UNION, SC.........Sweet Eve was found in Union, SC in a rural neighborhood. She wandered into a yard and was found sleeping near the driveway when the family got home. They fed her and then contacted Animal Control to pick her up the next day. Another rescue was contacted but because her injuries were so extensive they contacted us. Dear Eve is a 6 year old Boxer that has a deep cut on the back of her head that goes from ear to ear. She is also having difficulty walking. We do not have any idea how she could have been cut the way she is. If she had gotten caught in something, the skin would have been torn and it isn’t. It is a clean cut. I don’t have any idea of anything she could have put her head under that would have been so sharp that it would have cut her head so cleanly and so deep. Right now, we have to assume someone did this to her intentionally. We had her taken to Carolina Veterinary Specialist to see a Neurologist and to have surgery on her neck to repair it. What started out as a routine Neurological evaluation with an MRI done and surgery to repair her neck soon turned into something else. Eve was evaluated and surgery was done on her neck. The next day an MRI was scheduled. We had to find out if the injury to the neck was so deep that it had affected her spinal cord or nerve function or if there was some other underlying cause that was preventing her from walking normally. While doing the MRI, the machine quit working and the testing was put off until the next day. The next day, the machine was still not working and was rescheduled. All of this was fine with us, since Eve was still recovering from her neck surgery. On the second night, I got a phone call at midnight from one of the ER doctors at the facility. Eve had GDV which is Gastric Dilation Volvulus. Her stomach had flipped over and she needed emergency surgery to survive. The most you have is one hour from the time the stomach flips until you surgically reverse it or the animal dies. This is the only way to save the animal and this does not always work. I had to decide at that moment to put her to sleep or go ahead with the surgery. I had them immediately do surgery to save her. If the MRI machine had been working, dear Eve would have been with a foster that would have probably not known what was happening because it was so late and could not have gotten her the immediate medical help she needed. The clock is ticking with this syndrome and nothing but surgery done immediately can stop it. I can now say that the broken MRI machine saved Eve’s life. Eve has been in critical care for three days now and is finally improving. I wanted to make sure she made it before I posted for her. As of now, her prognosis is good from the GDV. On Monday, we are doing the MRI as scheduled to determine the cause of her spinal problems. We will then determine if she will needs spinal surgery to regain her ability to walk normally. The neck injury that got her to us has also saved her life. This is such an unusual twist of circumstances. Poor Eve’s body was already moving toward flipping, she just needed to get to the right place where we could save her and we have. We will know more on her condition after the MRI is done. Eve is the sweetest dog that loves everyone. She is a 6 year old Sweetheart that deserves so much more than she has had in her lifetime.
This wonderful girl has had a terrible time of it but her world is now getting better. She has finally left the Emergency Veterinary Hospital and is in a wonderful foster home while she is healing. The deep cut around her neck is healing and looks wonderful. She has not had any problems since we did the surgery for her stomach turning and we do not foresee any complications from that. After doing the MRI, we found small areas of damage that had been done to her spine over the course of her life. We did not find anything on her scans that would account for her inability to walk. The surgeons have determined that she had Degenerative Myelopathy. They feel she will totally lose the use of her rear legs over the net two months and will have to be in a cart after that happens. The natural progression of the disease is that once she looses the use of her rear legs, it will slowly move up her spine and affect her front legs. He feels that will happen within the next two years. At that time, there will be nothing else we will be able to do for her. She is not painful and has full control over her bowels and bladder. We have now determined the source of the deep cut on her neck. We believe when she started to lose her ability to walk, the person that had her tried to kill her with a shovel through the back of her neck. The shape and size of the cut is identical to a shovel blade. We are so thankful they were not successful. Eve is the sweetest girl that showers everyone with kisses. She is with an incredible foster that has boxers and loves the breed while she recovers. Sweet Eve is a special girl that has special needs. All applicants will need to be aware of her condition and her long term care. In the meantime, she will be given all the love and care every animal deserves.
Sweet Eve is doing wonderful since she left the surgical facility. She is off all of her meds and getting around better than she ever has. She still gets tired but she has ben able to run around for a short burst of energy using all of her legs and then she will sit down and take a break. She will progressively get worse but for now she is improving and loving life.
