DOBBY'S STORY
Here is Cabo's (now Dobby) story as told by his fosters, Mark and Colleen:
On Wednesday night, 12/12/12, a puppy came to our house cold, wet and shivering, but wagging his tail with hope and trust in his eyes. He was dirty and limping, holding his right front leg up. We fed him and he curled up on some old blankets and fell asleep, exhausted. Thursday, Colleen made an appointment at our vet, Auburn Animal Hospital, for Saturday morning. Friday, after work, Colleen gave him a (double) flea bath.
He has spent time with our dogs and cats, and we have found him to be very social. He’s very quiet and obedient with the sweetest disposition. He’s full of love and affection, despite, we suspect, having come from an abusive home and being dumped. We’ve nicknamed him “Cabo”. He’s approximately 1 year old, 22 lbs., possibly part Whippet.
On Saturday, Dr. Artero vaccinated him with his first shots, de-wormed him and applied Frontline. She also took x-rays which showed a fracture at the proximal ulna. She told us a tendon is attached to the top part of this fracture, always pulling on it causing Cabo pain with any movement of his right leg. She later discussed this and reviewed the x-rays with Dr. Utt on Monday. Dr. Utt and Dr. Artero concluded this type of fracture will not heal and will need a plate and screws- $783. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday 12/20/12.
Anything you can give to help this puppy is greatly appreciated. After surgery, he will be looking for a loving, permanent home.
On Wednesday 12/19, I received a call from Sue Bennett with The Humane Society (I had gone there Tuesday and got a $35 voucher for Cabo) who'd been talking to Judi Daunell with the Friends of the Kern County Animal Shelters Foundation, along with Nick Cullen with Kern County Animal Control. Thursday morning I phoned Nick who emailed me forms to fill out, and the next thing I knew, I had notification the Friends Foundation had contacted Auburn Animal Hospital to pay the entire bill for Cabo.
Cabo had surgery on Thursday. I phoned in the afternoon and was told the surgery was successful (although more difficult than they had first thought) and he was recovering, waking up from the anesthesia. They were also able to remove the broken right tooth he had. He should have a good recovery. Mark stopped by Auburn Animal Hospital after work to check on Cabo and was told everyone absolutely fell in love with him. We're looking forward to bringing him home when he's ready.
On Wednesday night, 12/12/12, a puppy came to our house cold, wet and shivering, but wagging his tail with hope and trust in his eyes. He was dirty and limping, holding his right front leg up. We fed him and he curled up on some old blankets and fell asleep, exhausted. Thursday, Colleen made an appointment at our vet, Auburn Animal Hospital, for Saturday morning. Friday, after work, Colleen gave him a (double) flea bath.
He has spent time with our dogs and cats, and we have found him to be very social. He’s very quiet and obedient with the sweetest disposition. He’s full of love and affection, despite, we suspect, having come from an abusive home and being dumped. We’ve nicknamed him “Cabo”. He’s approximately 1 year old, 22 lbs., possibly part Whippet.
On Saturday, Dr. Artero vaccinated him with his first shots, de-wormed him and applied Frontline. She also took x-rays which showed a fracture at the proximal ulna. She told us a tendon is attached to the top part of this fracture, always pulling on it causing Cabo pain with any movement of his right leg. She later discussed this and reviewed the x-rays with Dr. Utt on Monday. Dr. Utt and Dr. Artero concluded this type of fracture will not heal and will need a plate and screws- $783. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday 12/20/12.
Anything you can give to help this puppy is greatly appreciated. After surgery, he will be looking for a loving, permanent home.
On Wednesday 12/19, I received a call from Sue Bennett with The Humane Society (I had gone there Tuesday and got a $35 voucher for Cabo) who'd been talking to Judi Daunell with the Friends of the Kern County Animal Shelters Foundation, along with Nick Cullen with Kern County Animal Control. Thursday morning I phoned Nick who emailed me forms to fill out, and the next thing I knew, I had notification the Friends Foundation had contacted Auburn Animal Hospital to pay the entire bill for Cabo.
Cabo had surgery on Thursday. I phoned in the afternoon and was told the surgery was successful (although more difficult than they had first thought) and he was recovering, waking up from the anesthesia. They were also able to remove the broken right tooth he had. He should have a good recovery. Mark stopped by Auburn Animal Hospital after work to check on Cabo and was told everyone absolutely fell in love with him. We're looking forward to bringing him home when he's ready.
January 4 update:
I wanted to update you on Cabo. He's doing well. The staples were removed on Monday and the incision is healing nicely. He's still not putting weight on that leg, though. Dr. Utt examined him thoroughly and said nothing's wrong, and for us to start doing ROM (range of motion) exercises on the leg. This is easy, since Mark is a physical therapist at Healthsouth and I'm a registered nurse. The problem now seems to be the tendons tightening at the ankle from holding his leg up so much. We're doing gentle stretching exercises. He gets on VERY well with our two other dogs as well as all five cats (all rescued, of course. One cat I even got at the RSPCA in New Zealand and brought her back when I moved back to the US). He's even wanting to play tug-of-war with our 60 lb. Husky/Australian Shepherd mix. We'll keep working with him.
