Sweet Mullet was doing amazing until about three weeks ago when it was discovered he was favoring one of his legs. Our sweet boy is always going to have a funny walk given all of the surgery that was done to get him walking. Mullet was our Humpity-Dumpity pup that had his pelvis and legs fractured from being hit by a car. He had three surgeries and months of Physical Therapy to get him walking.
Life was good for this sweet pup until he started favoring one of his legs. Lots of tests and x-rays were done and then we consulted with his last Surgeon, Dr. Jennifer Au at Charleston Veterinary Referral Center in Charleston, SC. Mullet had developed fluid around his knee. The plate as you can see from the x-ray barely came near the knee area. Fluid was taken from the knee and Mullet was started on antibiotics based on the bacteria that was found. Mullet improved but his knee still wanted to develop fluid.
After weeks of antibiotics, we decided we needed to have Dr. Au go in and clear the infection and determine if the plate was involved. If bacteria had been introduced when surgery was done originally, we would have seen this sooner. The fact this happened eight months after surgery tells us it was caused by something totally unrelated. The cause does not matter at this time. What does matter is that since the fluid has touched the rear of the plate, the plate will have to be removed.
Adorable Mullet went into surgery and the knee area was flushed and the plate was removed. Mullet had already healed from his original break and no longer needed the plate. Plates are always left in unless they start causing problems or become infected. Dr. Au said Mullet's plate was pristine and did not show any signs of infection. We may never know what caused his knee to swell originally. Mullet had some terrible breaks when we first got him but the knee was the one area that was great.
We see dogs that are mangled from one end to the other all the time. We perform multiple surgeries on dogs that have been hit by cars that require lots of surgeries and plates to put them back together. A lot of vets are shocked at all of the amazing surgeries that we perform that other Rescues would never take on because the cost is prohibitive. Whatever the animal needs, if it will give them a good quality of Life, we are going to do it.
We are very protective of our pups and look after them long after they have been adopted. The ones like Mullet that are full of plates and pins need to have special medical care if they get injured while in their new home. We are very protective of the work we have already done and want to make sure a Qualified Vet or Surgeon does not do anything to jeopardize their recovery which is why we are always here for our Adopters and our pups.
Mullet has three weeks of recovery and then this sweet pup will be back to his normal sweet self. He will always have a giddy-up in his step but that is what gives him personality. Please, Donate toward this special boys Surgery so we can help more dogs like Mullet get the necessary surgery they need to Survive and Thrive.
