Ref: http://myanimalcare.org/2011/11/help-needed-to-rescue-a-dog-in-klang-mandy-chee/
The dog was rescued last night by Koo.
Mandy Chee was the one who asked for help last night and she informed me that Eling Chan needs financial aid for the medical treatment for this rescued dog. So, this morning I texted Eling to ask the condition of the dog so that I could make an appointment at our vet’s and also to brief the vet about the condition of the dog. Eling said the dog was “ok”. There were no other details.
Luckily, Koo, the rescuer informed me later that he thinks the dog’s leg would probably have to be amputated as the bone was already exposed.
I then made arrangements with a friend who has nursed amputees before to ask if she might be willing to help advise Eling on how to nurse the dog after surgery. In the past, we always had the need to also provide emotional support for the rescuer, besides providing the necessary medical help for the animal.
By 10am, I managed to get an appointment at 12noon for this dog, so I texted Eling Chan. I needed a confirmation on the time slot as the clinic is very packed today, with surgeries lined up. Mandy also told me that Eling had to go to work this evening (she is an air stewardess), so I did my best to get her an earlier slot.
Unfortunately, there was no reply from Eling.
So, while I was teaching, I had to come out in between to liaise with the vet, to ask them to please keep the slot and at the same time, I enlisted Koo and Mandy’s help to contact Eling as I needed her confirmation of the slot asap.
The confirmation finally came much later, and to cut a long story short, Eling brought the dog to our vet.
Here is the dog. For the purpose of registration, Eling gave her the name “Sugar”.
Sugar wouldn’t come out of the cage by herself. By the way, this is Koo’s cage.
We had to drag her out gently.
The hind leg limps. And it is a clear-cut case for amputation. Unfortunately, the front leg is also not in good condition as even as she walks on the front legs, there is also a limp.
The bone is exposed and is dead. The flesh is dead as well. The leg cannot be used anymore. The vet estimates the injury to be about 8-14 days old.
Sugar is friendly and does not seem to be afraid of people.
However, she is pale and emaciated. According to Eling, she was not even keen to eat. This is not a good sign as any street dog would usually appreciate being given food and eat it up voraciously. There could be something internally wrong with Sugar. It could be anything ranging from heartworms to tick fever, etc. The list is endless.
We’ve brought in dog with bad legs before, but they would still be active and kicking. Sugar is too quiet for her own good.
The vet estimates her to be about 4-5 years old, based on an examination of her teeth.
As we waited, Sugar kept licking her wound.
After due consideration of her condition, the vet gave the following options:
1. Go in directly for the amputation today.
2. Pump her up with nutritious food, then go in for the amputation.
3. Do bloodwork and find out underlying causes, if any, pump her up with nutritious food, then go in for the amputation.
4. (The one we never choose)
No.4 was offered by the vet because Eling’s plan was to get Sugar treated, spayed and returned to the streets. The vet was not in favour of returning a tripod back to the streets. The chances of survival is considerably reduced as she would be a target of bully by other street dogs. Dogs do understand that a tripod is “different”, and as such, it may not be well-accepted on the streets. The risk of accident for a tripod is also higher.
In a home environment, it is completely different. A tripod may very well be so pampered and hence, very confident, and sometimes, can over-confidently bully other able-bodied four-legged dogs (as in the case of my friend who has adopted two tripods – they rule her household!).
So, putting three-legged Sugar back on the streets is out of the question.
I said we could publicise for adopters and fosterers, but there is no guarantee. All we can guarantee is our medical subsidy.
After a long discussion, Eling chose Option No.3.
That being the case, bloodwork will be done today, and once the results are out, the vet will go in for the surgery if Sugar is found to be fit enough for it.
Sugar is boarded at the clinic now.
We will subsidise Sugar’s surgery and treatment as per our policy (no extended boarding). There is also a parvo puppy at the vet’s right now, so Sugar should not be boarded any longer than is necessary to facilitate her procedures.
At the same time, if you are able to foster (or better, want to adopt) a tripod, please contact Eling on 012-3367770.
Note: I found out why we were unable to contact Eling. She had turned off her phone because too many people were calling to offer help to rescue Sugar and Eling said she wanted to sleep after Sugar had been rescued. I was the one who blogged for help (many others too), so please let me apologise to those who had responded but could not get Eling on the phone after that. Your help is much appreciated.
It’s very tough being a middle-person. I’m caught in between two humans – the one who asks for help and the one offering help, and I cannot be responsible for the behaviour of either one.
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