This is the story of a pup from Wiggys litter, so far her name is Lexi , we may change that,
It all started on a Thursday afternoon, I was watching judge Judy .On my lap was a laundry basket with some fluffy towels,.. and Wiggy who was in labor, As I watched TV , my hand was on her and I felt she was contracting, this went on for about 20 minutes, which is not really unusual for the first born in a Chihuahua litter, I checked under her tail and sure enough two little rear legs were sticking out .,She got the baby out most of the way and I helped her by giving the baby a tug, wrapping a cloth around her belly, The pup was out right away but was not breathing, I worked on her rubbing her chest on the sides with a rough towel to stimulate her heart and right away she was taking a breath, I called for mike and we cut her cord, but I noticed there was something wrong, her little legs, had been in the wrong position as the mom was pushing and had been bent /broken ,above where a human ankle would be.,and they dangled and were swelling and the pup was crying in pain. .The onlything to do for her was to set the legs carefully or to euthanise her, I am not one to give up where there is life and unfortunately a baby Chihuahuas legs and feet are so tiny the only thing possible was splinting,
Three times a day Mike and I changed her splints, No easy task on a squirming pup whose legs are the diameter of a small greenbean, We went through every type of tape known to man , to find the right one for her little legs that would allow for movement, growth swelling ad not irritate or fall off , it also had to come off easily for changing but once they were splinted she was not in any pain and ate very very well.(not easy with my bad eyesight either)
Over the next three days while also dealing with my mothers illness, we bandaged her legs but they were not healing as ide have liked , as the vet told me the blood supply was broken as well.So we splinted and massaged her thighs several times a day , and by day 4 we knew shed loose her left rear foot, We had gone so far with her she was adorable and her body was chubby and beautiful , she didn't appear to have any pain ,and grew well .
it was on day 4 when mikes friends Joe and John (my other twins as I call them ) had come over , we were desperately trying to save the other leg and to rationalize that there are plenty of dogs who run around fine on three legs, But we decided as a group, (a group who cared very deeply for her) that if she lost her other foot , we would do the "right " thing and bring her in for euthanasia, but on day 5 ,,, her other leg began to look the same as the first ,and we knew her other paw was doomed, I know I had decided that it was wrong to let her live that way. but there she was (as seen on the 5th day in the photo at left above) sleeping on my hand , so chubby and content, she yawned and stretched and crinkled up her nose and mouth and turned her self on her side , so happy to just sleep there in my hand, or have her face rubbed with a gentle fingertip, Her body felt warm and chubby and I felt so bad for her not knowing the terrible trouble she had, or the danger she was in.and as I looked down ..on my lap , There was Houdini doing his favorite thing, sitting with me , and I thought , "well she can do that and she can clean a sparerib" (Chinese of course) another of her dads favorite pastimes. So I had a hard decision to make and I was feeling heartsick about it..
Not wanting to give up on her went to some handicapped animal boards and asked people their opinion , surely they would all give me support and that would help me to be strong enough to "do the right thing".
I was met with a resounding "oh that's nothing , and I heard some real horror stories and stories of dogs with no rear legs at all or paralyzed and incontinent , heck according to them,.. this was nothing and there was no problem with keeping her, , I decided that my vet. would help me decide, and prior to my appointment , I had my argument all worked out on my mind, I brought her in , expecting him to say "oh no she cant live like that " that would just be cruel,,
Instead I said to him ,that ide checked into it and I felt shed live a happy life , and I was ready for an argument when he looked at her legs and saw they were healing correctly , I said to him that I did check into handicapped dogs and saw that it is possible to let her be, maybe get prosthetics, and he said "oh yes we can design her something", He sounded happy , almost excited about it ,and I said to him But I thought you'd tell me to put her down and he laughed and said "oohh no we don't do things like that here .", at that moment we all decided , My vet , his assistant Kathy and my son Mike,and My husband and I . that she was going to live and be happy, and wede be sure she would .We all laughed and I felt , even from my vet a kind of relief , and an almost gleeful happiness and we were resolved to make it all work, and to be sure she was happy , ,
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I have already been in touch with a company (I will later add a link to the site here ), they will make her little feet, when she's a bit older, we make a mold and they will make her feet for a mere 38 dollars a pair , She will have whatever she needs, and she will be happy . Ill make sure of that.
Today she is like the other pups , weaning , playing, wagging her little tail, and walking, her little stumps are calloused ,which is good, and she is not in any pain, in fact she's happy ,and as you can see she is beautiful , ,and we will update her story from time to time, so that you can see her progress, and watch her run and play.and enjoy her little life as I know we will enjoy it also ,, ,
Lexi Update: Lexi is doing well. Ill share a Lexi story with you.
As most of my site watchers know , my mom has been very ill for the past year or so, Lately she has been in a rehab in Manhattan recovering and waiting for surgery and improving somewhat (thanks to all your prayers) , Well I go there everyday or almost everyday to visit
.As fate would have it .. IN front of the rehab, I have spied a man ,..(an amputee) .missing about as much of his leg as Lexi. For weeks I pondered whether it was right to ask him if it would hurt her to walk on her little stumps, I mean how do you approach someone, what do you say,? "hey I have a dog like you"? well it Just didn't seem appropriate ...He was a sort of unhappy looking man sitting there smoking his cigarettes . Ide pass him everyday , not having the courage to ask , He was the perfect one to ask , lost his legs right at the midcalf , just like Lex,
Ok im a coward, but I Had to know , I wanted lex to walk she was already walking on the stumps and furiously hated any type of covering ide apply although temporary till she's grown and her prosthetics are molded and made especially for her ,but that's when she is full grown, for now homemade covers.. . she just hates. So I have been keeping her very confined. so as not to hurt her.
OK so there I was waiting for my father to come down the elevator (which as fate would have it, was stuck ), , I leaned against a tree and looked over to my left.. and who was there,.? Ok it was him ..the guy I needed to speak to.. and before I knew what I was doing , I heard my self say," Excuse me sir do you like animals? and I thought ,,'that's not too bad, ...
and then I heard myself say ,,,, I have a dog like you,and I felt my face flush .... he looked like he was going to be angry ,,, like I was crazy of course, and he said" how did it loose its legs"?,almost disbelieving . I explained about lexi and he was sad for her, I could see the pained look on his face, I told him ide been wanting to ask him for weeks. He blurted out ,with a Russian accent "whatever you do don't put her to sleep ,, she isn't feeling pain, what hurts me is when they put on the prosthetics, her legs don't hurt, especially that's all she knows". He came to life , he had been so depressed looking sitting there, over the weeks I was waiting to talk with him,,Now I could see some life in him, He told me if he were to put all his weight down ,that it would not hurt providing the skin is ok, and Lexis is perfect and calloused , He asked if he could meet her and I was happy to bring her the next day. Lenny, as it turned out his name was ,was thrilled to see her, but she cried to come back to me, (I have her spoiled, ) she made that man very happy with her little visit and I plan to bring her back, he hasn't seen his own dogs in almost three months Well thanks to his insight I placed Lexi in the grass in front of the house, She took off like a rocket across the lawn, She loved running, and chases me all over, when she's older shell have her little feet made, for now she's fine and thanks to Leonard , I know she isn't in pain, and she is very happy,... Running . Ill get a photo , as she runs through the grass which is about as tall as she is. She is happy and spoiled and loved ,and doesn't like it when I don't hold her, Lenny told me that she is lucky to have me ........... but I know the opposite is true,
