Fixing Bonita...
Donation protected
When we rescued Bonita, she could hardly walk. Some speculated that this was an attack from another animal, as puncture wounds were evident. Some thought she was hit by a car, but really, it didn't matter, because it was our job to see to it, that she could walk again.
We tried to help her strength her legs with physical therapy and got her to a great point, but this is the point where we can no longer help and a costly medical intervention is necessary.
Unfortunately, even an amputation can't help Bonita. The orthopedic surgeon said that this is such a complicated case, it will need to fixed in two phases.
Basically, the knee needs to be fixed first. Patella grade 4 totally lives outside the knee cap. This will be done by creating a groove in top of knee cap and then put patella and tendon back on top of knee and may need some pins in side to hold it there from slipping back.
Then, after she is fully grown, we look at fixing the shin, which is fractured and not lined up and her metatarsal (top of foot). It's broken and may need a metal plate to connect it to top of her foot where it meets ankle. Lastly, the hip socket may need to be shaven off since she has severe hip dysplasia.
If we fix the knee first, the hope is that will give her strength and stability so that leg won't collapse under the other leg so badly anymore. The doctor has seen this before and has seen dogs do much better after surgery. If we are lucky, she may not need the other surgeries.
There is also some nerve damage in the back of spine causing some of the leg weakness that we see, but the doctor believes that the knee surgery will go a long way to fix a lot of the collapsing leg syndrome that we see.
At the end of surgery, she will neee 2 months of very little activity so it can heal.
We tried to help her strength her legs with physical therapy and got her to a great point, but this is the point where we can no longer help and a costly medical intervention is necessary.
Unfortunately, even an amputation can't help Bonita. The orthopedic surgeon said that this is such a complicated case, it will need to fixed in two phases.
Basically, the knee needs to be fixed first. Patella grade 4 totally lives outside the knee cap. This will be done by creating a groove in top of knee cap and then put patella and tendon back on top of knee and may need some pins in side to hold it there from slipping back.
Then, after she is fully grown, we look at fixing the shin, which is fractured and not lined up and her metatarsal (top of foot). It's broken and may need a metal plate to connect it to top of her foot where it meets ankle. Lastly, the hip socket may need to be shaven off since she has severe hip dysplasia.
If we fix the knee first, the hope is that will give her strength and stability so that leg won't collapse under the other leg so badly anymore. The doctor has seen this before and has seen dogs do much better after surgery. If we are lucky, she may not need the other surgeries.
There is also some nerve damage in the back of spine causing some of the leg weakness that we see, but the doctor believes that the knee surgery will go a long way to fix a lot of the collapsing leg syndrome that we see.
At the end of surgery, she will neee 2 months of very little activity so it can heal.
Organizer and beneficiary
Deven Soto
Organizer
West Palm Beach, FL
Debra Mammino
Beneficiary
