SPARTANBURG, SC....We get a lot of heart-breaking cases, but this tiny three-month-old pitty puppy is breaking my heart into a million pieces. Scooby was attacked by three big dogs and abandoned at a vet. Greenville County Animal Control was called to pick him up, and we were contacted when the injuries were beyond anything they could do.
Scooby was transported to CVRC an hour after he arrived at GCACS. By the time Scooby had arrived at CVRC, his fever was 104. He was immediately admitted to the ER, and they began doing diagnostics. His blood values were all over the place from shock and his infection. Several hours later, I suddenly knew this would not be an easy case. We would be unable to stitch Scooby up and send him on his way. The list of injuries we had to address kept getting longer and longer.
The following morning Dr. Rachel Seibert and several Criticalist were discussing everything going on with this precious pup. Dr. Seibert was going to take Scooby to surgery to put drains in and repair the torn muscles and skin tears, but first, he had to have a Cat Scan. Scooby could not raise his head, and his pain level, even with lots of meds, was through the roof. We needed to know if the spinal cord was damaged and if he had any spinal fractures that needed repair.
Scooby's Cat Scan showed small chip fractures of vertebral bodies C2, C4 & C5. The good news is that his spinal cord was intact, and the fractures would heal over time. Dr. Seibert went forward with debriding his torn muscles and skin. Drains and sponges were placed, and a Wound Vacuum was attached to rid his body of the infected fluid that was draining. Dog Bites are notorious for creating the worst infection, which is why they cannot be stitched up immediately.
In a short time, dear Scooby went from severe to critical and was placed in ICU. His head began to swell to double his normal size. Within 24 hours, we knew something significant was happening. Our Cardiologist, Dr. Sophy Jesty, was brought in to see what she thought was happening. Suddenly, it seemed like everyone in the hospital was working on saving Scooby. Dr. Jesty did an ultrasound and discovered both of Scooby's Jugular Veins had been damaged and had formed clots. He was backing up fluid in his head because of the lack of proper blood flow back to the heart.
Bloodwork showed that the trauma Scooby endured had started his body forming blood clots. Typically, time would take care of this, but Scooby's blood was hyper-coagulating which meant he could throw a fatal clot that would kill him instantly. Scooby's Criticalist decided he needed to be on a form of Heparin that they could reverse if he started to bleed into the Wound Vacuum.
Scooby's attack created the Perfect Storm of events that very few dogs would survive. If he were not in our care, with everything going on, he would be Dead. At times like this, you have no time to consider the cost. We are all thinking about saving this precious, innocent puppy that someone put in harm's way. No puppy or dog deserves this to happen to them—no excuse for not protecting him.
We are begging everyone to DONATE as much as they can for Scooby. He is not out of the woods. He can't even see the woods from where he is right now. Lots of Prayers are needed for this innocent Soul to make it. Please, DONATE so that we can save him. Be Scooby's Guardian Angel of Hope.
