Fufu became paraplegic after kids on a speeding motorbike crashed into him breaking his back 18 months ago. His world fell apart forever. It’s not uncommon for paraplegic dogs to experience neuropathic pain and this may be the reason Fufu chewed off his bandages. The result was quite shocking.
Here’s what happened to Fufu He has small bandages to cover a few drag wounds on his back legs. If one was missing we assumed it had come off when he was outside. But we were wrong. Fufu had eaten it. We had no idea how long he’d been doing this. We were shocked when Fufu vomited up a bandage and excreted some gauze pads. The next day he did it again. We immediately drove him 100ks to our special cases vet who admitted Fufu to carry out a Barium Meal x-ray test. They needed to see if he had a blockage. It would take two days for the Barium Meal to travel through his entire intestines.
This is what the vet saw
Fufu's x-rays were a horrific sight. A massive blockage was lodged in his small intestines from all the bandages and gauze pads he had been eating. His intestines had become badly infected and a large section including the blockage had telescoped inside itself. The condition is called Intussusception and it’s very rare. Fufu’s life was in the balance.
A couple of meters of bandages were pulled out of his intestines and the vet pulled at least a meter of small intestines that had telescoped inside themselves. It was a brilliant operation that saved his life. If we’d delayed one more day getting Fufu to the vet he would have died. But Fufu is a fighter and he wasn’t going to give up.
Fufu returned home
Fufu has been back home in his pen for several days. He is very thin and very hungry but we must be careful not to overload his intestines. Part of his operation wound hasn't healed well as urine had constantly dribbled onto it due to Fufu incontinence.
The wound is not easy to dress and Fufu isn’t very patient! It must be covered with several layers of gauze and foam to ensure the wound is kept dry which is very time-consuming. We are also concerned that one of Fufu's back legs has become stiff from sitting in his tiny cage at the vet or it could be a result of the operation. The vet did not specify. We need to give Fufu gentle physiotherapy to make sure it doesn’t become calcified.
Fufu is still very weak. He was on a drip for over a week after his operation and not eating for several days before. We need to build him up with vitamins and good food which will take time.
We must keep Fufu calm and happy Our biggest challenge is to keep Fufu happy. He desperately wants to get out of his pen and visit his friends. He pulls and rattles his pen door but we can't let him out. He does have three teddy bears that he proudly carries around his pen and lies with them. I think they are a great comfort.
If any of you can think of more ways to keep Fufu happy please let me know. It's so important for his recovery process.
Please help Fufu
Now we're waiting for the bill! We know it's going to be at least $500.00 for the operation and Fufu’s 2 weeks in-stay.
Fufu needs your help. Please consider making a small donation for his recovery. It's a lot of money for us to find but Fufu is worth every $$$.
Don’t forget to visit our Wish List and choose something you’d think Fufu would like. https://www.headrockdogs.org/wish-list
Thank you for caring!
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