Dog hit by a car-questions

[Mom2Missy]

My sweet 6 year-old Lab mix, Missy, was hit by a car 3 nights ago. The vet at first said her front elbow was dislocated and that was all that seemed wrong with her. The next day, we went to see her and she couldn't stand up and bear weight on her back legs at all and was in horrible pain. Before her surgery to correct her front leg, they did an xray of her hips and one of her hips was dislocated. They said they could do a closed reduction of her hip, basically manually putting it back in place without cutting her open.

They said the hip went in great. I'm hoping that the hip stays in place, because my husband said we cannot spend any more money on her, as the bill is already creeping past $4000.

Questions:
1) Has anyone nursed a dog back to health with so much orthopedic trauma? I go to see her 2 times a day, and she can barely stand up. She's no longer in a lot of pain, and is very happy to see me so that's good.
2) I'm getting mixed opinions about the success rate of this closed reduction of the hip...it dislocated due to trauma, not to a dyplasia sort of thing. Anyone with experience with this?
3) Femoral Head and Neck (something? Ostectomy?)...where they cut off the head of the femur and a false joint forms. I've read about this...could this be an option for her if the closed reduction doesn't stay in? She's almost 50 pounds and I've read she's borderline weight for that.

I'm terrified of nursing this dog back to health, only for her hip to come out again and need more surgery. I can't even face the possibility it really scares me. After all this surgery, I don't know if my husband would allow another one. We can only spend so much on a dog, but of course if it were me, I would just hand over my credit card....

I hate this middle ground...I had hoped that she was either really bad off or not much was wrong. This in between is SO difficult to make decisions about. They say if her hip stays, her quality of life can go back to either almost or completely normal. We love her so much we wanted to give her a chance. I asked the vet if we were doing too much, and she said absolutely not, and she would do this if it were her dog.

I'm so grief stricken over this, and my kids really couldn't handle seeing her home for a few weeks, only to have her hip pop out. SO much stress for me over this...

Any words of comfort? Wisdom? Thanks for reading all of this.....

[I_Love_Cleo]

wow you must really love her, to spend so much on getting her surgery. I think it is a chance that you will just have to take. I think she will heal ok, and hopefully *crosses fingers and toes* her hip stays put!! . I think the only problem you will have later on down the track, if her hip heals properly would be artheritis in the joint? i could be wrong. Goodluck

[AlaskaYorkie]

Don't give up hope. My situation is far different than yours, but it taught me that dogs are incredibly resilient. I adopted a 10-year-old Yorkie rescue that was hobbling on 3 legs. The vet called it the worst cranial cruciate problem he'd ever seen. I opted for the $1,500 surgery, and the recovery has been miraculous. Within a month, he was walking almost without a limp. Now, 10 months later, he beats my healthy 2 year old up a double flight of stairs. If you can improve your dog's mobility, it will be money well spent.

[golden&hovawart]

yr dog is very lucky to have you,both.
One of my dog had the same problem and was finally operated on.They removed the head of the femur.This dog lived to the ripe age of 13 and could keep up with all the other dogs.I would take him,bycicling,too.The only time,he would limp was when the weather was changing.
My father Border Collie who was a big boy,65pds,had the same operation with same success and same problem.He also lived to 13 and was aherding dog.My father had about 550 sheep that he rounded,everyday.
Both dogs swam a lot and that really helped and they kept thing to avoid anymore problems.

[weezyNollie]

Have you considered hydrotherapy for recovery? Or even just physical therapy? Have you asked what the prognosis would be without surgery and then do the surgery at a later time?

You would be surprised at how impressive dogs and their healing can be!

[sassynan]

It hasn't been that long since she was hit so of course she's still sore. When we get bruised or hurt, we're sore for quite awhile and dogs are no different. Please don't give up on her. My 13 yr old dog had her first cancerous tumor when she was barely 2 yrs old. Last month she had another tumor removed. All in all she's had at least 5 surgeries and we've spent soooo much money on her. But when we got her we knew that good or bad, we had to take care of her for life. She is like our child and if she needed more surgery tomorrow, we'd do what we had to do so she could have it. When you bring her home, make sure she takes it easy for awhile.

[Mom2Missy]

It's a pleasant surprise to see so many responses this morning. Thank you all for taking the time for Missy and me.

Thank you for the personal experiences, it really helps.

She's really delicate right now. With the right front leg in a cast, and the back left leg up in a sling, she's a little topsy-turvy. :-) They said she wouldn't stand for them yesterday, but when I got there to see her, she started whining and kept trying to stand up. The techs were very moved to see here suddenly get so excited and trying to leave with me. They seem to be taking good care of her, she's laying on a big orthopedic bed on the floor, she's not even in a cage. She can't really go anywhere so she doesn't need it.

With the closed reduction of her hip, it requires her to be very inactive for the next several weeks. The vet said, with her front leg hurt, it will actually aid in her recovery for the back hip since it is slowing her down. I guess that's a blessing in disguise, but it also is going to be quite difficult to care for her. I am most likely going to have to carry my 47 pound dog out to go potty for at least a few days. (my back is aching already) I may try to set up a blanket situation to carry her out with the help of my 12 year-old. I guess we'll have to play it by ear.

I'm definately going to hang out here during her recovery. It's wonderful to hear from other dog lovers who would do the same thing. I know some of my friends think I'm crazy, even though they aren't saying it. But I had to at least give Missy a chance...she is such an awesome dog. Very protective of my children, barks only when appropriate, kids can lay on her, etc. Everyone that sees her says she's so well behaved. Plus I feel a little guilty for leaving her outside...she always runs outside with me when I get home, and I forgot her out there. I didn't see her, I think she took off for a cat. An hour later, I heard a terrible screaming. My neighbor found her in the street, and she hobbled on 2 dislocations back to my front yard. As soon as I got out there and she saw me, she just collapsed and stopped trying to walk. I think she was trying to make it to my front door.

So many tears this week....I'm going to take the kids to go see her in a few minutes, I'll take a picture to share with you all.

[bernicesmama]

i have no personal experiences to share with you, but i would like to tell you to keep hope alive. missy is in my prayers.

[Mom2Missy]

It looks like I'm too new to post in the albums, so I put Missy's picture in my public profile. Click on my name link, then public profile and there's a small picture of Missy at the vet hospital this morning.

They would have sent her home yesterday (was hit only Monday night!), but she has to be able to stand and potty herself. She's on a catheter right now. They said she was able to stand on her front legs today by herself, so she's making great progress every day. I took my kids to see her, and she was just hollering as loud as she could when we left. She really wants to come home with us.

[mara]

I can feel the love you have for your dog when I read your posts!!
I have nothing else to add but want to wish you and Missy all the best and hope that her recovery is speedy. Please keep us updated!