Surgery Day

Yesterday was the big day.  Samson had his rear leg amputated.  It was very nerve-wracking.  I knew it was the right decision but all the worries of what could go wrong kept running through my mind. Of course, we withheld food after 8:00 p.m. and as any dog owner can attest to, Samson was not happy.  The bad news was that as  a puppy he has a palate that seems to like eating dog poop, so he was able to sneak in a snack in the yard before we left.  I was worried about it affecting his surgery.  The good news (?!?!) is that he gets carsick and halfway to the Vet’s office, he threw it up on my floor mat.  Ugh.  What a smell.  But at least it was only on the mat and there is a quarter car wash next the the Vet’s office.

Dr. Tinker at Canton Center Animal Hospital performed the surgery.  He started around 4:00 p.m. and Samson was in recovery by about 7:00 p.m.  It took a lot longer since there was a lot of fibrous tissue in the limb and since the bones and muscles did not develop correctly, he said it was difficult to tell the tendons, vessels and muscles apart.  It is highly likely that the leg would not have tolerated a prosthetic.

Here is Samson in recovery.

After about an hour, he was given a morphine shot and placed in the recovery kennels.

Dr. Tinker called me at 10:30 p.m. to let me know that he and his wife had just stopped to check on him.  Samson stood up and was wagging his tail.  Samson then promptly laid back down and went to sleep.

I called this morning to check on him and they said he was doing awesome.  We are going to pick him up at 1:00 p.m.  Next week is Spring Break and I am fortunate that I was able to take the week off to stay with him.  My mother will cover for me when I have to leave.  I can’t wait to go pick him up.  He is a fighter and I am so proud to be his companion.

The Tough Decision

Samson came into this world as, in my opinion, the nicest puppy out of our litter.  He was midsized and a dark caramel color.  By the next day his left rear leg had swelled up and it was clear something was wrong.  My mother took him to Canton Center Animal Hospital to visit Dr. David Tinker and began a 10 day laser treatment along with a cocktail of antibiotics.  Dr. Tinker was not able to determine why there was an infection.  It is possible that the cord wrapped around his leg while in the womb (which was cut off his foot at birth) may have been the cause but we will never know.  We knew that it was  a grave situation and that he may not make it.  Within a few weeks his little foot just withered and crumbled off.  The infection healed and he acted just like every other puppy in the litter, except he ran a little slower.  Oddly enough, he is the Alpha  of the litter.

My mother and I took him to Michigan State University to have him evaluated on what our next step should be.  The wonderful doctors there believed that he would be a good candidate for a prosthetic after a corrective surgery.  I did my research and just to be sure, I had my Vet ask for a second opinion.  The second opinion was that amputation would be the best option in the long run.  I have weighed the pros and cons.  I have had to look realistically at our financial resources as well as time constraints.  I looked closely at what toll the surgeries as well as different prosthetic would mean for him, knowing that the end result might still be amputation.  My Vet told me dogs were born with an extra leg.  They only need three and his quality of life would not be affected by the loss of one rear limb.

Today I finally came to a decision about what our next step for Samson should be.  We have explored all of the options and I am left with the belief that amputation is the best choice for him.  Samson needs to be done with this.  He needs to be able to run and romp and not be held back by the 3/4 of the leg left on his left side.  He is 6 months old now.  I have scheduled the surgery for April 6 and although I am deeply saddened by the choice, I feel that it is the right choice.

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