We hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas surrounded by Friends, Family and lots of Pups running around. Sweet Mercy, our Plott Hound Mix came up lame and had to be taken to the ER. Over the last couple of weeks, she had healed beautifully from her surgery and was not having any issues. She was off cage rest and was finally allowed to play gently. On one of her leash walks, we noticed her limping and not wanting to use her leg at all.
We immediately had her taken to the ER in Charleston to determine what was wrong with her leg. Lots of x-rays were taken, and it was discovered almost all of the pins that were in Mercy's body from her leg fracture and her sacrum repair had come out and were now floating around in various parts of her body. We have seen a lot of pins come out over the years but have never seen this many come out from different surgical procedures.
The only thing we can think of that could have caused this many to come undone is the fact she wiggles her cute little rear-end all the time. Her nub of a tail is in constant motion all the time. Mercy is a happy little girl that is constantly in motion while standing in one place. The surgeons did not see any other reason for her pain level to be this high, so we opted to do surgery to remove the pins that had come loose. The surgical sites and bone appeared to have healed, and the pins would not affect the outcome.
Mercy was sedated, and new x-rays were taken to determine the least invasive way to get the pins out. Right after the x-rays were taken, I got an unexpected phone call from her surgeon. They had found a hairline fracture directly above where her leg had been pinned. We discussed what would be best for Mercy and I opted to have the displaced pins removed and her leg put in a splint to allow the bone to fuse without putting any new holes in her bone.
I have learned the hard way; there is a point when more surgery does more harm when it comes to bones ability to heal. I felt Mercy was already at that point and surgery to find and remove the pins was going to be stressful enough for her. Two surgeons worked on Mercy for hours to find all of the displaced pins. Sadly, they could not find them all but did their best to find the ones that could be pushing on any nerves.
Our sweet little girl is back to being a happy pup with her splint. We are hopeful the pins that were removed were the ones that were causing her so much discomfort. We will do new x-rays in a couple of weeks to make sure her bones are fusing together at the fracture line. Mercy's bones have no problem healing, so we are hopeful the x-rays will show us she will not need more surgery.
Mercy is a fabulous tiny Plott Hound that loves everyone. She only weighs 25 lbs which is tiny for a Hound. She plays great with other dogs and is the perfect size for anyone wanting a hound in a small package. Please, fill out our Adoption Application if you think Mercy would be perfect in your home.
There are four more days left before 2017 is behind us. Now is the time if you need more deductions for your 2017 taxes. We have several pups we have taken in over the holidays that are in the hospital. We will do our best to post for one of them but may not have time to do anything but post updates on the ones we have. Mercy is the one that needs our help now. Thanks for caring and helping us with our dear pups. Happy New Year.
