Junior’s Story: “Junior” was a rambunctious 7-month old neutered male mixed breed puppy. His owners had gone away for Christmas, and left Junior at a boarding facility at a veterinary hospital. The excitable puppy initially did fine, and when the staff at the boarding facility went to check on him late at night on the night of December 22nd, everything was fine.

However, they met with an unfortunate scene the next morning. Junior had somehow managed to jump 6 feet into the air, and got himself tangled in a cord that was above his run, that was meant to open the door from the run to outside. Junior’s struggle for his life had begun.

The kennel staff rushed Junior indoors, where the veterinarian on duty quickly placed an IV catheter and started treatment. Junior’s body temperature was just 90 degrees (normal is between 100.5 and 102.5)! Junior was recumbent and not responsive to stimuli; his pupils were not reactive to light. After initial stabilization, one of the veterinary technicians rushed Junior to VESCONE.

By the time Junior arrived at VESCONE, his body temperature had only climbed to 94 degrees. During the time that Junior had spent hanging, all of the blood supply to his back legs and to some of his internal organs behind the cord had been cut off. Without oxygen and nutrients from the blood supply, the cells in these tissues had become damaged, and some had died. As a result, Junior had many signs of severe systemic compromise. His blood sugar was low, and he was not clotting his blood properly. He had also lost a significant amount of protein from his bloodstream.

Junior was treated aggressively with fluids and antibiotics. He also received several plasma transfusions to help him with his blood clotting disorder, and several different types of pain medications, to help control his initially high levels of pain in his hind end.  We also monitored his urine production very carefully; the loss of blood supply to his muscles caused a condition called rhabdomyolysis, in which the byproducts of his damaged muscle tissue were circulating in his bloodstream. These byproducts can be very damaging to the kidneys; however, with aggressive fluid support, Junior’s kidneys seemed to be spared.

Over the next several days, the staff at VESCONE watched in amazement as Junior’s condition improved gradually day by day. With continued care by the nurses and doctors at VESCONE, Junior first started eating again, and then gradually started to try to get up and walk around. This was quite a struggle at first, since his leg muscles had been so damaged; however, as the days progressed, he became stronger and stronger. Junior stayed with us until his owners returned from their trip. We finally sent him home from the hospital about a week and a half after he first arrived. Miraculously, Junior had made a full recovery with no residual effects from the ordeal. It was with mixed emotions that we discharged him; but everyone was so glad to see Junior doing so well and going home to his family.

We hope that this brave puppy has many great years of life ahead of him!

At VESCONE, our team of experienced nurses and doctors work together to use the latest techniques and equipment to make sure each of our patients has the very best chance of an excellent outcome and speedy recovery. Just like Junior!