Had A Sad Day With My Dog Luke

[winterose]

Had to take Luke our oldest dog to the vet for emergency care today. Haven't left the house for months. Not to mention I been pushing hard on dealing with my issues here and doing some advocating for my group. I was already kind of wiped out and raw.

Luke was abandoned and we took him in and he is like 9-12 years we think. He has a few issues because of the neglect he endured. Anyways, he has a bacterial infection and will be ok from that.

But what was upsetting and triggering for me was someone had used him for a target and there is a couple slugs in him. Needless to say I got really pissed and had to go outside for a cig.

All I know is as he get's older he is going to have some health issues. I am going to make darn sure he has the best and safest home he can have so he is comfortable as possible and happy. I hate bullies and I hate people who abuse animals.

It's even harder to see this because He, like Ginger, are both such sweet and trying to please type of dogs. It kills me to see they both have been so ill treated. I miss him already. It's too quiet in the house without him. He will be at the vet's until tomorrow getting IV's and antibiotics. Bless his heart.

Just needed to share. Just a sad day today.

 

[Jubilation4Me]

Hi winterrose,

So sorry to hear about your dog! I hope you get good news concerning his condition and are able to bring him home real soon! It's awful that somebody did something so cruel to your beloved pet. Hang in there!

Take care,
J4M

 

[AthenaErdmann]

Winterose,

I hope you are not being hard on yourself for getting upset and triggered when the vet found the slugs. Getting upset shows that you are a feeling, caring person with empathy for your pet. Just reading about it made me mad - shooting at a tame, trusting animal is such a cruel, inhuman thing to do!

If you can handle talking about it: could the vet get the slugs out or had they encapsulated with fibrosis? Could (s)he estimate how long Luke had been carrying the slugs? If they had encapsulated, is the fibrous tissue in such places that it is likely to cause him pain or reduced mobility in the future? Please ignore these questions if they are too much now. It's just that often facts help me handle hard stuff - which I realize may not be the case for you. I also wanted more than anything to become a vet - but I have always been very allergic to both cats, dogs and horses.

Hang in there and enjoy when Luke gets to come home. (((Hugs))), if they feel safe for you.

Athena

 

[winterose]

J4M- Thanks for the well wishes. Yes, it was a very cruel finding but I had a sense he had trauma when we got him because he didn't know how to self sooth when he was upset with a thunderstorm or something made him afraid. He is new to the house about 4 months. Long drawn out story but trust me to say I am not impressed with his previous owners or the next door neighbor who had taken him in then didn't know what to do with him. Then at the vet's we found this out about the slugs. Waiting for 11 AM to go pick him up.

Athena- We are going to leave them alone. Luckily they are right below the surface of his skin. Plus, he also has heartworm so the vet feels we should leave them alone unless they start giving him trouble. He also has scar tissue to his lungs indicative for a dog who has been left outside in weather. So he has been neglected. So as long as the slugs aren't causing any harm and because of his age and other health issues we will leave them be. Good suggestions though to use during times of triggers. I will use this skill more when going through crisis and I need to communicate still.

I've read a very good book by Dr Bruce Perry - "The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog". He shows what trauma does to children both in biological and developmental ways. He shows this by citing his cases he has worked with. So given that trauma can "freeze" different development stages of children and humans, I took the same and applied it to dogs who have been traumatized and looked at their developmental cycles. I just work with them from those points. Instead of saying immaturity I say undeveloped area's. It has worked so far with Ginger and the horses and it is working with Luke too.

 

[winterose]

UPDATE! Luke is home and doing better. He has some antibiotics to take for a week and stuff to help his tummy. We are happy he is home. Hopefully in a week he will be back to himself fully. At least he is barking again and has a sparkle back in his eye some.

 

[ISupportHer]

Kind of late responding to this, haven't been home. Luke is lucky inteed to have such a loving, caring "Mom"!

I really is hard to inagine how "human beings" (if you can call them that) treat others, no matter how many legs there are. Plenty of evidence of that here.

I am glad that by the time I saw this thread, Luke is already home and on the mends. Thank you for sharing Luke's story.

Give him a treat for me please.

ISH

 

[pebbels]

Hi winterose, I ditto what ISH has said, you are a good mum, I get so angry when i hear about animals who have/are been mistreated by their so called owners. We here in NewZealand are getting tougher and about time on animal owners who mistreat/neglect their pets/animals. Hurray for Paw Justice.

Glad he is home with you again and improving :)

Pebs

 

[Jubilation4Me]

Glad to hear that Luke is back at home with you! Hope you're feeling better too!

 

[rjtransient]

Winterose,

My thoughts are with you and Luke. I'm sorry you experienced that random, mindless act of cruelty. Animal mistreatment sets my teeth on edge. Luke sounds like a real survivor, and you are handling this so well. I wish all pet owners had your level of compassion and responsibility. All the best to the both of you now that he's home. :)

 

[AthenaErdmann]

I've read a very good book by Dr Bruce Perry - "The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog". He shows what trauma does to children both in biological and developmental ways. He shows this by citing his cases he has worked with. So given that trauma can "freeze" different development stages of children and humans, I took the same and applied it to dogs who have been traumatized and looked at their developmental cycles. I just work with them from those points. Instead of saying immaturity I say undeveloped area's. It has worked so far with Ginger and the horses and it is working with Luke too.

Thanks for mentioning that book - I've now taken a brief look at it on Amazon, and it looks inviting and warm, though challenging also. I love your approach "Instead of saying immaturity I say undeveloped area's." - gotta remember that with myself, too, to be able to cut myself some slack.

Hug Luke from me!

Athena

 

[winterose]

Thank you all for your support. Unfortunately it's been 2 steps foreword and two steps back with Luke. So I had to rethink how we are going to do this. Time is what will be needed and I am trying to set up a stress free situation to give him that time. I'm sorry this is short there is just alot going on right now.

 

[AthenaErdmann]

If hugs are safe: :Hug_emoticon: I wish you courage and please remember to also take care of yourself.

Good luck!