My DH's ex has a thirteen year old Newfoundland dog named Puppy. Just after midnight Saturday (well, technically Sunday), we get a frantic call from the ex that the dog has been hit by a car. We go tearing over there (20 minutes away), put the dog in our car and rush her to the emergency clinic (40 minutes away because there's no quick way to get from the ex's house to the interstate). She's pretty alert when we pick her up but by the time we get her to the vet, she's seizureing. They diagnose massive head trauma, a severely swollen brain, and maybe more but they can't tell without xrays. They give her a 40 percent chance of survival if they treat aggressively, immediately. We say go ahead, try to stabilize her and then we'll see where we are.
They get the seizures stopped, get her on IV meds to (hopefully) bring down the swelling of her brain, start a fluid drip and put her on oxygen. We pay them a thousand dollar deposit and go home. In the morning, she's off oxygen, done with the meds for swelling, there's no other damage anywhere. The car must have just hit her square in the head. They didn't stop. And yes, they saw the dog, because the folks who were still up heard the squeal of brakes and there were skid marks in the road.
Ok, now the vent. There were lots of the ex's extended family visiting for Easter weekend. None of them are stupid. They have advanced degrees in various fields. They have dogs - THREE of them brought their own dogs along! The dog is black. The night was dark. Puppy is thirteen years old, has limited vision and is hard of hearing. They saw her wandering around in the yard. They knew the ex and her daughter were both in bed. NOBODY kept an eye on Puppy. NOBODY put a leash on her. NOBODY put her in the house. NOBODY checked to see how she got outside. NOBODY did diddley-squat until they heard her get hit.
But wait, it gets better. They go in and wake the ex. Now, with roughly six vehicles of all sizes and shapes at the house, instead of loading the dog into one of them and hightailing it to the emergency clinic, the ex calls US!! Which is fine, my DH bred this dog, she was born in our front room, he loves her dearly even though she's lived with the ex for the past 10 years. We're happy to help. But time is of the essence in an emergency like this, and calling us created a half hour delay while we threw on clothes and drove to the ex's to get the dog.
So, we get her to the vet. They get her stabilized. I've been calling the ex with updates every half hour or so. On the third call, she starts with "is it worth putting her through this, is it fair to her, etc." I refrain from pointing out that it wasn't fair for the dog to get hit by a car in the first place, and I don't explain that when she abdicated her responsibility for the dog by calling us to take her to the vet, she also gave up any right to make that decision (I was so proud of myself for keeping my mouth shut!). I just told her that Puppy was on pain meds and therefore was not suffering.
When Puppy is stable, the DH and I go home. It's about 2 am when we get there. I have to work on Easter so have to get up at 5 am. We're too wired, worried and stressed to sleep. We finally doze off about 4:30.
The DH calls me at work about 8 am to say that Puppy is resting comfortably, the seizures have not returned, she's doing as well as can be expected, though not out of the woods yet. I get home from work about 3:30. As I walk in the door, the phone rings. It's the ex. I give the phone to the DH. Turns out, the ex called the clinic to see how Puppy was doing. The vet now on duty said there'd been no change since morning. The ex takes this to mean that the dog isn't going to recover and is starting again about is it fair to put the dog through this etc. I'm speechless. Good thing, too, because nobody would want to hear the language I'd use if I could talk!! The dog was hit in the head by a car travelling at least 45 mph. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet, and she's ready to put the dog down because she's "not progressing"
Oh, and not to mention, they'd stopped the pain meds so they could asses her progress or lack of it without her being all doped up, she's on antibiotics because of a cut in her mouth, and she's not eating yet. So she has a monster headache from the concussion, her whole thirteen year old frame has been rattled up, and she may well have an upset stomach with the antibiotics...it's been a whole ten hours now....should she maybe be dancing around the clinic, bouncing and barking and wagging her tail?????? What on God's green earth do they expect from the poor old lady?
Now mind you, I like the DH's ex on many levels. She has always encouraged their daughter to spend time with her dad, never bad-mouths him, invites us over for dinner periodically, shares extra garden plants with us, has many good qualities. She's not a bad person at all. But she can be very self centered, careless, irresponsible, etc. This is one of those times.
We ransomed her from the emergency clinic for $1400 on Monday morning. Puppy is now at her regular vet's office. She doesn't need actual medical care, just needs to be where she can be watched closely. She's still not eating on her own but she did lap some water by herself. She needs nursing care: hand feeding and watering, turning her onto her other side periodically, keeping her clean, etc. There's concern about pneumonia, either from aspirating or just from being a 90 pound dog who's lying in one position and not moving around. She could develop pressure sores, if she can't get up and potty, she'll be at risk for sores from urine on her skin when she pees on herself. If she does show improvement in the next couple of days, we'll bring her here. Even with five other dogs in the house, she'll get better care here than at the ex's.
