riverECHO

Our newest family member … Shadow!

Here’s the story: Our neighbor Jason, a chronic Australian Blue Heeler rescuer, brought Shadow over last Friday and he literally fell into our laps. Since it wasn’t exactly planned, we told ourselves that we would give it two weeks before making a final decision on whether to keep him. So much for that!

We noticed that he had a slight limp and took him to the vet first thing Saturday morning. The vet told us that it felt a little “grindy” and that she wanted to take an x-ray on Monday, just to be sure it wasn’t serious. She didn’t seem worried when we asked her what she thought about us taking him cross-country skiing up Shadow Mountain for Gretchen’s Birthday for the day. He couldn’t have looked happier on our tour. Little did we know.

On Monday morning we took him back into the vet for an x-ray. As we waited patiently in the waiting room, we heard someone yell “oh shit” from the back room. We looked at each other and said, “I hope that wasn’t for us.” Well, sure enough, they brought the x-ray out and pointed to his totally dislocated hip. Because of all the scar tissue, it was obvious to the vet that it had been dislocated for at least a few months. Popping it back it wasn’t an option … he needed surgery. And not just any surgery. They had to saw off the ball from his femur. As it healed, scar tissue would build up again and form a replacement joint.

By day four, we were both head over heels in love with this guy. There was no way we could say no. He had surgery two days ago and is already putting weight on his leg.

By the way, Salsa isn’t thrilled but he’s interested. I’m sure they’ll be buddies before we know it.