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11-26-2009, 07:44 AM | #1 |
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My dog ran away almost two weeks ago. We were about to take him for a walk in the field out back and he took off. After days of searching, putting up posters, newspaper ads, craigslist ads, and pestering animal control and the humane society, animal control finally caught him and brought him home. My happy, healthy husky was thin enough to see his ribs, was injured, and just looked completely out of it. His collar is missing.
So we just got back from the vet. Shadow is on a diet of chicken broth, watered down chicken broth (for hydration), anti-inflammatory, and antibiotic. He's lost about 8 lbs since he's been gone, he's pretty thin. He's severely dehydrated. The vet wanted to put him on fluids but when I told him Shadow will eat chicken broth he said that would be fine. His left front foreleg is swollen and broken and he has an extremely high fever. Shadow has two puncture-type wounds, one on his left foreleg and one on his chest. His left foreleg bows outward and appeared to be broken. Two x-rays confirmed that his leg has at least 3 fractures and a large bullet embedded in the bone. The bone is knitting together so resetting it would have been pointless (and painful) as the break isn't severe enough to cripple him. The chest wound is likely the original entry/exit wound of the bullet. There are small pieces of lead embedded deep in the skin but not into his ribs or lungs. Surgery is not necessary, the wounds have been there for at least several days and are healing very well on their own, and only need to be kept clean and otherwise undisturbed. Somebody shot my dog. It's our fault, he's our dog and he was wandering loose, and if he was digging through somebody's trash or otherwise pestering them, or they thought he was going to be a nuisance, then I can understand. It's lame that they shot my dog, but I can understand. Wolf hunting just opened up in northern Idaho, so if somebody shot him because they thought he looked rather wolfish, well, I'm extending my middle finger as hard as I can at them. The vet said from the size and amount of lead embedded in Shadow's body the bullet likely came from a rifle. He believes it's a larger caliber than a .22, but we're thinking not, as anything larger could very well have mangled or removed the leg. Shadow's enjoying a laid back recovery in the guest room closet in his bed. Luckily he has an appetite. I'm just giving him a little bit of nutro chicken oatmeal and rice wet food every now and then so as not to upset his stomach and feeding him some diluted chicken broth. He won't drink water right now because he's dehydrated and dehydrated dogs are stubborn like that. I'm just wondering what else I can do for him other than feeding him and leaving him the heck alone. How should I go about cleaning his wounds? What should I use? The poor guy went snooping about. I guess the fun ended pretty quickly. It's all fun and games until somebody gets shot, I guess. I'm glad he's going to be okay. |
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11-26-2009, 07:54 AM | #2 |
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awww that sucks! no way of telling what happened to him, but i guess you know now that he can not be trusted off leash!! you got yourself a runner, im lucky non of my dogs are runners, but some dogs will bolt when given the chance. If you want to clean the wounds there should be an animal wound cleaner at your local petsmart. other than that, keep an eye on hiss gum color. they need to be pink, and white means hes in really bad shape and anemic and in critical condition.
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11-26-2009, 05:14 PM | #3 |
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Wow, that's terrible!!! I'm just glad he is home and safe now, and receiving the care he needs. I have a tag on Bella with our home phone number, just in case anyone ever found her, hopefully they would call, even if it was just to get a reward... which I would offer, and be glad to pay, if she were ever lost.
I also had her microchipped, so hopefully, if she is found, someone would take her in for a scan, even though microchipping around here is not well known, or popular. Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery for Shadow!! |
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11-26-2009, 05:53 PM | #4 |
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Yup it is your fault. I hope never being off lead again is in his future. You also might want to think about setting up a good tie out set up for your yard, even if you have a fence. So-called husky proof fencing is b.s. because most of them are smart/determined enough to get out regardless. You just can't trust 99% of purebred Siberian Huskies to ever be off lead because they were bred to RUN and being a pet does not fulfill that need for the majority of them.
Its wonderful he isn't dead and has a chance to recover. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Maybe when he is fully recovered he could get into weight pulling training or something like that? Worth a thought... they love a job. |
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