So - we may still have to put her down if she doesn't begin to improve fairly soon. But at least she's having a chance. Yes she's 13, but she could still walk a mile through the woods with us when she visits. She's in really good shape for her age, and completely healthy. So thanks for listening, and think good thoughts for Puppy!!!
They get the seizures stopped, get her on IV meds to (hopefully) bring down the swelling of her brain, start a fluid drip and put her on oxygen. We pay them a thousand dollar deposit and go home. In the morning, she's off oxygen, done with the meds for swelling, there's no other damage anywhere. The car must have just hit her square in the head. They didn't stop. And yes, they saw the dog, because the folks who were still up heard the squeal of brakes and there were skid marks in the road.
Ok, now the vent. There were lots of the ex's extended family visiting for Easter weekend. None of them are stupid. They have advanced degrees in various fields. They have dogs - THREE of them brought their own dogs along! The dog is black. The night was dark. Puppy is thirteen years old, has limited vision and is hard of hearing. They saw her wandering around in the yard. They knew the ex and her daughter were both in bed. NOBODY kept an eye on Puppy. NOBODY put a leash on her. NOBODY put her in the house. NOBODY checked to see how she got outside. NOBODY did diddley-squat until they heard her get hit.
But wait, it gets better. They go in and wake the ex. Now, with roughly six vehicles of all sizes and shapes at the house, instead of loading the dog into one of them and hightailing it to the emergency clinic, the ex calls US!! Which is fine, my DH bred this dog, she was born in our front room, he loves her dearly even though she's lived with the ex for the past 10 years. We're happy to help. But time is of the essence in an emergency like this, and calling us created a half hour delay while we threw on clothes and drove to the ex's to get the dog.
So, we get her to the vet. They get her stabilized. I've been calling the ex with updates every half hour or so. On the third call, she starts with "is it worth putting her through this, is it fair to her, etc." I refrain from pointing out that it wasn't fair for the dog to get hit by a car in the first place, and I don't explain that when she abdicated her responsibility for the dog by calling us to take her to the vet, she also gave up any right to make that decision (I was so proud of myself for keeping my mouth shut!). I just told her that Puppy was on pain meds and therefore was not suffering.
When Puppy is stable, the DH and I go home. It's about 2 am when we get there. I have to work on Easter so have to get up at 5 am. We're too wired, worried and stressed to sleep. We finally doze off about 4:30.
The DH calls me at work about 8 am to say that Puppy is resting comfortably, the seizures have not returned, she's doing as well as can be expected, though not out of the woods yet. I get home from work about 3:30. As I walk in the door, the phone rings. It's the ex. I give the phone to the DH. Turns out, the ex called the clinic to see how Puppy was doing. The vet now on duty said there'd been no change since morning. The ex takes this to mean that the dog isn't going to recover and is starting again about is it fair to put the dog through this etc. I'm speechless. Good thing, too, because nobody would want to hear the language I'd use if I could talk!! The dog was hit in the head by a car travelling at least 45 mph. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet, and she's ready to put the dog down because she's "not progressing"
Oh, and not to mention, they'd stopped the pain meds so they could asses her progress or lack of it without her being all doped up, she's on antibiotics because of a cut in her mouth, and she's not eating yet. So she has a monster headache from the concussion, her whole thirteen year old frame has been rattled up, and she may well have an upset stomach with the antibiotics...it's been a whole ten hours now....should she maybe be dancing around the clinic, bouncing and barking and wagging her tail?????? What on God's green earth do they expect from the poor old lady?Now mind you, I like the DH's ex on many levels. She has always encouraged their daughter to spend time with her dad, never bad-mouths him, invites us over for dinner periodically, shares extra garden plants with us, has many good qualities. She's not a bad person at all. But she can be very self centered, careless, irresponsible, etc. This is one of those times.
We ransomed her from the emergency clinic for $1400 on Monday morning. Puppy is now at her regular vet's office. She doesn't need actual medical care, just needs to be where she can be watched closely. She's still not eating on her own but she did lap some water by herself. She needs nursing care: hand feeding and watering, turning her onto her other side periodically, keeping her clean, etc. There's concern about pneumonia, either from aspirating or just from being a 90 pound dog who's lying in one position and not moving around. She could develop pressure sores, if she can't get up and potty, she'll be at risk for sores from urine on her skin when she pees on herself. If she does show improvement in the next couple of days, we'll bring her here. Even with five other dogs in the house, she'll get better care here than at the ex's.
So - we may still have to put her down if she doesn't begin to improve fairly soon. But at least she's having a chance. Yes she's 13, but she could still walk a mile through the woods with us when she visits. She's in really good shape for her age, and completely healthy. So thanks for listening, and think good thoughts for Puppy!!!
