At long last today, I could find time to visit Courage at my friend’s house. I asked KT Tan if he’d like to come along, and so he was there too.
In my rush, I forgot to bring my camera, so please forgive the rather blurry photos taken with my trusty old Terra Nova Nokia (yes, I got a full refund for my defective smartphone – no more smartphones for me!).
My friend wanted to first show us the X-Rays.
This is the lung X-Ray. We were worried about lung puncture as Courage had those “bubbles” (emphysema) under her skin. The lungs look healthy and were not deflated, but there is a broken rib. This may have caused a slight rupture in the lungs, but it can heal on its own.
This is the bad news (which we already suspected). The spinal chord is broken. It’s the L6 vertebrae. It is totally broken and at this point in time, there seems to be no way it can heal and looking at the X-Ray, the prognosis is lifelong paralysis.
Then, we went in and there was Courage….
Hi Courage!
She looks happy.
She drinks a lot of water and wets herself very frequently, and this is due to the steroids. Her frequent urination requires her diapers to be changed very often or urine on the skin would cause urine burn and this leads to sores. As it is, despite being kept so clean and changed so frequently, she has already developed some first-stage sores.
This is the playpen – necessary to confine Courage and restrict her movements so that there is no further aggravation to her broken spine. The wash area is just beside her.
Courage is completely friendly.
That’s KT Tan making friends with Courage.
Courage must be quite happy to have us visiting.
My friend had said we’d try to bathe her since there were two of us to handle her.
We’ll give her lunch first. It’s soft-boiled eggs with cooked rolled oats. Eggs are very nutritious and highly digestible. Courage is also on raw food and she has a very good appetite.
However, she has constipation and after lunch, we tried to express her faeces out hoping the lunch might push the faeces out. But nothing came out. We also gave her her homeopathic medication.
It’s bath time. We transferred her to the kennel boards and wet her with warm water. She only squealed once when we moved her. While being bathed, she allowed us to turn her around to wash both sides. No complaints. We could even wipe both sides and transfer her back to her “bed’. No squealing. She was muzzled during the bath as a precaution. Courage understands “muzzle on” and “muzzle off”. She did not complain at all. She’s also learning “lie down” and other words. It is important to tell her what you are about to do, so that she learns the words and gets used to them. Then, she would know what to expect and how to “cooperate”.
There, all clean and fresh. Courage seemed very happy. My friends uses only organic cleaners on Courage. We placed a fresh diaper on her. Again, we could turn her around.
All in, I think we spent almost more than an hour doing just this.
Whoever fosters and adopts Courage would definitely have to learn the physiotherapy to be administered daily. My friend will start the physiotherapy tomorrow. She foresees at least 12-18 months of intensive nursing care for Courage. One just cannot give up during this period.
There have been quite a number of paralysed dogs who are now walking again. What goes on behind the scenes is 220% commitment and the never-give-up attitude of the caregiver. This is what Courage needs. It’s hardwork (not so “hard” if one enjoys it and finds meaning in it), patience, perseverance and never giving up no matter what.
Hey Courage, we’ll see you again soon.
We placed her on the side with the sores so that there would not be any pressure on these first-stage sores and they can heal.
My friend’s nickname for Courage is now “Sunshine”. That’s nice. Maybe we’ll just keep “Courage” as her officially registered name and call her “Sunshine” instead!
Sunshine Courage (first name + surname!).
I reimbursed my friend for the vet bills and other medications. Her first acupuncture treatment was free and the homeopathic medication was also free (courtesy of Dr Susanna – thank you very much, Dr!).
X-Rays RM135
Vet check-up RM57
Chinese medication from Dr Susanna RM30
Rescue Remedy (Bach Flowers) RM45
Diapers RM16.90
We’re giving Courage supplements and holistic medication. Dr Susanna detected a lot of blockages of the qi in Courage, so that’s “good” because it means there is something to unblock.
Acupuncture treatments will continue as housecalls because we do not want to move Courage any more than is necessary.
Meanwhile, what we need would be an adopter. My friend can commit to fostering for a few weeks to get Courage stabilised and start on a physiotherapy routine. We still need someone to adopt Courage and look after her for life.
My friend just sent me these photos.
Better pictures of the X-Rays:
There are scar tissues in the lungs – possible infection. And good news, Courage has no more nasal discharge.
And yummy dinner…
Minced meat, eggs and oats.
Tucking it in!
More Articles By AnimalCare
|
| 
Member Login
