and has a lot of fight in her. We woke up the other morning and she tore a hole in the play pen and escaped. She drags herself on her front paws over to the pee pads in the other room to relieve herself. Sometimes she gets tired and I pick her up and put her on the blanket. She just about removed all the staples herself, but her scars are pretty much closed. She will try to stand for a second here and there. She really looks odd without a tail... She goes to the vet tomorrow to get a post op check and get the remaining staples removed. Yes, the vet care was expensive. The total cost was $2300.00 . We gave them $1000.0 down and used care credit for the rest. Apparently she has not lost all feeling, as the vet was concern she would have accidents. But because she drags herself over to the pee pads to go to the bathroom, that tells me she can feel everything... so that is a blessing!! Thank you everyone for your help and support. Sorry it took so long to get back online. I've been busy working the past few days..
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CarolC
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by CarolC »

That is very encouraging about her going over to the pee pads. :trophy:
That is a new one, I remember one dog climbed out of a baby crib after spinal surgery, now Layla has torn her way out of the playpen. What can you do but admire the energy?! :wink: Glad she is doing well!
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critters
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Re: My dog got hit by a car. I need some advice! Please help

Post by critters »

:D Sounds like something my monsters would do!! :twisted:
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