Gordo, my neighbors' dog, was hit by a car on Monday. The poor boy has extensive injuries: he almost bit through his tongue, he has road rash all over his front right leg, his lungs are bruised, and infection has set in. Worst of all, however, is his back right hip, which is completely dislocated. The vet had no idea how poor Gordo was able to walk at all when he arrived at the clinic!

Right now, the main concerns are pain management, quashing the infection, and letting his lungs heal up. Gordo is currently being medically boarded with the vet to ensure that all those things happen. The doctor says the poor boy must be in excruciating pain, pain so bad that she's putting a fentanyl patch on him first thing. He's in rough shape.

Once his body is a bit more stable, it will be time to address his hip. Unfortunately, Gordo is a very big boy - at one hundred pounds, he came by his name honestly - and it's not easy to reduce a dislocated hip in a large dog. In fact, the vet says, they usually don't even try if a dog weighs more than sixty pounds.

Thus, she says, the best option is a femoral head ostectomy (FHO). It's a surgery in which they basically go in and chop off the ball portion of the ball-and-socket joint. The socket then stays empty. Because dogs don't have all their weight on their hips like humans, their muscles alone will keep the leg in place, and after recovery, the dog ends up with mostly normal and painless range of motion.

Gordo is the absolute goodest of boys. He was the first neighbor to welcome us when we moved into our new house, and he even helped the movers get our stuff through the front door! He deserves many more pain-free years. He also has a little girl at home who's worried sick about him.

Carl and I are lucky enough to be in a position to help, in that we speak English and have a lot more animal health knowledge than your average person. However, we won't be able to pay for Gordo's medical needs alone. Though the final amount is yet to be determined, we are probably looking at over $2000 for everything. I told Gordo's little girl, though, that he was going to be okay, so I need to come up with the money somehow! I appreciate every little bit you can give.