Mia’s Page – Whisper Ranch

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Miss Mia when she was first found

Mia’s initial radiograph

Note from Cindy Sullivan – Director – posted September 10, 2019

This sweet little girl was found dragging herself down a nearby highway. We took her for x-rays and found out her pelvis is shattered, probably from being hit by a car.

The injury is not fresh. It is estimated to have happened about 2 months ago so this little girl has been dealing with this – without any medical care and dragging herself around – for that long! Amazingly it has not stopped her from getting around, regardless of our efforts to limit her movement. Her determination to live and just “get on with life” as best she can, is inspiring.

In spite of what happened to her, she is incredibly sweet, and loving…wagging her tail and giving everyone that special “bully dog smile.” Anyone who has been loved by one of the bully breeds of dog, knows that smile!!

The vet who took the x-rays does not do orthopedics, but we do have another vet locally who does, and he has agreed to do the surgery to do what can be done to repair her pelvis. Her surgery is scheduled for Wednesday (Sept 11). He thinks he can restore her legs to full or nearly full function.

The cost is estimated at around $1500 and that is with the veterinarian giving us a discount. There are possibly other fracture sites that are not visible on the initial x-ray. Once the surgery is underway, there is no telling what they may find.

I am more than willing and able to care for her and see her through her rehabilitation. What we don’t have at Whisper Ranch is the funding to pay for her surgery. We are very good at “stretching dollars” at Whisper Ranch, but there is no extra beyond what is needed to care for and feed all the other animals here.

There is so much need out there, for people and animals. To the world, one little dog doesn’t seem like much. But we are the world to this one little dog and will do whatever it takes to get her the help she needs and restore her to health.

Update 9-11-2019

Mia had surgery on the right leg today. See the radiograph above) The procedure is called FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy). You can learn about that here.

She came through it well and will come home tomorrow (Thursday Sept 12).

Rehab is going to be interesting..it has to go slowly so the joint is not over stressed. Even in the short time we have had her, she loves to be wherever any of us are…so keeping her confined and still other than for specific therapy walks, will be something she is not likely to be happy about.

The veterinary surgeon feels – based on his experience with many cases like this – that the left leg will stabilize on its own. It doesn’t seem possible, looking at the radiographs, but that is what he said. We shall see.

Even so, doing both legs at the same time would be problematic. Better to get one leg working well first than to have her completely immobilized by trying to do both at once. If the left leg does not stabilize, then another surgery can be done on that later.

After all the orthopedic work is done and she is recovered. She then will face another surgery for a mastectomy (she has several mammary tumors), and of course to spay her. That in itself is relatively minor surgery, but all together that’s a lot for one little dog. However, she’s a tough girl and we are confident she will overcome all of this!

There is so much need out there, for people and animals. To the world, one little dog doesn’t seem like much. But we are the world to this one little dog and will do whatever it takes to help her. While financial support is obviously needed, we know that prayers are just as important, if not more so. If you are unable to donate, please consider praying for sweet Mia.

Update 9-12-2019

Mia is home!!

She is already trying to walk on the leg! The surgeon said to let her walk as she feels able, but slow and steady and on a leash. She is very sleepy, on two pain medications – one for general pain and one for nerve pain….but still happily wagging her tail.

The veterinarian described what he found when he opened her as a mini disaster. The femoral head (the ball) had punched completely through the acetabulum (the socket). and the socket had fractured in places that were not visible on the radiograph. On top of that, the ball was fractured through.

The FHO procedure is done to remove the femoral head (ball) and the neck of it. See this image:

In Mia’s case, the ball didn’t need to be cut off…it was already broken off and had been that way the whole time. Learn about FHO here .

And that was it!

Mia’s Miracle.

a special update!

We reached out for help with Mia’s surgery costs and some very generous people responded helping us raise $1,090 for this sweet girl! We were expecting the total to be around $1,500 – that was the high end of his estimate. The amount donated took the pressure off, the clinic would allow us to pay when we could, so there was no worries if we didn’t have enough today. We knew it would all work out.

We picked Mia up and prepared to pay the $1,090 donate for her. The actual bill was $1,033.88. A miracle!

But WAIT, there’s more!

The receptionist said the amount “due” was $504.38…huh?? Wait, what?! Are you sure?? “Yes” she says with a big smile. To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement!

This wonderful veterinarian gave what they call a “Doctor’s Discount” of $529.50. I about hit the floor! Not only did the actual bill come to almost the exact amount donated which was already $500 less than his original estimate, the doctor then cut that in half! He told me that Mia was an inspiration and that a lot of people could learn from her.

