Happy Gotcha Day Dot!
Hello, Lab Lovers! Many of you have been following Dot’s journey since she came to us in January. It has been a long road with many ups and downs. Dot had been doing great in physical therapy, but sadly had to have an additional surgery (a TPLO) on her left knee after it became unstable 8 weeks ago. She had been healing great and doing wonderfully in swim therapy, but when Dot went for her 8-week post-op visit earlier this week, we came away with both good and bad news. The good news is that her left leg is healing nicely and doesn’t seem to need further surgical attention, just continued rehab for her to gain back more strength. The bad news is that the right knee has started to become unstable as well, and she will need another TPLO. We are absolutely devastated for Dot and hate that she needs to undergo yet another surgery, but this is ultimately what will give her the best shot at a pain-free life.
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Dot’s Surgery
Please, please if you can, consider donating to Dot’s cause. A busted knee can be overcome, we just need help to make it happen!! As a small rescue, we have limited resources and depend on our amazing followers and volunteers to be able to do what we can to save lives. We don’t like having to ask, but if you could please consider contributing to Dot’s care fund, we would be forever grateful and so would Dot (Even if it’s just a dollar). Thank you so much!
$0.00 donated
MEET DOT!! This sweet, beautiful 5 year old girl was just hours away from being put to sleep when LFS was contacted to save her life. Dot fell down a ravine and busted her knee, and sadly her elderly owner could not provide the care she needed, so to spare her life, she was surrendered to us. Dot is on her way to our vet’s office where her injuries will be fully evaluated and a surgical plan will be created. So far, it’s evident that she has a torn cruciate (ACL), but we don’t yet know the full extent of her injuries, and her back may also be involved. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping it’s all things that can be easily fixed with surgery. While we didn’t hesitate to save Dot, we are going to need all the help we can get to be able to take on the big expense of surgery and after care. We will update with Dot’s condition as we find out more.
Please, please if you can, consider donating to Dot’s cause.
A busted knee can be overcome, we just need help to make it happen!!
Foster Update 04/12/18: Dot has moved to her foster home and is settling in! She’s getting along great with her foster siblings and learning her way around the house. She and her foster mom are continuing Dot’s physical therapy that will help her gain more strength in her back legs. We’ll update again as she improves!
DOT UPDATE 3/21/18!! Dot received her second surgery and is doing well! She has been slowly improving and moving around more and more. The vet staff tell us that she is the absolute sweetest. She spends her days hanging out at the front desk with everyone, getting lots of attention while she works on building muscle strength. Because she’s still healing from the second knee surgery, Dot needs some assistance to get up, but once she’s got her bearings, she’s walking really well with both legs. Now that Dot has had both surgeries, we will focus on getting her muscle strength and balance back up. She will need several weeks of physical therapy to get her where we want her, but she’s doing great so far!! Dot takes it all in stride and is definitely enjoying all the attention. Belly rubs seem to be her favorite, and she gets no shortage of them!
UPDATE 1/16/18! Dot is walking so well, and it really seems like she’s feeling better! Dot still has a ways to go with her recovery, but she has been progressing wonderfully so far. We’re overjoyed with how well she’s done!
Check the video on our facebook page:
UPDATE 1/9/18: Dot had her first surgery (on the more severe leg) yesterday. She did great throughout surgery and is recovering well so far. Our vet staff is keeping a close eye on her and making sure she is comfortable with minimal pain. Soon she will feel much better as she is able to put more weight on that leg and get some relief from her other torn ligament. As long as everything continues to go well in her recovery, we hope to be able to perform surgery on Dot’s other leg within 3-4 weeks. It all depends on her though and how quickly she heals. She’s doing alright on her diet so far, and we’re supplementing treats for lots of loving and cuddles from the amazing vet techs. Dot appreciates all of the support so far and hopes that you will all keep her in your thoughts as she continues on her journey to health!
UPDATE 1/5/18: Through further evaluation, we have confirmed Dot has torn not one, but both of her ACLs. Dot is also overweight, and we have determined that the pain in her knees as well as the additional body weight has caused her back-end to be painful and weak as well. We have started her on plenty of strong pain meds to make her more comfortable, and we will begin our surgical plan in the coming days, once Dot has had a chance to settle a little more and become more comfortable. We will repair the more severe knee first, allow that enough time to heal, then perform a second surgery to repair the other knee. We will also be placing Dot on a diet so that we can alleviate some of the stress on her joints. We hope that her recovery will be quick and uneventful, so keep Dot in your thoughts as she starts the long road ahead of her.
With both surgeries and all of the special care our vet staff will be providing, Dot’s estimate has topped out close to $7,000. While we are so thankful for the many donations we have already received for Dot, we still need to raise about $5,000 in order to be able to cover everything.
Please, please if you can, consider donating to Dot’s cause. We need your help to be able to continue helping Dot!
A massive THANK YOU in advance!!
Is Dot still available?
Dot has an adoption appointment scheduled. Thank you for inquiring! Please also check the “Available Labs” Tab to get to know more of our pups that are waiting for their forever home.
Are you still collecting for Dot’s surgery or has that been taken care of?
Frances, yes we are still collecting money toward her bill.
Thanks you
Jenny
Did Dot’s adoption go through?
Yes she is getting adopted by foster parents.
Can’t adopt until vet clears her.