BAMBERG, SC......Adorable Seth is a 9 month old Shar-Pei / Chow Mix that was picked up by Animal Control and taken to the Shelter in Bamberg, SC. He was rescued from the shelter by a Rescue in the area that thought they could help him. When he came in he had sores and raw areas all around his eyes, tail, feet and ears. They took him to the vet immediately to make sure he wasn’t contagious. The vet started treating him but could not get his condition under control for long term and recommended the rescue put him down. We were contacted to see if we would take sweet Seth into our medical program to save him from being PTS. After reading his history and getting all the information we could, I decided we were his last resort and took him into our medical program. Seth was a mess. Even after being treated with the other vet, he was still a mess. We were not sure what was going on with him because he had so many things going on at once. Cultures were done of his skin and treatment began with the appropriate drugs. He had lots of infections, dermatitis, etc. After one week, we suddenly began to see something happening with his legs which we had not seen before. His front legs began to bow out and his back legs began to bow in. We did extensive tests on him and x-rays and sent our dear boy to specialists all over to find out what the problem was with his legs. We thought he might have HOD (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy). The specialist ruled that out after doing a cat scan and realized all four of Seth’s growth plates were fractured. They had been fractured in ways that could not come from an Auto-Immune or genetic disorder. The type of fractures our little boy has are from falling or being thrown from a high place. The surgeons and specialists do not see any other way he could have gotten these injuries. We think the fractures occurred about 4-6 weeks prior to us getting him based on the healing that had already occurred. Seth appeared to be okay with his legs until you started observing him closely. As he grew, his abnormalities became very apparent. If the growth plates had filled in properly when they were healing, this would not be a big problem. But that is not the case with Seth. His legs are now bowing out in the front and bowing in in the back and still moving. He is also becoming lame in his rear legs. We are treating him to keep him comfortable but are going to have to correct the problems once he quits growing. If the legs continue their bowing, the surgeons will have to intervene and do surgery on him. We have so many things up in the air with Seth that it seems like each part of his body has a different Specialist working on it. Seth has been in and out of ICU based on high fevers and stomach issues. We now have that part under control for the moment. We had to stop all medication for his skin and allow his lesions to come back. We then took biopsies from each area of concern and have sent those off. The results will be back in one week. We will then know exactly what we are dealing with for his skin and how to treat it. A biopsy is very different from a skin scraping culture and is far more informative for the type of issues he is having. Needless to say, we need all the help we can get for this adorable little dog. His poor body is doing all it can to heal and he is doing all he can to live a normal life as a puppy. We are doing all we can to get him better so he can live as normal a life as possible. We are having to take it one day at a time with his legs to see what tomorrow will bring and act accordingly. Seth is a bundle of love, covered in soft downy fur. He is a beautiful puppy that is going to be a spectacular dog. He loves everyone and plays with every animal he meets. Every day is a good day for Seth and nothing slows him down. Even when he is in pain, he still keeps on going. He is not our typical abuse case but he is an animal that did not deserve the life he has had or deserve death. He deserves the same medical care and love as all of the other animals we have taken in and we are going to make sure he gets it.
