YORK, SC.......Life Happens whether we are prepared for it or not when it comes to dogs. One minute they are running and playing, and the next, they are on their back in pain or come in limping from their daily activities. No one is immune to a dog injury that happens during an outing of running and playing or chasing a frisbee. You don't have to be wealthy to own a dog, but you do need to be able to take care of basic medical needs and put something aside for the inevitable accident.
Hundreds of sweet pups are put down daily because of innocent accidents. Owners cannot afford the surgery required to get their pup better. The dogs are signed over to Animal Control or the hospital to be euthanized. I understand more than most the cost of doing surgery from an injury or a dog eating something they shouldn't have. Life Happens is something I say a thousand times a day, and it is so true when it comes to our beloved pets.
Sadly, adorable Mia is one of those pets that was brought to the vet to be euthanized. She jumped off the couch the night before and became lame immediately. From that point forward, Mia would not use the bathroom or walk. She became paralyzed in her rear legs. She is a three-year-old Shih-Tzu that belongs to an elderly gentleman that brought her to the vet. He could not even afford the cost of putting her to sleep, so he signed her over to the hospital.
The first 24 hours are critical when it comes to spinal injuries. When Mia was brought in, it had been 12 hours since her accident. The Owner did the right thing by getting her to the hospital the next morning when he discovered she did not improve. When I was contacted, the first thing I asked was if the dog had deep-pain in rear legs and about the Owner. Was he someone that could take care of her if I agreed to do surgery? The answer was NO because of his age.
What we do at Noah's Arks Rescue is different from any other Rescue. We take on Abused, Neglected dogs that no one else wants that are scheduled to be euthanized. The line gets blurry at times when we take on pups that are scheduled to be put to sleep for lack of funds. We do our best to help owners when we can and work something out so they can get their pup back. Most of the time, the Owner does not want the dog back, which breaks our heart for the pup.
As you can tell by this note, we took Mia in and had her transported to CVRC in Charleston, SC. She was admitted to Neurology under the care of Dr. Jeremy Shomper. A thorough Neurology exam was done, and it was determined she needed an MRI to see exactly what she had done to her lower spine. Mia did not have deep pain at the time of the examination, so we knew she had a compression somewhere. Her MRI showed T12-13 disc extrusion with severe spinal cord compression and contusion.
Mia's only hope was to do a T11-L1 hemilaminectomy. Mia had spinal surgery late yesterday evening to hopefully give her a chance at walking again. During surgery, there was a large volume of herniated disc material, and hemorrhage was removed from the spinal canal spanning from T11-L1. Mia was in ICU throughout the night, recovering from her procedure. This morning she had slight anal tone and slight deep pain compared to none at all the day before. Any improvement is worth noting when it comes to spinal injuries.
Today, Neurology will be doing laser treatment to help get more anal tone back and to help with her injuries. In a couple of days, the hospital will begin Acupuncture Treatments. We are doing everything possible to get Mia walking again. The next week is critical in her recovery.
We need everyone on this list to Donate something for this special pup. Mia's Family took good care of her until she got hurt. She wasn't tortured or abused and is not the normal dog we take on but is a deserving pup that needed us just as much as all of the others. If you agree with our decision to help Mia and others like her, please Donate. Mia could one day be your dog that has an unfortunate accident, and you are put in a similar situation. I would hope that someone like us steps up to save your precious dog when you can't because of financial constraints.
We are not here to judge but to do no harm and help any way we can. Sadly, the only way to help some of these pups is to help the Owners say Good-Bye when they have no place to go. Our hope for Mia is she regains her ability to walk again without a cart. It is a long shot but one worth taking for such a young dog.
