On 16th August, Phoebe Ho, after having contacted me, brought a rescued dog, Wawa, found on the MMR2 Highway. Wawa had a short chain, was incredibly friendly and we suspect she was probably a lost dog (or abandoned?).
Ref: http://www.myanimalcare.org/2011/08/wawa-rescued-pup-from-mmr2-highway.html
To recap a long story short, Wawa was limping and our vet said it was probably an old fracture. The bone was broken, but the body has a remarkable mechanism that can sometimes self-heal.
Phoebe had two options:
1. Do an IM-pin insertion and repair the leg. This costs a bomb, of course, and there is no guarantee that all will go well because it is inserting a foreign material into the body. Also, the recuperating period could be very stressful for the dog. How do you tell a dog to stay still and not move so that the bone can heal properly? You can probably tell a cat to stay still (not tell per se, but cats don't move that much, usually), but dogs? Dogs are highly active and mobile creatures.
2. Let it be. Let Nature take its course and let it heal by itself. Wawa may walk with a limp, but dogs can cope. They are not like us! They compensate, accept their fate, and manage quite well.
Phoebe chose the latter, and now...
Dear Kah Yein,
It's been a long time since last updates of Wawa. :)
She's doing well at the moment, had her second vaccine on Wednesday, although vomited on the way back home, but no big problems :) Her leg been healing well too, now she even can climb up or jump out from the playpen =.=
As manja and naughty as usually, will be jealous if we pet Vivy and she will push Vivy aside =.=
Regards,
Phoebe
Wawa lounging with Phoebe's dog, Vivy.
If this is not heaven, what is?
The FISH!!
What a lucky gal!
So, here's what we learn from this experience. Sometimes we tend to get too gung-ho trying to FIX things. There is always the CORRECT thing to do (based on book knowledge) and there is also the BEST thing to do (based on experiential knowledge). For us, we will always do the BEST, after weighing the pros and cons, with the advice of our vets who would always put the animal's best interest and wellbeing first.
If Phoebe had opted for the surgery, Wawa may have healed completely, but there is also a possibility of infection, a very stressful period of recovery where Wawa would have to be confined in a small space for months, and in some cases, even death, if complications arise. I know of a case where an IM-pin insertion caused a dog to die of complications after repeated unsuccessful surgeries.
So, we now know Phoebe opted for the BEST. It's the best because Wawa is alive, well, happy and contented. Just a little limp, that's all.
A case in point is also Lim Mei Leng's Jenny. Jenny was brought in from the streets in Puchong with a terribly swollen leg. Jenny was extremely depressed too. Our vet advised amputation, and right after the surgery, Jenny transformed immediately into a very happy dog. She even ate voraciously after the surgery and that surprised everyone as the surgery had not gone very well. There was massive bleeding. But here's the thing - with the "problem" gone, Jenny probably felt so happy and well again.
See this: http://www.myanimalcare.org/2011/06/jennys-drinking-and-eatingso-well.html
We sometimes think it's cruel to amputate. True, who wants to lose a limb? But remember we humans only have two legs, but dogs and cats have four. And sometimes, they can cope very well, especially after the pain and problem has been removed. We've done a few amputation cases for cats AND dogs and all have healed very well.
Sometimes, in serious cases requiring tough decisions or risky surgeries, it may be good for us to consult another vet for a second opinion. That way, we make a more well-informed choice, for the sake of the animal's wellbeing.
The post-surgery care for a human cannot be compared to that of an animal. A human can be made to understand that he has to keep still or be subject to physiotherapy, etc, but an animal may not understand. And when an animal does not "cooperate", its chances of healing would be affected.
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