There is something about this little dog. Her sweet, gentle nature…her will and determination to survive without complaint, is indeed inspiring. She has touched many hearts in just the short time she has been with us!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. We will continue to post update on Mia, so check back often!

Update 9-14-2019

Mia is doing well. We haven’t been able to get a “happy face” picture because she is suspicious of the camera. Rest assured, she is happy….tail wagging all the time.

Once her staples come out and her healing progress is evaluated (in two weeks), rehab will begin in earnest. Our biggest challenge until then is to keep her from over doing it too soon.

Her other “challenge” currently is itchy places that she cannot scratch with her back feet as dogs do. As much as possible someone is giving her “scritchies” but sometimes she does it herself (see video to the left). A girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do!

Our prayers now are that this leg heals well and that the other leg (that did not have surgery) becomes completely stable so that no further procedures are needed.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and who keep Mia in their thoughts and prayers!

Update 9-22-2019

Mia is continuing to do well. She is walking on her own and able to go outside with close supervision to enjoy the sunshine and get to know the other animals.

The leg she had the surgery on is very weak and the muscles are atrophied, but she is using it and getting stronger every day. Her back end tends to fall over every few steps, but we are hopeful that as the leg strengthens she will be more stable and she will eventually be able to walk more normally.

She still has major itchy places that she cannot reach and will come to one of us with little grunts, pushing us with her nose to let us know that we need to stop what we are doing and scratch her!

She still has a long way to go. Please continue to keep Mia in your thoughts and prayers!

Update 9-26-2019

Mia sunbathing

Mia walking

Incision problem

Mia is doing well. She is able to spend some time outside each day enjoying the sunshine and the company of the other residents at Whisper Ranch.

She is walking fairly well, but the leg still has a way to go toward full use…or as full as possible. (See video)

There has been one small setback with the incision site. One section at the top of “hip” has not closed. We have removed the remaining staples and are now treating with silver wound packing. We put a stretch net “stocking” over her bottom to hold a gauze pad over the site to keep it clean. So far, she doesn’t seem to mind having to wear it.

There is no smell or heat to indicate an infection and it is not painful at all to her, so we are not sure why it did not close like the rest of the incision did. However, sometimes that happens with such an extensive procedure when the incision is in a place where shearing forces, or too much movement of the underlying tissues can happen. This can cause what is known as a “wound sinus tract” or “wound tunneling.” Careful daily cleaning and packing of the cavity is key to resolving this.

Mia has an appointment next week with the veterinarian, so we’ll see how its doing then and whether or not any additional intervention will be needed.

Our prayers now are that this leg continues to heal with no additional complications.

Thank you to everyone for caring about Mia.

Please continue those positive thoughts and prayers!

Update 10-3-2019

Incision healed

Mia had her post-op check today.

The wound at the incision (see 9-26 update) has healed almost completely.

Internally the leg has healed enough to clear her for increased activity. Dr. Stephen said it will be good for her go for walks on hilly ground – up and down – to continue to build up the muscles.

She still loses balance in her back end, but its getting better every day.

Water therapy will also be very beneficial for rehabilitation. You can learn about that here. However, such services are not available in this small rural area. No worries! We are very good at creative adaptation, so we have set up a large 300 gallon water trough (borrowed from the horses) and have obtained a canine life vest. Problem solved!

She still struggles with those itchy places that she cannot scratch with her back feet. But she is not shy about bumping us with her nose and doing her “piggy grunting” to insist that we scratch for her. We are happy to oblige!

When she is stronger over all, we will schedule her spay and mastectomy (to rid her of the multiple mammary tumors she has).

Update 11-22-2019

Enjoying a warm sunny day

Mia is thriving!

She enjoys being outside, running (yes running!) up and down the hills. It is great exercise for her legs, which is great since water therapy hasn’t worked out. The weather turned cold early AND it turns our pitties are not water dogs. She was not happy “floating”… 🙂

Those itchy places that she cannot scratch with her back feet are an ongoing aggravation, but we continue to scratch for her.

Her spay and mastectomy are still pending. The vet wanted a minimum of six week post surgery before thinking about more surgery. In the meantime, we are working on prepping her body, building her immune system.

We are also discussing doing what is called an ovary-sparing spay rather than a traditional spay. The reason for that is because the hormones produced by the ovaries are not just for reproduction. There are many other systems in the body that rely on these hormones on for health, including joint disorders, certain cancers and regulation of glucose metabolism, and insulin sensitivity.

Even though she is much better than when she first came to us, she still has some instability in her back end. There is the possibility there is what is called a “non-union” in the fractured areas of her pelvis on that side. A non-union is when a fracture is unstable for too long that the two broken ends heal over separately instead of reattaching to each other.

Update May 2020

Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner.