***Update on Buckley Prayers needed

[Grace]

I pray Buckley continues to improve.

Dare I ask what you are doing about Bono?

[momtomany]

The vet has started the process of trying to close up Buckley's chest. The damage was much more than she thought and there may not be enough tissue to pull back together. There even may not be enough tissue to pull back together to get the area small enough to consider doing a skin graft. If we can get to the point of the skin graft, he will have to go to a teaching vet school and it will be big bucks!! This right now is costing us a fortune, which he is our baby, but I don't know if we could do several thousands for a skin graft. Please pray that our vet can do what she originally planned to do. He had his first surgery was yesterday and we could not see him. We went today and he does not have the spark he had. We know he is uncomfortable as the skin is pulled tightly where they have started. He is not eating again so we will take him chicken on Friday. Please keep him in your prayers. Thank you

[Moesha]

Oh dear. I sure hope that Buckley gets back to feeling perkier again. I tink of this thread often and appreciate the updates you give us. What a terrible time for you and your family.

[Catty1]

Just an idea...in the cases of Siamese twins that have to be separated, something is put under where healthy skin is to stretch it, so that it will be available for a graft. Would this have to be done at the vet hospital?

Prayers for dear Buckley - and bless that vet for trying her best!

[Queen of Poop]

Prayers and crossed paws for Buckley.

[Grace]

Just an idea...in the cases of Siamese twins that have to be separated, something is put under where healthy skin is to stretch it, so that it will be available for a graft. Would this have to be done at the vet hospital?

Prayers for dear Buckley - and bless that vet for trying her best!

Those are expanders - sort of a balloon device placed under the skin and slowly expanded. They are used prior to separation of conjoined twins, and in breast reconstruction after a mastectomy.

I get the impression there is not enough time for this to work with Buckley.

[momtomany]

The problem for Buckley is that he is one of the hugh chested type labs and his entire chest from just below the neck is gone as well as to the outer edges under his front legs. That is why his chest can't be pulled back together as originally thought. The necrosis just keep spreading and then after the debridement and trimming.............well....
According to our vet, who we have been with for 30 years, a small area could be grafted, but not this large. The plastic surgeon vet she used to work with at the vet school has since retired and she is not familiar with who took his place. She is not really sure we have many options. Small areas of grafting are on thing, but this large is another. We have already spent $1000 so far and don't know how much more we owe our vet right now. Our oldest daughter lost her job 2 months ago and we are having to help her. We just had a roof put on and it ended up costing us $3000 more than we planned, so like so many these days, we are tapped out.
We have had Buckley just shy of 7 years. He has a typical male lab personailty, that is he never has grown up. He does his invisible act, where he thinks if he walks past you and turns his head he is invisible and can sneak out to the kitchen to see what he can scraf up. He loves oatmeal raisin cookies and I can no longer leave them on the stove. He ate 13 of them not to long ago when I left the pack I had got from Publix on the stove. Bread is another favorite of his. He knows place and will creep his way off until his back toe is on place and look at us with, "well, I am still on place." He loves Jasmine and all the cats and plays with them. He lets our chichihua (spelling brain cramp) Chili Pepper, clean his teeth. They usually sleep together. 110 pounds with 7pounds.
Thank you again for your kind thoughts and kind prayers. Pet Talkers are the nicest folks I know. May God's favor shine on all of you. Julie

[critters]

I've wracked my brain over this--tissue expanders, generic/lab-grown skin grafts, etc. It'd be SUCH a shame to put down such a great pupper over this, especially since he's doing well with all the treatments. Any chance of hyperbaric oxygen treatments? They'd probably be hard to find.

[pomtzu]

Poor Buckley. What a terrible thing to have to go thru. Prayers and well wishes going out to all - hoping he can pull thru.

At the risk of being verbally attacked, this is the exact reason why I would never own a Pit or a Chow. I could never trust one.