This post has been rated R by me for blood and gore. In other words, if you can't field dress your own game after you hunt, you probably won't want to read this.








Background:
When my sister moved in, she brought their dog with them. His name was Tyson.

9/15/04
Tyson was playing in the yard tonight. He was running in big circles through the yard. He ran down in front of his house, and must have got his cable wrapped around his foot. It pulled the end of his foot off. I ran down, put my arm around him, and clamped my fingers around his leg right above where his foot came off to try to stop the blood. Then I started yelling for help. The woman next door came over, and they got my mom in the house. My mom started calling vets. None were open, so she just got the answering machine. Tyson remained fairly calm during the whole ordeal - my mom said I was taking it worse than he was.

I find it amazing that no vet will take an emergency call unless they already see the animal.

We tied a tourniquet around the lower part of his leg to try to stop the bleeding. I kept my fingers clamped there also. The neighbor finally gets ahold of a vet in Fairmont, and told us they would stay open. My dad came home, and we loaded Tyson in the back of his truck in the lower half of his doghouse. I road to Fairmont in the bed of my dad's truck with one arm clamped around the dog's chest and the other hand clamped around his leg. By the time we got to Saltwell Road, it had been almost two hours. He was starting to rest his head on my arm. We finally arrived in Fairmont, and went in. My hands and part of my arm were covered in blood. My dad held him on the vet's table. The vet was going to stabilize him, and get him ready to amputate his leg tomorrow, but he was a stocky built dog and wouldn't have done well on three legs.

The decision was made to have him put to sleep. (I'm almost positive that he wouldn't have made it through the night, anyways - while we were still in the yard he started shaking were he was going into shock.) The vet asked if we wanted to stay in while they performed the injection. We did. I was covered in blood, had just spent the last two hours with my hand clamped around his leg, and rode in the open bed of the truck for 25 miles; I wasn't going to leave him. And so, he was put to sleep.

I remember sitting in the yard holding his leg watching him bleed to death, knowing that I couldn't wave a wand and heal him. Also hearing that none of the vets were open or would see him. I remember asking God to please let someone be open, and finally someone stayed open.

I don't know what purpose this served or why it happened, but there is one. I trust God for that.

He wasn't "my" dog, but I played with him, and I have this tendency to grow attached to animals... Well, when I say he wasn't "my" dog - I didn't buy him, but had kind of adopted him as my own. I would have been sad for awhile, if we had given him away... So, I guess in a way, he was my dog. He didn't completely bleed to death in my arms, but he didn't have much time left in this world.

Farewell Tyson, may you rest in peace.

wolf,

I'm sorry for your loss, you have my sincerest condolences. It's never easy to lose a family member. And that's what they are. Furry family members.

Joe

That's tough. Even the worst dogs are still better companions than most people (present company excepted!), in my experience.

It's real tough when you've had them for 19 years. Best hunting companion I ever had. Wife and I decided after that we wouldn't get anymore pets.

Lee L.

It's real tough when you've had them for 19 years. Best hunting companion I ever had. Wife and I decided after that we wouldn't get anymore pets.

Lee L.


I've had a few pets. Many have died a dramatic death. One cat had a heart attack, one had kidney crystals, one developed lung cancer, and another we let outside one day and he never came back because he was trapped by the city. One dog, I just about grew up with - he lived to be 19 or so.

Right now, my heart feels like it was ripped out and tap danced on, but the only thing different I would have done is that I would have played with him more. If I hadn't got attached, I wouldn't feel this way, but I would have missed out on the good times. I wouldn't want to not have a pet. I can't (and won't try to) change the way you feel...

My uncle said they would never have another dog when they had to have their dog put to sleep. Shortly after that, someone they knew was (I think) going to take a chocolate lab to the pound. I'll put it this way, she didn't go to the pound...

I'm just glad that I was here to do it, instead of my mom being here by herself...

I've had a few good dogs. Understood.

