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Stila, the 1 year old Irish setter bitch we took as a
rescue dog at the beginning of February ran into a obstacle of some kind about 2
weeks ago. A branch or stone or something similar. She came back from the cover
limping with her right read leg. Since it is common that young dogs hurt
themselves quite often Maud did not take her to a vet but made a superficial
investigation and could not find any particular fault with the leg. She gave
Stila some pain relief and thought that she might be OK within a few
days.
Stila continued to limb for the days to come and they
went to a vet. The vet could not find anything but sent them to an orthopaedist.
The orthopaedist took several x-rays and saw that the patella was ruptured and
dislocated. He gave Stila a remittance to an orthopaedist surgeon at an animal
hospital in Stockholm. At this time I had come home from work for a shorter
leave and since Maud has to work at an Game Fair from yesterday to Sunday I took
Stila to the hospital yesterday. With me I also had the x-rays from the first
orthopaedist.
They looked pretty awful even to a total novice like me and I
did not have much hope when Stila and me drove to the hospital, Briz was with us
also. Even if they managed to put things together in the proper manner the
convalescence would be exceedingly testing for a young, lively and spontaneous
dog like Stila. Then, if the convalescence for some reason still would succeed,
then there would be a long period of rehabilitation. Stila had show prior to
getting hurt that she was physically very strong and that would put the healing
patella sinew at a great risk now.
The vets at the hospital more or less confirmed my thoughts.
In addition their trained eye noticed that the attachment for the sinew on the
lower leg was missing entirely on the x-ray. They said that they could try to do
a very difficult surgery if we wanted but agreed on the difficulties during the
convalescence and rehabilitation. Everything might go wrong in milliseconds with
such a lively and playful young dog.
I promptly phoned Maud at her work at the Game fair and
we agreed that we did not have the prerequisite to give intensive care to Stila
for several months in a row, should the surgery after all be successful. When
the vets after a while came back to Stilas and my room, and saw me sitting there
and crying they without words understood what the decision was. Stila had to
leave us....
Briz and me drove home slowly without Stila. Maud is in
Stockholm and we spent the night together alone. It was easy to see that Briz
already had got attached to Stila and was looking for her both here and
there.
Injuries like this seems to happen by mere chance. Young dogs,
before they have learned to pace themselves in the terrain, will get blows all
over they body in less sensible areas. The really fragile areas like the joints
are actually very small and by chance the dog must take many blows before such a
small area is hit from the right angle with enough of force to cause serious
damage. But just by mere chance this can happen tomorrow or never with our
dogs.
We were the third owners to Stila during her short life, just
a bit over a year. She was positive and optimistic to the end and we thank her
for the short time we had together. She had definitely been worth a
lot more security in her life from the start, but the faith had decided quite
differently. Rest in peace Stila, and play with Foxy and
Springer!
Torsti
Borta Med Vindens Kennel www.rospigan.net "If you pick up a
starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the
principal difference between a dog and a man." /Mark Twain
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