Ten or eleven years ago, I got my first ever bottle baby. She was a day-old black nugget who I initially named Shimmer. Her umbilical cord had been wrapped around her right hind foot, and eventually that foot simply fell off. The rest of her leg was amputated to stop her from walking on her stump, and my grandma adopted her and named her Sassy!
Fast forward to two weeks ago, Grandma fell and broke her hip. She has dementia and struggles to remember fairly basic things, and now she cannot stoop to clean the litterbox. We talk, and agree that it's best for Sassy to come to the shelter where I work and find a new home.
As I was moving her into my house on Friday, she got startled and bit me. Not a bad bite by any means and I don't blame her at all, but it does mean that I have to keep her at home for ten days under bite quarantine. She has mostly been tucked away into her kennel, but tonight she came out for some snuggle time and I was SHOCKED. She has carpal hyperextension, meaning that she basically walks on her wrists on her front feet. There are several possible causes, but it's likely the result of years of being overweight and three-legged.
This is....bad news. Medical management of this condition just.....doesn't work in most cases. Surgically fusing the carpus (wrist) is basically the only treatment that can restore quality of life, and with her mobility already compromised fusing both of her wrists is just not realistically going to help her. Now, I'm faced with the reality that this bite quarantine period is most likely the end for her. She's getting lots of her favorite canned food and lots of snuggle time. The doctors at work have promised me that we will run bloodwork and take X-rays and at least LOOK for a path to quality of life for her, but nobody is very optimistic that we will find one. Saying goodbye to Sassy is a little like saying goodbye to my Grandma, as dementia has stolen away the woman I knew.
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