Take a Chance on Me

Little Chance came to me via her rescuer on May the 5th and it was apparent she was in a bad way from the very beginning. She was severely underweight, had mange  (the really stinky kind) and her back end had pussy infected quills which had become fly blown - thankfully she had no maggots. She had been observed going around in circles (never good sign in a hog) in a paddock and was being harassed by some young beef cattle. 

Her rescuer kept her for one night; doing a great job of removing all of the fly eggs with Narelle's guidance, which was terrific as they would have hatched by the next morning. She then brought her to me in the morning and I had a good look at her. I didn't feel good about what I saw ... She totally refused to uncurl and was unresponsive and trying to get her medications on board; antibiotics and Panacur to begin with, was a nightmare. As she had already survived those critical first 24 hours - where we tend to take a 'wait and see' approach, I decided to go ahead and give her a warm oil bath to try to soothe her mange a little bit. I removed as many of the mangey, clumped quills from her back end as I could, cleaned up the pus and applied a topical antiseptic to the raw areas. There was nothing else I could do for her so I tucked her up in a hospital box with a heatpad, food and electrolytes. 

The following morning Chance was still with us and had even managed to gain a little. I cleaned her 'room', attempted to medicate her without much luck and tucked her back up into bed popping her by her food dish to see if she would eat. She was unsteady on her feet, lurched as she walked and as she was still refusing to properly uncurl for me despite my best efforts, it impossible for me to fully assess her condition which really worried me.

Day three dawned and Chance had lost weight over night and had eaten very little. I was getting increasingly worried about her and my fears were confirmed when she did finally uncurl and walk a little way for me. It was quickly apparent that she was injured - her back left leg was barely weight bearing and wasn't functional. I phoned the vet immediately and took her in. Of course, she refused to uncurl but I had managed to video her walking which enabled the vet to start assessing her. He felt that there was hope and that the leg probably wasn't broken but to be sure I asked that he anesthetise her so that the leg could be examined fully. He found that although the leg wasn't broken, there was a wound on the hock of her injured leg which he cleaned up. He then gave her a pain relief injection and we decided to reassess her on Monday. I requested pain medication for her, brought her home and put her back to bed.

Sadly the next few days saw a steady decline in Chance's condition and demeanor with continued weight loss and refusal to eat or drink, so on the morning of the 10th I made the tough decision to end her suffering.  When we saw the vet he agreed it was the right decision and he quietly put her to sleep. I held it together long enough to get out of the vet's office but once back in the car the water works started and continued for the rest of the afternoon. 

Even though I know I've made the right decision in these situations - and I've had to do it more times than I like to think about, I always get upset. Geri says it is because I have such deep empathy for the animal and their suffering. All I know is that I mourn for them deeply before I come to terms with their passing.

Goodbye Chance, run free over the Rainbow Bridge with four strong legs to carry you wherever your adventures may take you.