Latest Cranberry Update January 12, 2011
Cranberry suffers from a congenital defect which has caused severe deformity to her front legs requiring special orthopedic care. Her prior family couldn’t afford the care that is required and wanted her to have a happy life. They decided that CEBR would be the best place for her...that we would be able to provide her the care now as a pup that will make for a healthy adult bulldog in the future. After an exciting air transport in a private plane across the country, Cranberry arrived in Chicago on December 5th.
Her first medical consultation revealed that her condition was much worse than we thought. Her elbows are completely dislocated; the bones in her legs are subsequently bent, swayed and unattached at her ankles. As she grows, the bones have no room to extend as her ankles are also deformed and actually face backwards, so the bones continue to bend and buckle. She cannot walk on her front legs, but rather scoots. Her back legs work perfectly. This was clearly a job for an orthopedic specialist.
Her first visit to a local orthopedic specialist was not encouraging. He was not convinced that surgery was a viable option and the alternatives he proposed were fairly drastic. It was clear that a second opinion was in Cranberry’s best interest. So, Berry headed out on a six hour ride to Iowa State Veterinary School with one of our volunteers to see the premiere surgical and orthopedic specialists, for a second opinion.
Well…the medical opinion and bedside manner couldn’t have been more different! Her surgical Dream Team, Doctors Hoefle, Krause, “Mathew” and “Kristi" will perform a single surgery on both legs at once and are hopeful that she will be able to straighten out those front legs for good. She will probably always have a very stiff legged walk, but they are hopeful she will be up on both legs (with the assistance of temporary halo type braces while she heals) when she leaves the clinic. They are confident that they will be able to give her a good quality of life.
The surgery is complex. The doctors will be reconstructing her legs at the shoulder and elbow and then setting both wrists with a cage or halo type device. She will have to come back 6 weeks post op to have the leg cages removed. We expect that Berry will need a period of post-operative physical therapy to build strength in her new front legs.
We want to thank all of our readers who have already made a donation to Cranberry’s Medical Fund. As you can see, we have made incredible progress toward attaining our goal of $5,000 to get this little girl walking for the first time in her life.
We still have a ways to go so, if you would like to help with Cranberry’s care, you can make your tax deductible donation at http://shopcebr.com/items/Donations~Donation-Gifts/list.htm.
Be sure to watch our Facebook page for updates on Cranberry’s condition throughout the weekend!
Copyright 2010. Chicago English Bulldog Rescue, Inc. All rights reserved.
Rescue Tales
I sure hope this bird doesn't have a taste for cranberries.
Waiting Patiently