Bye
Jack

Wolf,
I'll keep you in our prayers.
This past year I've had to put down two of my best Dogs.
I'm glad I went through the entire ordeal.
I feel that is the least I can do for them.
May you be stronger from it.
GOD does have a plan, we should be silent and see.
Good -Luck
Weebfoot

I hesitate to say this, as it seems somewhat inappropriate, but I want you to know that many find solace in writing about their loss just the way you have. I also see this syndrome of no vet available at all. I am a Veterinarian and have been so for 16 years. I have given the better part of my life to becoming/being an animal doctor. I feel it is my job, my love and my duty to help animals and their owners. I can tell you as well that many Veterianrians, myself included are single individual practitioners that are responsible for providing emergency care. We spend long hours at work all day and when we go home to our families, we like to have time off just like the other guy. Some Veterinarians will limit their practices to their regular patients after hours because the incredible cost to them in time. No amount of money will replace the amount of effort it takes to continually miss family time and events. Their self imposed limits seem cruel and unusual to others, but is a self-protection mechanism. It is basically a last ditch effort to keep from being overwhelmed and burned out. I suffered this burn-out a couple of years ago and started my own local Emergency Veterinary Clinic. It will never make anything, but answers the need for Veterinary care for 12 local practices. It is always open. In your case, I assume that no emergency clinic was open. One needs to establish a continued relationship with a preferred Veterinarian, and generally speaking, they are more than happy to see you after hours if you are a regular client. It is extremely important for you to do this if you intend on having an emergency option after hours. Good luck in all you do.

David

I hesitate to say this, as it seems somewhat inappropriate, but I want you to know that many find solace in writing about their loss just the way you have. I also see this syndrome of no vet available at all. I am a Veterinarian and have been so for 16 years. I have given the better part of my life to becoming/being an animal doctor. I feel it is my job, my love and my duty to help animals and their owners. I can tell you as well that many Veterianrians, myself included are single individual practitioners that are responsible for providing emergency care. We spend long hours at work all day and when we go home to our families, we like to have time off just like the other guy. Some Veterinarians will limit their practices to their regular patients after hours because the incredible cost to them in time. No amount of money will replace the amount of effort it takes to continually miss family time and events. Their self imposed limits seem cruel and unusual to others, but is a self-protection mechanism. It is basically a last ditch effort to keep from being overwhelmed and burned out. I suffered this burn-out a couple of years ago and started my own local Emergency Veterinary Clinic. It will never make anything, but answers the need for Veterinary care for 12 local practices. It is always open. In your case, I assume that no emergency clinic was open. One needs to establish a continued relationship with a preferred Veterinarian, and generally speaking, they are more than happy to see you after hours if you are a regular client. It is extremely important for you to do this if you intend on having an emergency option after hours. Good luck in all you do.

David


Good advice Dr. A. Thank you for letting us hear it from the other side. Vets are people too.

I have an even greater appreciation now for the vets that stay open.

I think my mom tried 5-6 vets, and none were open. She called our regular vet - the vet wasn't there, and the guy that answered the phone said they wouldn't see him unless he was a current patient. She called again (I think) and a woman answered the phone. She then called the vet at home on his cell phone. He said he was an hour away on a bicycle, and from what I heard couldn't believe what the first guy told us... He is the vet that put our cat to sleep when she had a heart attack, one with kidney crystals, and one with lung cancer. And that is just three...

Rhetorical question: Why do our pets always seem to die dramatic deaths?

One of the vets asked my mom if he had ripped a pad off his foot, she came down, I said "No, he ripped his entire foot off."

While this is happening, I am sitting in the backyard holding the dog. There is a puddle of blood around him. His foot is laying beside his leg attached by a tendon or a piece of skin. Picture the scene in Terminator 2 where he pulls the skin on his hand off, except take the hand off at the wrist and take some of the skin on the arm off too. I have my hand around his leg right above the exposed muscle, veins, and bones.

Question for Dr. A:
Four bones were clearly visible, is that where their pads attach? The three or four veins provide circulation...


The dog is shivering. My legs are starting to cramp from sitting odd for so long. My sister brought the dog when she moved out from her husband. She is crying, calling him, he wouldn't lift a finger to help. I'm crying and trying to prepare myself for the possibility of him bleeding to death in my arms in the backyard. My mom is crying trying to talk to the vet and someone else. Tyson is just sitting there shivering and panting heavy, but not whining or howling. He didn't try to bite or anything...

