9/6/08

Yubai...


...in his new home in Mexico City with Carlos, his family, and his dogs.

5 comments:

Brian Reiter said...

Be sure to tell Carlos to tell Yubai to beware the backyard fence.

:`(

Anonymous said...

Oh no, Brian! Did something happen to your dogs that relates to the fence?

Yubai is such a sweet little boy, he'll do great at his new home!

Brian Reiter said...

Yes. Tawzalt caught her foot in our backyard fence and freaked out. She broke her metatarsals. She was in a splint for a month. The splint is off, now. The bones healed perfectly but now the tendons are super-tight so that her toes won't move easily. She also has no muscle tone whatsoever. I'm doing physical therapy and the foot looks better every day. The orthopedic vet says that she'll be perfect but it may take two months for all the soft tissue to be rebuilt correctly.

Anonymous said...

I feel you, trust me! Tafraoute broke her radius and ulna almost two months ago (jumped over a 6 foot kennel door at the vet clinic that I manage) and has been on strict cage rest since her plate was placed. It's been hell! And she has lost so much muscle, it's ridiculous. She is just now out of her crate for the first time in weeks, and loving it...of course she had to give me a scare by getting out of the fence over the weekend and chasing a deer around our property. But all is well. I hope that Tawzalt heals quickly, sounds like you are doing everything you need to. Beware though, Tafra is back to total puppy chewing and naughtiness, I hope that Tawzalt doesn't do the same!

Brian Reiter said...

Oh, no. Sorry to hear about Tafraoute. Tawzalt is doing very well and her foot looks better every day. When she came out of the splint it was basically a floppy bag of bones. Her metatarsals had no arch in them from being pressed to the splint and she held her hip very sideways. The net result was a foot that couldn't support any weight and was extremely pidgeon toed--nearly 90 degrees from correct. It's been a week and her foot has straightened considerably. As the arch comes back and she builds strength in her leg, the foot is straightening out dramatically. It looks better every day, though it is still not right. Her toes still have virtually no strength and so her foot splays and rolls. There are moments when everything looks correct, though--such as when climbing stairs. This morning she started trying to do a double-suspension gallow on-lead. She straigtened everything out for that.

The doctor believes that the bones are healed with perfect alignment and it is really "just" a matter of rebuilding the soft tissues. He said that can be more difficult than healing the broken bones, though and could take two months. It's only been a week.