Barbara is an 11 month old Lab who was found with her mother and four other litter mates in June of 2019 and brought to Cinderella Pet Rescue in Mission, Texas. She has been completely vetted and spayed and was up for adoption along with her siblings.
In November of 2019, a driver who was either speeding or impaired crashed into a section of the no-kill shelter where Barbara and other dogs were housed. It was late at night so the dogs were inside their pen instead of the outside run and we thought none had been injured although they were all highly traumatized.
She was taken to a vet who gave her an anti-inflammatory and told us to keep her quiet for several weeks, but there was little improvement so her next stop was an orthopedic vet in the Rio Grande Valley for x-rays. He said she had an injury to her ankle that would become progressively worse as she got older but offered little in the way of correction. He said in time she would quit using the leg because of the pain and it would atrophy and become useless.
There just had to be a better solution for this beautiful girl! Two Cinderella volunteers who were heading back to their home in SC and are involved with another rescue there called Dog4U, took Barbara with them. Since arriving, Barbara has been to CVETS in Columbia, a team of excellent vet specialists that Dog4U has used in the past. The orthopedic vet here said she had a left tarsal/hock osteochondritis dissecans which means that a piece of cartilage has been broken off from the bone and is lodged in her ankle joint. After looking at her x-rays from Texas and doing a cat scan on Barbara we discussed what could be done to help her. Non-surgical treatment is not an option because her injury is progressively getting worse. Surgical removal of the cartilage flap/debridement was discussed but the joint would remain abnormal with ongoing development of osteoarthritis and cartilage wear. Since the damage to her ankle was extensive this procedure was also ruled out.
The other procedure is an arthrodesis-surgical fusion of the bones on either side of a joint to prevent painful joint movement. This can be a successful procedure for painful ankle joints and function can be very satisfactory although movement of the joint is removed and Barbara will walk and run with a mechanical lameness. The vet told us that the ankle joint carries only about 15% of the leg motion and she will have close to normal recovery. When she runs she will swing her leg out a little bit to compensate for the fused joint but it won’t impair her ability to be an active healthy dog.
But this surgery comes at a cost - nearly $4,500! In order to get this surgery, both animal rescues are working on fundraisers. Please help us raise the money for Barbara's surgery. She needs it to be able to walk.
Barbara is a gentle, sweet dog who loves everyone. She is great with other dogs and enjoys being around kids. She is house-broken, crate-trained, rides well in a car and walks nicely on leash. She is a very special loving girl who deserves a chance to have a happy life and a loving family. She will get this IF we can raise the money for the surgery. Won't you please help?