Granted, dieing in the yard in the hands of someone who cares about you is preferable to alone beside the road somewhere, but I'd rather have it happen in the vet's office...

My dad gets home and we load him into the back of the truck inside the bottom half of his dog house. On the way down the road, I come to the sad realization that this will be his last truck ride - I didn't get to take him anywhere with me. At the vet's office, the vet came out and put a muzzle on him, and carried him into the office. I had been leaning over the bottom half of the doghouse for the past 25 miles. I get out of the bed of the truck, my right leg is numb, my left knee feels like someone is twisting a knife into it. My left hand is covered in blood where I had it wrapped around his chest, my right arm is covered in blood from hand to elbow from holding his leg. He was remarkably calm on the way there. Looked around a few times. Rested his head on my left arm alot. In the vet's office, he licked my hand through the muzzle. I'd been that far with him, and wasn't going to leave him alone with strangers - perfectly capable, but strangers nonetheless...

The the vet performed the injection, and he went to sleep.

I didn't get to take him for any truck rides, but will remember playing in the yard. The way he would lay down with his head on his feet when he saw you coming through the yard towards him. The way he would run as fast as he could in big circles through the yard, when he ran by, I'd try to tap him. He was the first dog we had that would actually bring the ball back and drop it so you could throw it again.

Writing seems to ease the pain a little, but not as much as prayer.

He was buried in the backyard with our other pets.

It is hard knowing that you are doing you are doing everything that you know to do, yet knowing in the end that you just prolong the inevitable. I did get hands on confirmation that pushing on the vein in the leg crease will slow down blood loss - first thing I heard not long after events began was that they would have to amputate his leg.

I am glad I was there, instead of my mom being there alone. She came down to see, and for a brief moment, I saw that look that you get just before everyone gets to see what you had for lunch.

Wolf, there are 4 metacarpals/metatarsals that make up the area of the above paw that has tissue supporting the pads. The toes and metacarpal juncture are actually attached to the 4 pads as well as that bigger pad right behind them. The single pad on up the leg is the wrist or ankle. If the amputation was at the juncture of the toes (what it sounds like to me), there would have been several places needed to tie off. Expense is another reason many will not pursue helping an animal. I have saved many animals long past the point of which they were able to lick, or even be conscious. Blood and agressive surgery are generally needed to save an animal as well as treatment of shock. Many give up to easily on fixing a problem. They may not realizee an animal can recover horrible wounds probably better than most of us if young enough. Obviously, however, this takes money, and sometimes a fair amount. Dramatic horrible deaths are typical of our pets because of their lifestyle. If Rover spends his days outside chasing bunnies and deer, he will meet up with whatever comes his way. This might be a car or a steep embankment. They also do not convey their current health to their owners, so observant owners generally catch problems before they become worse. Having a keenly aware owner is paramount to long term survival. This obviosuly goes for animals in the wild. Risky behavior is rewarded with injury and death in all aspects of life.

Right above the big pad is where it came off. It was like someone cut around his leg, and pulled the skin off with his whole foot. There were just the ends of the bones (about 2 inches visible). He had lost a large amount of blood by the time I got across the yard.

He was a combination of like a beagle and a bassett hound. He probably weighed 40-45 pounds (not fat - big boned...) with short legs. Cost started at $600 and rapidly went up. The vet said that having him put to sleep was the most humane thing to do.

Is there anything that we, as dog owners, can do to be more prepared for the freak accidents in life? Any links online?

My cat layed on me Wednesday night. Our other dog came in and layed on my bed yesterday evening, and didn't want to get up to go to her bed. She has been laying around all day...

Life is fragile. Treat it that way. Pets don't treat it like that. In the immortal words of the Tim McGraw song, they "live like they're dieing." Don't ignore your pet. If it is going to be hot today, keep them inside. Make sure water is out if you can't bring them in. Plan for the worst. Common sense should dictate all you do. Most pets are like teens. They think they will live forever. Assume they know nothing. When a cat lays around and does not eat. It is most likely sick. Web sights are all over. I don't know what to tell you on that count. Most of the time, I groan when somebody is self-taught on the web. Get a good book and realize that unless you have real experience, leave the diagnosing to a professional. Don't put off something that nags at you in the back of your mind.