Waiting for dog's surgery...

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Our Chihuahua Sula was hit by a car on Thursday. Miraculously she wasn't killed. I was still at work. The car didn't stop, but the son of a coworker of mine stopped and helped my wife take Sula to the vet hospital. The took X-rays and what not and from the look of it everything seemed ok, she just had some bad bruising and road rash. We brought her home that night and she was very lethargic, but given that pretty much half of her body was one giant bruise it wasn't too surprising. Taking her outside to pee she would struggle, but at first I thought maybe it was just because she was sore.

This morning my wife left to fly to Calgary to see her brother who has become suicidal along with one of her sisters and her parents. When I got back from dropping her off I took Sula outside to pee and she would still struggle and try to pee over and over. I decided to take her back to the vet, so as soon as it opened at 8 am I was there. The vet took more X-rays, this time one from the top down rather than just from the side. This time the side X-ray shows her whole abdomen to be hazy and the top down shot shows that he pelvis is fractured in two places and is quite tilted. The pelvis isn't the biggest problem as the vet believes that the haze is caused by a ruptured bladder. Our vet and another vet are going to be doing surgery this afternoon, possibly right now. I haven't called my wife to tell her because I don't think that it's something she can handle. On top of the family crisis she has PTSD from a violent attack that happened to her about a year ago and about 9 months ago attempted suicide.

I think that I am doing the right thing by not adding any worry until I know more once the surgery is done this afternoon.

Also, we fortunately got medical insurance for our Chihuahua. The bladder surgery alone is around $1200 and if she needs her pelvis pinned it's going to cost around the same.

Here's Sula after we brought her home on Thursday. You can kind of see the bruising and road rash on her belly. The green tape is covering the IV needle that was left in her overnight on Thursday.

[TallLankyBastyd]

I'm sending good vibes... hope all goes well with the surgery (and all the other crud that's currently going on in your life.)

[peterbright]

Hope all of you have great luck. She is so cute!

[ryco]

Prayers going out to Sula!
Good luck with your surgery girl!!

I think you're wise not telling your wife at this time. Seems like a very fragile situation all the way around to say the least!
Be strong and take good care of yourself, bro! Sending positive vibes your way!

[RWP]

Oh man I am so sorry! I own dogs and know exactly how you feel. Sure hope the little guy is ok soon.

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Thanks a lot guys. My wife just called. I told her that I took Sula to the vet but not that she's in surgery. I just told her that they wanted to keep her for observation.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

All the best, I hope the surgeory goes well!

[Mark Wilson]

I'm such an animal person!

I hope all goes well!!! I'll pray for her!

[saltymonkey]

Good luck Geoff. My dog was also hit by a car yesterday morning. I was surfing. She usually just hangs on the beach while I'm in the water. Once in a while she lays under my truck in the shade. Yesterday she went under the truck next to mine. The owner went to pull out and hit her. I don't think he completely ran her over. One of my friends was there and said the driver stopped instantly. She has road rash on her belly just like yours and is bruised. No broken bones and no internal damage. Thank God. But I have been watching her every time she goes out to make sure all is coming out ok. I don't have pet insurance and even without surgery the vet bills for xrays and tests are quite high. I may have to sell a bass to pay for them. My thoughts are with you Geoff. Think positive. It's amazing how resilient the little guys are.

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Yeah, it is pretty expensive. After the first xray the bill was almost $200. I was on the fence about claiming that, but now with the additional expenses I'll be filing a claim.

I'm glad your dog's ok saltymonkey.

The vet is supposed to be calling any time now to let me know how it went...

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Well, the vet just called and so far it's all good news. They were able to close the tear in her bladder and it was in a "good" location away from the ureters. They flushed out her abdominal cavity and closed her up and she's doing fine. The vet told me the biggest risk now is infection, so she's going to be on an IV drip with antibiotics in it for the next couple of days. So far things are looking pretty good.

The orthopedic surgeon is going to look at her on Monday to determine if she'll need surgery or if cage rest will be sufficient for her fractured pelvis.

Needless to say I am very relieved.

[fenderhutz]

I am glad you had pet insurance.

[ryco]

YAY!!

My wife and I are jumping up and down!!
We host two German Shepards