Mandy
Mandy came to German Shepherd Rescue of Central Texas on January 21, 2012. Her previous owners had dumped her at a kill shelter only a week before. Their reason for giving her up was that she would not train. The shelter where she was dumped knew Mandy would need a rescue group to save her life. She had a limp (her previous owners stated that she had been hit by a car) but at that time they did not know how extensively she was injured. They contacted German Shepherd Rescue of Central Texas, and we gladly stepped in to give this little girl a second chance.
Mandy loves her ball.
After a lengthy trip, Mandy finally arrived at her foster home. She was four months old and weighed 22 pounds, very underweight for a German Shepherd puppy. Within the first day, it was observed that she had tapeworms, fleas, and ticks. Mandy was quickly treated for these parasites and seemed to be doing well for the first week. Then she came down with an upper respiratory infection. It was a bad case and she needed to have two rounds of antibiotics to treat her. At one point in time, the vets thought that she might have distemper. Luckily, after being tested, the results came back negative for distemper. Mandy was also diagnosed with coccidia and was successfully treated for that as well.
Mandy was very underweight when she arrived at her foster home. She is slowly gaining the weight back.
When she was finally healthy, Mandy was able to see the veterinary specialist to diagnose the problem with her legs. After taking X-rays, the specialist told us that Mandy's pelvis had been broken when she was hit by a car. The vet estimated that her injuries occurred when she was only 8 or 9 weeks old. He told us that her pelvis had been broken in 3 places and because she had not seen a vet after the accident, her bones had healed in improper places. This caused her right hip to become dislocated. The bones healed incorrectly causing the ball-and-socket joint in her hip to become more of a ball-and-plate, so her leg cannot be held in its proper place.
Mandy loves to snuggle with her Pillow Pet.
The specialist told us that at her age, her best option for treatment of her leg would be to do a Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO). This surgery removes the ball part of the ball-and-socket joint. It will then be her muscles that hold her leg in place. That is why it is so important for her future adopters to be fully committed to daily exercise for the rest of her life. After her surgery, she will have a functional limp but she will be able to do everything that other dogs do and she shouldn't have any pain or discomfort.
Mandy in her favorite sleeping position.
The vet explained to us that Mandy will have to wait until she is at least 9 months old to have the surgery. The reason for this is that she is still growing, and if the surgery is performed at too young of an age there is a greater risk of the bones cracking from minimal pressure. It is very important for German Shepherd Rescue of Central Texas to help this little girl to the very best of our ability, so we will follow the specialist's orders and have her surgery performed when she is 9 months old. Mandy will be approximately 9 months old on June 1, 2012. We will hopefully be able to schedule her surgery for that week.
Mandy enjoys playing outside with her tennis ball.
While we wait for Mandy's hip surgery, she will be spayed. Although we spay or neuter all of our rescue dogs, the vet made a special mention about it. He said that because her pelvis was broken in so many places and healed in all the wrong places, if she were to ever get pregnant her pelvis is not wide enough to give birth. Fortunately for Mandy, she will never have to experience this. When she is spayed she will also need to have a baby tooth pulled because it has not fallen out on its own, and her adult tooth has already started to grow. If her baby tooth is not removed it can cause problems with the position of her other adult teeth.
Beautiful Mandy
German Shepherd Rescue of Central Texas is hoping to raise enough money to cover Mandy's many medical expenses. As with all of our dogs, we ask for an adoption donation (at time of adoption), however Mandy is a special case and will incur more medical expenses than our other rescue dogs. That is why we are asking our generous supporters for help. We want to give her the best life possible, and we need your help to do so.
Mandy is always with her ball.
We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and any donation made is tax deductible.
If you do not feel comfortable donating online, but still wish to donate towards Mandy's treatments, checks can be sent to:
German Shepherd Rescue of Central Texas
P.O. Box 1578
Dripping Springs, Texas 78620
Thank you for your continued support.
GSDrescueCTX, and Mandy
X-ray of Mandy's hips
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