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Janey is three years old, found as a stray in the Mesa area of Phoenix. She was turned over to the Humane Society, who placed her in our care due to a medical problem. She is the SWEETEST dog, she has a horribly broken pelvis for which I'll be taking her to the orthopedic surgeon to see if anything can be done for her. She is able to get around on it, but it's a very bad break. I don't know how old it is, but will see the ortho on Monday. Will update more after the vet. If she can be helped with surgery I am thinking somewhere between 2-4K yikes!!! I surfed the net to see if I could find any other similar breaks on the net. The pelvic bone is broken in three places...the acetabeleum, the pubis and the ischeum (whatever that means) but the femur and back part of pelvis are displaced and could be interfering with her bowels, I see her BMs are pretty watery, having said that , she holds it all day while I am at work. Janey manages her way through the doggy door now, in and out, she likes to be close to me, but also likes to be around other dogs. She does very well falling in the pack here. She walks on the leg, maneuvers fairly well, but you can see that she does not put full weight on the broken side. It’s really hard to tell Rose McAuliffePhoenix, Arizona |
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Her behavioral evaluation went well at HSUS, and I have seen nothing but sweetness and deference to my three, has happy, lively expression, and a good appetite.  Bailey and Janey |
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8/11/2008
Here's the lowdown from the doctor. Janey's pelvic breaks are about a month old, she has about five areas that are broken--one on her left side just above the ball of the femur, which is healing. The right side is a train wreck. She has multiple breaks and a dislocation, all partially healed. The biggest issue is that she would have a problem pooping because the displaced bones were blocking the abdominal cavity. She is straining a bit, and the doctor said this could be treated with a stool softener. Since the break is already healing, there is very little he can do at this point to correct to realign the broken hip (without re-breaking) and he would want to wait and look again at it in a month or so to see if in fact there would need to be surgery to open up the abdominal cavity. As of now, she has about a 30% opening, (he did a rectal exam) so there is not an obstruction, but the callus that is forming around the broken bones should shrink, and open this up to about 50%. He would want to look at x-rays again in a month or so to confirm that she would be open enough to poop ok. He also thinks at very least the she will need an FHO on right to relieve the pain in walking. He was unsure whether that should be done right away or to wait until the rest is healed. There was some thought that if it was done now, it would relieve the pressure on the pelvic from pushing in to the cavity, but he couldn?t say for sure. He just couldn't predict. This was not a strong position he had. Our options: Do the FHO now on right side, re check pelvis after healing has occurred. Wait, and do FHO after healing has occurred. That's about it. I don't know what's best to do. Rose *** 08-17-08 update on Little Janey of Arizona First, thanks to all of you who donated hard earned funds to Janey’s medical expenses. We hope we have enough to cover what we need to date. I don’t have all the numbers together yet but it looks promising. Steve and Gayle Schultz are fostering Janey. Steve and Gayle are long time Airedale owners who have been waiting for the right female to come along after their rescue Airedale, Terra, passed away in early April. I thought Janey would be a perfect fit. Terra was my first foster ‘dale some years ago, and Janey reminded me so much of her. Lilly, their Maltese-Poodle is still on the fence about Janey. She is in a bit of a snit about having to share the attention spotlight with the new intruder. She follows Janey wherever she goes to keep an eye on what she’s up to. When she snarls at Janey, which is happening less frequently, Janey just wags her tail, perks up her ears, and wants to play. Since coming to the Schultz household, all has gone well. Janey eats well, is well mannered in the home and on a leash, and knows how to sit and shake. She poops and pees well but Steve may put in a bit of stool softener just to prevent any excess strain on Janey’s already cramped bowels. Since 08-11-08, Janey has needed 1/3 of a 50 mg only twice for stiffness and apparent pain. Pam and Herman Van Der Heyden, Airedale Kelcee’s folks and the Schultz’s neighbors, talked with their vet, Rick Wells, and sent him Janey’s x-rays. Pam also came over to meet with Janey and go for a short observation walk. She concurred in the assessment that Janey was lovely, sweet, gentle, social, and calm and composed. Dr Rick agreed with the DX from Dr’s Bone and Sidaway that Janey earlier visited. Dr Rick spoke of snipping the top of the femur and filing it down to keep it from moving further forward and possibly pinching or tearing the colon. He is fairly certain Janey was run over, as indicated by the extensive damage both to her left and right sides, and is certain Janey will experience problems in the future if nothing is done for her. The questions to be answered are when to do the surgery and is her left leg strong enough to support her after removal of the right femur. She favors her left leg and uses her right normally. All in all, it is hard to equate her great disposition and attitude with the damage indicated