Last Wednesday (the 16th) MOOSE was hit by a car. I had just gotten home from a trip and my friend was getting ready to pull away from the curb in front of our house. MOOSE was peeing in the front yard. I called him to come but since he needed to finish peeing, I went in the house to wait for him - it was really cold
outside! I had no sooner shut the door when I heard this loud crying of a dog in pain. I opened the door just as MOOSE was about to run onto the sidewalk in front of our porch. As he tried to get up
the steps he fell 3-4 times. I rushed to help him but he was able to get up them and run into the house. He ran in and immediately laid down on the floor.
I looked toward the street to figure out what happened when my friend, who had stopped her car a mere 6 feet from where it was parked, was running toward me telling she had hit MOOSE! Neither one of us could believe it since he was peeing as she was getting into the car and I had just seconds before come
into the house. There couldn't have been enough time for him to finish and get to the street! He had run into the house so there didn't appear to be any broken bones and we couldn't see any blood. I told her we would run him to the emergency room for animals and I'd call her.
The vet checked him over and found a broken dew claw on his right foot and his chin was bleeding from hitting the cement when he fell tryingn to get up the steps on the porch. No broken bones-all vital signs were good-breathing, lungs, heart, pulse, etc. She did say he would probably be sore for a few days.
She didn't even see the need to take x-rays. I had noticed an odd fold in his skin that hadn't been there before, but when I felt it before the doctor came in, it just felt like skin. The doctor didn't feel anything out of the normal either.So, home we came with an anti-biotic and some pain pills, a bandaged paw from where they clipped the dew claw off, and "a cone of shame" (from the movie "UP")!
The original "cone of shame" was a hard plastic one. He wore it the first night but couldn't seem to get comfortable. So, I found this cloth one I had from another surgery years ago. He did better with this one.
After the second day, I took off the "cone of shame" and watched to see if he would chew on his bandage. He hasn't ever been one to chew on a sore or bandage in the past so I thought he would do fine
without the cone. And he did!
Look at those SAD eyes!
On Thursday and Friday MOOSE just laid and looked so sad. He shivered with pain and wouldn't let anyone touch him. I tried to pick him up once to take him outside and he cried in pain. So I just let him alone. He would stand up every3 hours or so and very gingerly move a couple of feet to a new spot.
We tried bring food and water to him and he would just turn his head away. My heart was breaking! I called and talked to a nurse at our Vet's and talked to her. She said to just keep watching him and call if I had more questions or concerns.
The fold of skin got a little puffier and by Friday his leg was bright red and the fold of skin was now hard. You can see it just to the left of the red part.
Late Friday night I got him to drink from a bowl that I held for him. Saturday morning he drank another bowl of water and Terry got him to eat a handful of his doggy treats. Later in the day, we coaxed him outside. He peed and laid in the grass for awhile. He was still moving gingerly but moving more often and he went outside a couple more times, going up and down the steps. I did notice that the hardness in the fold of skin seemed to be spreading outward and the area was about the diameter of an apple.
Sunday was a remarkable improvement. His walking was still a little tentative but he was moving around more and going from person to person for attention as we had a houseful of company for Father's day. He was even able to out maneuver some of the little kids when they came towards him.
Monday was a HUGE improvement in his walking and spirits. He even ate from his own dog bowl and begged at the dinner table! His tail was still down and between his legs but things were looking up.
On Tuesday I noticed that the hard area was really noticeable. I could see the outline through his fur and it had increased in size. I also noticed that his fur was matted in places with something hard and dark. It appeared to be dried blood. So, I called our Vet and we made an appointment for this morning at 9:30 a.m.
When I got up this morning and saw him across the family room, I thought his hard spot looked different. Then I realized it was the other side of his body. We had never noticed anthing wrong
with his left side but today-one week later it was noticeable.
The Vet checked MOOSE out and decided he needed to shave some of his fur so he could get a good look at his skin. This is what we found!
In the picture below you can see where the original fold of skin was.
The picture below shows the newly discovered injury on his left side.
Originally we thought the car had just hit him, even though the driver and passenger felt a thud.The doctor believes the car actually did ran over him and it is a miracle that he is even alive or not seriously injured.
The verdict is that his skin is dying and will need to be removed and the good skin on each side will be pulled together and sewn up.
He said the skin should start to crack and fall off within the next week. He will need to remove the skin to keep from having infection set in. He will hold off on surgery as long as possible. Right now MOOSE is home but we will kennel him for a week while we are out of town. Tom will be here but we don't want him to have to deal with all the doctoring MOOSE will need. They will take good care of him and we will keep in constant touch with them. He will, hopefully, be on the road to recovery by the time we get home.
We LOVE our MOOSE!