January 9 update:
Tonight, we found a "lump" on Cabo's leg (slipped pin???). We don't know what it is, but it's certainly not normal. I will call Auburn Animal Hospital in the morning. Will keep you updated.
January 10 update:
I dropped Cabo off at Auburn Animal Hospital this morning. They will do surgery to fix the slipped pin (it was worse this morning). I don't know if he'll spend the night there or not. He didn't seem to be in pain. Never whimpered. He'd walk around on his three legs, always wagging his tail. He is SUCH a sweetheart! We will definitely send you more pictures after he gets back home.
Well, he's home, and feeling VERY good. They apparently just removed the pin. He's got wire holding the fracture together and they tell us it's very stable (although he will get arthritis in the future). Mark picked him up from the vet's and got home shortly after I did. He was walking tall and wagging his tail like nobody's business. We went out back to get the other dogs, and they (INCLUDING Cabo) were ALL RUNNING around the back yard. He's still not putting weight on the leg, but I think it is so much better now, he's going to recover by leaps and bounds. Dr. Artero told Mark that Cabo was very "stoic". Everyone at Auburn Animal Hospital absolutely LOVES Cabo. We will be sending more pictures.
I wanted to update you on Cabo. He's doing well. The staples were removed on Monday and the incision is healing nicely. He's still not putting weight on that leg, though. Dr. Utt examined him thoroughly and said nothing's wrong, and for us to start doing ROM (range of motion) exercises on the leg. This is easy, since Mark is a physical therapist at Healthsouth and I'm a registered nurse. The problem now seems to be the tendons tightening at the ankle from holding his leg up so much. We're doing gentle stretching exercises. He gets on VERY well with our two other dogs as well as all five cats (all rescued, of course. One cat I even got at the RSPCA in New Zealand and brought her back when I moved back to the US). He's even wanting to play tug-of-war with our 60 lb. Husky/Australian Shepherd mix. We'll keep working with him.
January 9 update:
Tonight, we found a "lump" on Cabo's leg (slipped pin???). We don't know what it is, but it's certainly not normal. I will call Auburn Animal Hospital in the morning. Will keep you updated.
January 10 update:
I dropped Cabo off at Auburn Animal Hospital this morning. They will do surgery to fix the slipped pin (it was worse this morning). I don't know if he'll spend the night there or not. He didn't seem to be in pain. Never whimpered. He'd walk around on his three legs, always wagging his tail. He is SUCH a sweetheart! We will definitely send you more pictures after he gets back home.
Well, he's home, and feeling VERY good. They apparently just removed the pin. He's got wire holding the fracture together and they tell us it's very stable (although he will get arthritis in the future). Mark picked him up from the vet's and got home shortly after I did. He was walking tall and wagging his tail like nobody's business. We went out back to get the other dogs, and they (INCLUDING Cabo) were ALL RUNNING around the back yard. He's still not putting weight on the leg, but I think it is so much better now, he's going to recover by leaps and bounds. Dr. Artero told Mark that Cabo was very "stoic". Everyone at Auburn Animal Hospital absolutely LOVES Cabo. We will be sending more pictures.
May 3 update:
We wanted to give you an update on Cabo. We found him a wonderful, loving forever home with Kelly, a speech therapist who works with my husband at Healthsouth. She's renamed him "Dobby" (from Harry Potter). He came over recently for a play date with our dogs and we all went for a long walk. When he came to us he had NO training. We taught him to sit and to be leashed trained. He now walks proudly with his tail and ears up, and Kelly reports he now runs with her and walks on the treadmill. He's fully recovered from the surgery and is a very happy, very loved and loving dog, although he just got neutered this past week (maybe not so happy now). He is now 24 lbs. (was 22 lbs. when we first brought him to the vet) and can still wiggle through wrought iron fences. We're all pretty convinced he's mostly Whippet with a little something else. Thank you so much for all your help in rescuing this beautiful animal.
We wanted to give you an update on Cabo. We found him a wonderful, loving forever home with Kelly, a speech therapist who works with my husband at Healthsouth. She's renamed him "Dobby" (from Harry Potter). He came over recently for a play date with our dogs and we all went for a long walk. When he came to us he had NO training. We taught him to sit and to be leashed trained. He now walks proudly with his tail and ears up, and Kelly reports he now runs with her and walks on the treadmill. He's fully recovered from the surgery and is a very happy, very loved and loving dog, although he just got neutered this past week (maybe not so happy now). He is now 24 lbs. (was 22 lbs. when we first brought him to the vet) and can still wiggle through wrought iron fences. We're all pretty convinced he's mostly Whippet with a little something else. Thank you so much for all your help in rescuing this beautiful animal.