on the the x-rays. Again, I stand in total awe of Airedale people and their generosity! Special thanks go out to Robin for her help and advice. *** Rose, A quick update on Little Janey: Took her to Dr. Rick Wells, DVM, on 08-21-08. He confirmed the earlier diagnosis and said we should seriously consider the FHO (hip ball removal) on her right rear sometime in the latter part of September. She also has a bad case of vaginitis. Dr. Rick sent home some pills that cost about the same as my first car. Hope they do the trick as she doesn't need any more complications. Took her in on 08-23-08 for blood tests for heartworm, Valley fever, and tick fever. Results should be available by 08-29-08 at the latest. Let's hope all is well on these crucial hurdles. Janey is up and at 'em all the time. Had to stop her from chasing quail in the backyard on Tuesday. She loves everything and everyone. Several neighbors have volunteered vigorously to come over if we have to be out of town for any length. She is becoming totally adjusted to our house and even growls when something seems out of place in the backyard, outside the fence, at night. Tried to get some decent photos of her but she is very camera shy. When I try to take her picture, she will sit for a moment, ears back, and then simply fall over. Don't know the why's and wherefore's on this but have not been able to get a photo that conveys her true spirit. Steve Schultz *** Little Janey of Arizona update 09-30-08 Janey is doing great and has adapted to her new environment. She is very well mannered, sweet, and very loving and she and Lilly, our Maltese-poodle, have become fast friends. I took Janey to Rick Wells, DVM, on 09-26-08 for an updated set of x-rays. The x-rays were near duplicates of those taken on 07-24-08 and it appeared her pelvic injuries had changed little, if at all, in the two month period. The new photos, however, did provide us with much better detail than the initial small shots. We determined that her right leg and hip socket, despite being pushed nearly two inches forward from the injury, was still in pretty good shape; the ball was nicely rounded and still fit pretty well in the socket. This has been the leg she uses and stretches on when she gets up. The left hip socket did not look nearly so good. The ball was anything but round and it was several millimeters away from fitting in the socket. There appeared to be some evidence of ossification where the ball was out of contact with the socket. She really favors her left leg, seldom pushes off on it, and uses it mainly for balance. Therefore we decided we would do the FHO on the left leg first and probably do the right at a later date since it is nearly certain there will be ossification in her right leg in the near future. Tentative plans call for the FHO operation to take place sometime after November 1. So the plan is for Janey to get exercise to build up the muscles in her left leg. The muscles need to be strengthened because, after the FHO, the "stub" where the ball has been cut off will abut on muscle. Due to the accident, her left leg has atrophied a considerable amount. I have been walking her a lot and doing a little light hill climbing. She takes to it well and will walk seemingly forever without complaining. I do notice, though, that after about 3/4 of a mile she really starts to limp. I even put her in the neighbor's pool for a short time. She wasn't used to water and I didn't exercise her long but I did notice that when she got out, her left leg was "windmilling" rather loosely. It looked very strange. I'll keep you posted of any new events. Steve Schultz *** Janey is scheduled for her first FHO, Oct 31st We have received $2,666.79 in donations. The cost for the first consultation was $214.30. We are waiting for the estimate for the first FHO. *** Janey's surgery will be delayed for 4-6 weeks. Her foster home has been flooded due to a plumbing problem and they are staying with relatives. They need to be back in their house where they can keep Janey quiet during recovery. Janey's condition is stable and the delay will not hurt her. In fact, the vets want her other leg to be as strong as possible before the operation. *** Janey is now scheduled for surgery on November 21. The estimate is $1,440, which includes anesthesia, surgery, fluid therapy (iv), post op xray, pain meds, as well as recheck for suture removal. Thank you to everyone who is making this possible. *** 1/5/2009 Happy New Year Rose, Chelsea, Bailey, and Timmy, Just a post-Holiday update on Pretty Janey: She had an FHO (femur head removal) on her left leg right before Thanksgiving. I had the Thanksgiving week off so I could spend time with her. No problems and the operation was a complete success. After two weeks, I began the exercise regimen to get her back walking on all fours. Slowly she got back into the habit and she was up to five blocks on all fours. Then the pre-Christmas cold and rainy weather set in and she went back to the three leg habit. In the past week she has been coming back around nicely and mostly on her own. She is up to three blocks per walk on all fours and, when she runs, she tends to put weight (not her full weight, but weight nonetheless) on her left rear and even, so it seems, gets some power from her left. So it will probably be just a matter of time, and of getting out of the habit of using just three legs, and she should move nearly as good as new. By the way, I can recommed a great place for people to board their 'Dales: Kathy Donnelly The Pet Spa 717 Marlboro Chandler, AZ 85225 480-786-6277 FAX: 480-855-3574 Kathy is very Airedale friendly. Steve Schultz |
