Hello all ! This is my first time writing on a blog and my first time owning a tripod dog. Its exciting but also nerve wrecking despite me being a Licensed Veterinary Technician.
The story of Teddy is quite a sad one with a happy ending. Teddy was shipped up here to NY from Kentucky to be placed in foster care. He is a 1 yr old Catahola/Great Pyranese mix we think. Teddy was in a foster home and 2 weeks ago the foster owners dog attacked teddy while they were apparently playing with a stick. The dog was inevitably trying to tear his back leg off. He was brought into our hospital with severe wounds that we treated immediately. The following days to come showed that he lost blood supply to his back paw and the wounds were not healing. We gave it 9 days before the doctors decided to call it and take the leg. We were flirting around with the idea of a prosthetic but the concerns and consequences were to great for any of us to take the risk.
Teddy captured the heart of everyone in the hospital and we were told early on if he didnt find a new home he would be shipped back to Kentucky and non of us were going to allow that to happy. So i talked to my parents about adding a new dog to our family ( We have a 9yr old german shepard/ husky mix named Dakota ) and as long as she was still comfortable we could adopt him.
Monday April 7th 2014 he had his leg removed half way up the femur ( he has a little nub ). After surgery he seemed to be doing well pain wise and the plan was for me to take him home Thursday after work. I signed the contract on wed night and was more then ecstatic. He had met my dog and they didn’t seem to mind each other much so it seemed promising. Unfortunately Teddy started to become extremely painful for an unknown reason. After surgery we didn’t have him on any major pain medication because he was doing so well. So we have been trying to manage his pain and it was decided last night ( Friday ) that i would take him home that night after work. He cried a few times on the car ride home which was 40 min but once we got home he seemed to do stairs well and sniffed around as well as meeting Dakota again. I cannot say our night went very well. I stayed with him in our living room on a gel memory foam pad we had and he was just up and down all night, screaming on occasions. Thats what he does, we don’t know if he moves his nub in just the right spot that hes having so much pain he screams but while he is up walking around he does amazingly besides hating his cone.
Despite being a veterinary technician the idea of amputees is new to me since i don’t see it very often. I am seeing them more now that i am at a bigger more advanced hospital and even though all the doctors are supportive of all of my questions i still worry. Teddy is resting at the moment and this is my first time bringing a new dog home that wasn’t a puppy so its new for me and new can be scary but i am looking forward to making his life a long and happy one filled with joy.