Back From The Dead
Back From The Dead
About 6 weeks ago my 7 yr old yellow lab, Cooper, came up lame. We were out training on a Thursday and we ran a few marks out to 200 yards with Cooper running hard both directions as usual. The next day he came up lame. I took him to the vet, had xrays done and nothing came up. He he was diagnosed with a probable groin injury or pulled muscle.
A week later he is in grave condition. He can no longer walk and when he stands up his back end would collapse. Back to the vet. This time he has a high fever and an MRI is done. The MRI shows a large "unknown mass" in his abdomen which is pressing against his spine (causing paralysis)and has pushed his colon down against his lower body. His hind legs are starting to swell and he is obviously in a great deal of pain. Unfortunately, the original xrays were focused on his spine and his hips so the mass was missed by mere inches in the xrays.
Emergency surgery is scheduled and I get the call from my vet when he opens him up. The mass is an abscess which has burst and is leaking pus into his body cavity. The abscess was likely caused by a foxtail that he either ingested or huffed up his nose. My vet says he has less than a 50% chance of survival and will need to kept in the hospital for 2 weeks if he survives. Then he asks me the big question... "What do you want to do, Mark?"
My first thought was his quality of life. Will he regain use of his legs if he survives? This is a hard charging dog and a handicapped life of leisure isn't going to go over well for him. Bill (my vet) simply tells me he doesn't have a crystal ball, but that Cooper is in bad shape. I envision him lying on the operating table with his guts laying there and I quickly decide to take the 50% chance. He's been a good dog to me and I owe it to him to give him a shot. Bill and I agree that a few days after the surgery we'll re-evaluate the situation and decide on the next move.
That night he calls me and says that Cooper is standing up in his kennel eating his dinner and wagging his tail. He has a drain tube inserted into his abdomen so he can be flushed and drained daily to keep his insides clean and fight off the infection. He wants me to come in and see him the next day. I go in and he looks pretty bad. He's got 2 grossly swollen hind legs, he has a tube dripping fluids from his abdomen, his stomach is shaved, he has a huge incision that is all stitched up and he's wearing one of those funny Elizabethan Collars!
In spite of all of that, when he sees me he gets up, wags his tail and get's that lab smile that some of you are familiar with. They let me take him out and walk him around to help with the swelling and he's moving pretty well considering what he had gone through less than 24 hrs earlier. It's hard to see him like this, but the alternative was even harder to imagine. I went in every day, sometimes twice a day to check up on him and walk him around.
Fast forward 5 days... Cooper was sent home with me 5 days after his surgery. He was a little stiff, but overall he was in pretty good shape. His drain tube had been removed and a week later his sutures were removed. We kept him on meds (antibiotics) for another 2 weeks and he was given a clean bill of health last Monday. He's playing with my other 2 labs and seems to be in good spirits. He's acting like a puppy again.
So, less than 6 weeks after his surgery, he was back at my side and duck hunting with me yesterday. He picked up a few birds and acted like his usual self. The only sign that he's been through so much trauma is the fact that his belly is still bald! Other than that, he acts normal and healthy.
Sorry for the long post. I just needed top share this with you guys. I've held off posting anything until I had a handle on his future. As it turns out, it looks like he has a new lease on life.
Here's Cooper The Miracle Dog on yesterday duck hunt...
A week later he is in grave condition. He can no longer walk and when he stands up his back end would collapse. Back to the vet. This time he has a high fever and an MRI is done. The MRI shows a large "unknown mass" in his abdomen which is pressing against his spine (causing paralysis)and has pushed his colon down against his lower body. His hind legs are starting to swell and he is obviously in a great deal of pain. Unfortunately, the original xrays were focused on his spine and his hips so the mass was missed by mere inches in the xrays.
Emergency surgery is scheduled and I get the call from my vet when he opens him up. The mass is an abscess which has burst and is leaking pus into his body cavity. The abscess was likely caused by a foxtail that he either ingested or huffed up his nose. My vet says he has less than a 50% chance of survival and will need to kept in the hospital for 2 weeks if he survives. Then he asks me the big question... "What do you want to do, Mark?"
My first thought was his quality of life. Will he regain use of his legs if he survives? This is a hard charging dog and a handicapped life of leisure isn't going to go over well for him. Bill (my vet) simply tells me he doesn't have a crystal ball, but that Cooper is in bad shape. I envision him lying on the operating table with his guts laying there and I quickly decide to take the 50% chance. He's been a good dog to me and I owe it to him to give him a shot. Bill and I agree that a few days after the surgery we'll re-evaluate the situation and decide on the next move.
That night he calls me and says that Cooper is standing up in his kennel eating his dinner and wagging his tail. He has a drain tube inserted into his abdomen so he can be flushed and drained daily to keep his insides clean and fight off the infection. He wants me to come in and see him the next day. I go in and he looks pretty bad. He's got 2 grossly swollen hind legs, he has a tube dripping fluids from his abdomen, his stomach is shaved, he has a huge incision that is all stitched up and he's wearing one of those funny Elizabethan Collars!
In spite of all of that, when he sees me he gets up, wags his tail and get's that lab smile that some of you are familiar with. They let me take him out and walk him around to help with the swelling and he's moving pretty well considering what he had gone through less than 24 hrs earlier. It's hard to see him like this, but the alternative was even harder to imagine. I went in every day, sometimes twice a day to check up on him and walk him around.
