This incredible dog has really been through it. Two months ago she was found lying by railroad tracks in Clinton, SC where she had either been hit by a train or a car.  We still do not know which.  A good samaritan helped bring her to Clinton Animal Hospital.  His front left leg was terribly damaged and the right side of his body was missing a large section of skin.  She was terribly beaten up all over from the accident.  She looked like she had been hit by a train.  Several operations were performed to try and save her leg but the leg could not be saved and finally had to be amputated.  She had several operations to try and move skin around to cover the area where the skin was missing on the opposite side of her body.  Some were successful and some weren’t.  It has been a long two months for this sweet girl but the skin has finally begun to fill itself in.  Thursday night she slipped and injured her back.  Within 30 minutes she was unable to walk and was in unbelievable pain.  She was taken to the emergency room in Columbia and then transferred to their surgical facility where she stayed the week-end and is still there.  A myelogram and cat scan were both done to rule out bulging disks, etc and to hopefully help us find out exactly what is going on with this sweet girl.  She has gotten some of the function back in her legs but is having neurological problems with one of them.  The scans did not show us anything that would have caused an animal to be this debilitated.  She definitely has injured her back, we just can’t figure out exactly where, even after all of the tests.  The doctors now believe the neurological issues are caused by a FCE (Fibrocartilaginous Embolism).  I have enclosed a link to a page that will tell you all about what that is.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_fibrocartilaginous_embolism.html

Even though those are normally not painful, it is compounded by the fact she has strained her back when she slipped and has muscle spasms and sprains because of it.  The FCE we feel is what is causing her to have the neurological issues.  We are hoping that time will heal a lot of this.  She may not get all of the function back in her back legs but we are hopeful she will get enough back for her to function.  All of these procedures are terribly expensive but necessary to find out what her injuries are.  She will be with us for several more months while she heals and then we will be looking for that special home for her.  Charm does not like other dogs or cats but loves, loves, loves people.   We will also be looking for a very special foster for this wonderful girl.  She will steal your heart, once you meet her.

We have had a little progress in Charm’s back left leg.  It is just going to take a lot of time and therapy to get her on the other side of this.  She is a sweetheart that just wants to crawl up in your lap and curl up in a bed with you and sleep.  She likes to be close to the person she loves all the time.

Charm is getting back to her normal self without any more problems with her back or walking.  Her leg has begun to uncurl itself and she seems to be walking fine on it.  She is a great girl that really needs that special loving home.

CHARM has been adopted and is doing great.