I do apologize if I am posting to the wrong website. Our dog did not become an amputee due to cancer, it was due to a hit and run accident. Nonetheless, we still wanted to share our story.
We got Myia from a home where the owner was a “DIY” kind of person. He wanted to clip her tail via rubber band. Well, that didn’t work, Myia’s tail became infected and turned gray. It actually looked like a roll of duct tape. Well, because of that, she was now a “mis-fit” and he tried to take her to the shelter. In my neck of the woods, you go to the shelter, you die. Thank God the shelter was closed. He took her back home and then as my son and I were playing with her we noticed her paw was creeled over. Reason No. 2 in the owners eyes to get rid of her, and naturally my son and I felt bad for her as we had just lost a Golden Retriever, Suzee not long before that. No reason for such a cute puppy to have to be thrown out like trash because of her tail (owner error) or her paw (nature…maybe).
My son is an EMT, so he splinted the leg and we took her home. A year and a half passed and she liked getting out of her kennel on her own. February 6 , 2010 was her last escape. As Myia was trying to cross the road to visit the neighbors, a Tahoe flew down the road, hit her and stopped, but as soon as my son opened the door, they sped off.
We took Myia to the local Vet, who told us her femur was broke and the closest vet clinic/hospital able to do that particular kind of surgery was 2 hours away. We hopped in the car to head up the road, we had to help her. While in route we knew money was not pouring out of our trunk, so we pulled over to make some calls. A friend referred us to a Vet close to our home. We called her and she explained the “CareCredit” to us. A “miracle” we thought. We get to the ER Vet and realize that her surgery could be up to $2000. Now, this is $2000 for a single parent of a teenage high school senior and I had only been working my current job for about 2 weeks after being unemployed for 2 years.
Our options, basically, were to fix the leg, amputate the leg, or put her down. We wanted to fix the leg, but did not have the money. The CareCredit was not nearly enough, so we began to cry for 3 hours in the ER Vet’s office because we knew we would have to put her down. Myia came in for one last visit and I said “NO”!! We can’t, she’s too healthy and she knows what decision we have to make. We ended up getting the leg splinted (which the CareCredit was able to cover) and brought her home until I could make some calls Monday morning.
The medications the ER Vet gave her put her in a non-responsive zone, we thought she was about to die. Monday morning came and her bowels were not cooperating at all with the meds. We called the local Vet our friend recommended. Dr. Deanna Mosley is an angel. A true God send and she loves animals. She took Myia off the Acepromazine (ACE) that was zoning her out, kept Myia at her office to stop the uncontrollable bowel movements and did an x-ray. She showed us everything that was going on and explained it in terms I would understand. Myia had a comminuted femur broken into 5 pieces. We also realized Myia was learning to do things with 3 legs as the 4th leg was just added weight.
While at the clinic, everyone fell in love with her (we were beginning to wonder if we would get our dog back or not). She helped out at the front desk, greeted the patients, and assisted the doctor, and shared an office with the doctor all while waiting on her surgery. Less than 24 hours after the surgery, I went to visit Myia and she was playing with her new found toy (a fleece doggie) and lying in the doctors office on her blanket with her food and water dishes in front of her. I told the staff Myia wasn’t at a clinic/doctors office, she was at a “Doggie Spa and Retreat”.
Myia’s surgery was performed on Thursday (Feb. 11, 2010) and today she is home in her crate and we are so glad to have her back. We love her we just didn’t know how to pay for the treatment she needed. There are not many that do, but luckily we were able to be blessed with a Vet that loves animals, make payment arrangements and Myia got a job out of it.
She will return in 10 days to have the staples removed, and we are so thankful and blessed that financial hardships may control 99% of what happens in the world, but it DID NOT control what happened to our baby Myia. The clinic even made arrangements with the local humane society to get a crate for us to use while she recovers so we wouldn’t have to go purchase one. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Myia was a playful Rottweiler with 4 legs, now she seems to be faster and happier than ever. No, she didn’t want to nor expected to lose her leg, but after being hit and that repair surgery was not an option, this was the better outcome. It DEFINITELY is better to have a “tripawd Myia” than no Myia at all, (I still can’t believe she got a job out of all of this) 🙂
Thanks for reading and sharing in our story,
LaQuanda, Sakeeylow, and Myia