Fast forward 5 days... Cooper was sent home with me 5 days after his surgery. He was a little stiff, but overall he was in pretty good shape. His drain tube had been removed and a week later his sutures were removed. We kept him on meds (antibiotics) for another 2 weeks and he was given a clean bill of health last Monday. He's playing with my other 2 labs and seems to be in good spirits. He's acting like a puppy again.
So, less than 6 weeks after his surgery, he was back at my side and duck hunting with me yesterday. He picked up a few birds and acted like his usual self. The only sign that he's been through so much trauma is the fact that his belly is still bald! Other than that, he acts normal and healthy.
Sorry for the long post. I just needed top share this with you guys. I've held off posting anything until I had a handle on his future. As it turns out, it looks like he has a new lease on life.
Here's Cooper The Miracle Dog on yesterday duck hunt...
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Hoyt
Re: Back From The Dead
wow, thats great mark! they are like family aren't they? i would have a tough time not giving my yellow lab, copper, every chance available before having to put him to sleep. thats a day i dont look forward to. glad to see your hunting buddy back out in the blind with you! 
Re: Back From The Dead
My only fear was his quality of life. I was worried about him suffering and him not being able to be active. He wouldn't want to live like that, I'm sure of it. I'm really happy we took the chance. It was too soon for him to go.
Tucker, my 3 1/2 yr old black lab, isn't happy about not being top hunting dog anymore, but I assured him equal time in the field this year. I'll rotate them every other week or so. It's tough when you have multiple dogs and I'm unable to take them both.
Oscar, at 6 months, isn't going to hunt until he's a least 2. I like them to be 100% solid before they start to hunt. Too many bad habits can develop if they're hunted too soon. That's the best part about having multiple dogs.
Tucker, my 3 1/2 yr old black lab, isn't happy about not being top hunting dog anymore, but I assured him equal time in the field this year. I'll rotate them every other week or so. It's tough when you have multiple dogs and I'm unable to take them both.
Oscar, at 6 months, isn't going to hunt until he's a least 2. I like them to be 100% solid before they start to hunt. Too many bad habits can develop if they're hunted too soon. That's the best part about having multiple dogs.
Hoyt
Re: Back From The Dead
Wow thats a great story thanks for sharing and im glad it all worked out good 
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MuleyMadness
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Re: Back From The Dead
Wow Mark, that's a miracle dog right there. Great story, glad he got a second chance. Not sure a lot of owners would have given him the chance, glad you had the means/commitment etc. to do so.
Re: Back From The Dead
I've been extremely fortunate with all of my dogs. This is the first major expense I've had to deal with. And I'm really grateful for that!MuleyMadness wrote:Wow Mark, that's a miracle dog right there. Great story, glad he got a second chance. Not sure a lot of owners would have given him the chance, glad you had the means/commitment etc. to do so.
Hoyt
Re: Back From The Dead
i've had 2 surguries [SPELLING??] on my yellow lab copper. 1 he cut a tendon on his front paw when he was 10 weeks old. the other he did the same thing on a tendon on his back paw. both would have cost over $2000.00mark jones wrote:I've been extremely fortunate with all of my dogs. This is the first major expense I've had to deal with. And I'm really grateful for that!MuleyMadness wrote:Wow Mark, that's a miracle dog right there. Great story, glad he got a second chance. Not sure a lot of owners would have given him the chance, glad you had the means/commitment etc. to do so.
people made fun of me at first but when he was just 4 weeks old i got pet insurance on him. best thing i ever did for him! the money it has saved me on the suguries is more than it will cost me for the rest of his life. $25.00 a month is not to bad.
Re: Back From The Dead
Great story, thanks for sharing. It's always nice to see someone with such love for their dog. My dogs have always been members of my family. We had a similar situation a few years ago with my dog Copper, we think he ingested something he shouldnt have and his kidneys were shutting down. He wouldn't eat and was constantly throwing up and even had a couple of seizures. We took him to the 24hour vet and had a bunch of tests done. They told us our options, but with his kidneys shutting down he didn't have much of a chance at all. That was the hardest decision I have made was to put down my best friend. It was so hard to see him there in so much pain. Copper was my hero, just a year or so earlier he had been hit by a pickup going 40+ mph and walked away with little more than a chipped tooth and a little road rash. Never have I had such a loyal companion (my wife excluded). I have not been able to bring myself to try and fill that void in my life yet. We got the wife a little miniature schnauzer a while back, but as far as replacing Copper, i dont think it's possible. Whoever said dogs are mans best friend truly knew what they were talking about.
Congrats to you and Cooper on a full recovery. Hope you both enjoy many more hunts together.
Congrats to you and Cooper on a full recovery. Hope you both enjoy many more hunts together.
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Don Fischer
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Re: Back From The Dead
Thank God he's gonna be alright. I know exactly how you feel. When my Hannah was 13 she got pregnate by accident. The pup's disolved inside her and infected her. I found her laying under her house in a hole she'd dug and took her to the vet more dead than alive. They had to completely disembowl her and clean out her insides, they didn't think she'd make it. But about 5 mos later I took her on her last hunting trip and she was fine. I lost her at 16yrs.