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Spike’s Story
Spike is an amazing pup that had a long, sad journey to being loved. He came from West Virginia, a place where dogs are considered property. He was malnourished and scarred, not from fighting, but from neglect and abuse. He ran away, through the woods, to an animal shelter several times and had to be given back to his owner because it’s the law. One of these times they refused and the sherif was called. Spike’s owner ended up in jail for punching the sherif and the shelter thought they could finally save him! Too bad the guy’s wife came to claim Spike. The next time Spike found his way to the shelter they locked the doors, turned off all the lights and pretended to be closed until they could get him out of state. They used all of their contacts up and down the east coast. He was neutered and ended up at Response-A-Bull in Wilmington DE which is where I met him and fell in love. He was estimated at 2-3 years old and was on a puppy food diet to gain weight and turned out he needed to be neutered again because one was missed. This time it was a more invasive surgery because they had to look for a second testicle stuck on his insides (guess this wasn’t done the first time, and then it dropped) he has a cool tattoo on his belly from this procedure.
Spike was happy and healthy and just wanted to be loved. When he played too hard he wouldn’t use his left hind leg, sometimes for days. Our vets knew this and in July estimated his age at 10-12 with a recommendation that he start joint supplements. He was doing very well on them and even played with his boyfriend Buddy for a weekend in October that included hikes while using all four legs the entire time!
In mid December, I was 37 weeks pregnant, he started limping without any extra activity. The next day I was scheduled for a C Section at the end of the week. We assumed he would start walking normally while we were in the hospital. He didn’t. He also didn’t when we came home, but we thought that was his way of getting attention from us instead of the baby. A week later I called the vet. With a 2 week old baby on my hands, my mom took Spike. He got an X-ray for the first time in the six years he had been with me. It showed that his hip had been shattered, untreated, and fused itself back together at some point in his life. He was put on mild pain meds and then upped to a stronger dosage after the first few days. Then one morning I took him outside for a walk (a rare occurrence for me at this point because of my own surgery recovery) and I knew something was very wrong. All he wanted to do was hang out in the yard and walk in circles around me or go under the bushes, and he hadn’t been eating regularly. After talking to the vet he was put on different pain meds. A few days later he went back for another X-ray that showed his leg had fractured inside his hip and amputation was recommended. Between then and his surgery putting food and medication in him was an adventure. Turns out he loves Vienna sausages and Weruva canned cat food(vet suggestion, aka kitty crack).
Now he will be a three legged amputee fighting bone cancer, but he gets to be happy and loved for a while longer! for me at this point because of my own surgery recovery) and I knew something was very wrong. All he wanted to do was hang out in the yard and walk in circles around me or go under the bushes, and he hadn’t been eating regularly. After talking to the vet he was put on different pain meds. A few days later he went back for another X-ray that showed his leg had fractured inside his hip and amputation was recommended. Between then and his surgery putting food and medication in him was an adventure. Turns out he loves Vienna sausages and Weruva canned cat food(vet suggestion, aka kitty crack).
Now he will be a three legged amputee fighting bone cancer, but he gets to be happy and loved for a while longer!
