Labrador Retriever : : Female (spayed) Learn more about the Labrador Retriever.
Pregnancy Hold 8/16/23 Hope charmed a few more people today. She saw the orthopedic surgeon to assess her broken hock, and the vet tech and doctor fell in love. A direct quote from the vet. “She’s very affectionate. I sat down next to her just to say Hi, and she came over and put her head on me.”
As for the leg…They agree that the scar on her back and the injury to her leg are consistent with having been hit by a car at some point. The vet feels it was some time ago as the bone is well healed. Though she has decreased range of motion in her right tarsal, there is no instability and she does not seem to be in overt discomfort. She still uses the leg. If there was gross instability or the pain could not be managed effectively, surgical options would be arthrodesis or amputation, but they do not recommend either at this time. Those would be salvage procedures, and the vet doesn’t feel she is there yet, and also doesn’t think amputation would ever be needed.
So the plan for her moving forward, is to manage the discomfort with joint supplements and Omega 3 fatty acids, low impact, controlled exercise, like leash walking and swimming. (if she likes it) They also recommend we work on weight loss once she is done nursing. And if needed in the future, pain management.
With everything she has been through, she is still the sweetest dog, and continues to be an amazing mamma. Even with the pups 4 weeks old, (and getting teeth!) she spends all night with them in the whelping pen. She seeks out attention and I have no doubt that she will be a true snuggler once the pups are adopted and she can be with her person. She will be ready for adoption about a month after the puppies are adopted. If you think you might like to meet and potentially adopt Hope, get your application in today, at www.labadoption.org. Or if you are already approved, let labmatch@labadoption.org know to add you to her list for consideration.
7/19/23 Oh, if dogs could talk this sweet face has a story to tell. She was found as a stray in southern Illinois…..pregnant. The shelter reached out to us late Sunday night. We knew we couldn’t let her have the puppies in a shelter, so things moved quickly and not too many questions were asked.
She arrived at her L.E.A.R.N. foster home Tuesday evening. We quickly realized she had some serious medical stuff going on. There is a large area on her backend that looks like it’s an old injury healed over with no hair, her left hock is swollen and she has a slight limp. Her foster home gave her a much-needed bath, and picked off many ticks.
When she saw the vet, they decided they decided to x-ray all the areas of concern when they did the puppy count X-ray. They found what the vet described as a speckled area (possibly gravel?) on her back end, and her hock is actually still healing from being broken. Our best guess is that this is all consistent with being hit by a car. She is also carrying five puppies, that they believe will be born anyway now!
Right now our main concern is getting the puppies delivered safely and weaned. Afterwards, she will be spayed and then we may revisit the hock and backend to see if there’s anything that can be done. She gets around fine and even has a “spring in her step” when she’s excited, so it may just be a situation where management is best, but we will do everything needed for this sweet girl.
Despite all this, she is as sweet as can be. Engages with us for pets, gets along with the resident dogs, and is ignoring the cat. The vet thinks she is between 5 and 7, and this is definitely not her first litter. She has stolen the hearts of everyone she has met so far. The shelter named her Hope… and we feel it’s a fitting name…. HOPE for a brighter future for this sweet girl.
Raising a litter of pups and taking care of Momma, is going to be costly. We would be grateful for any donations, and we have also added more items to our Amazon wish list. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/333LX99X8SFWD?ref_=wl_share
Stay tuned for updates when the pups are born!!
Other Pictures of Hope (click to see larger version):
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