The recent hail storm has not only damaged my home, but now the cause of my heart aching.
For the past couple weeks Maui has truly suffered from the effects of the storm by not being able to be outside during the day. She has been a trooper, staying inside for 10 or more hours during the school week. I make sure she is played with before and after I go to work. We go on long walks/runs as I release my usual work stress. She always has the ability to make me laugh and make me smile. With Brian being gone, she has been an amazing companion. Her lovable personality has definitely made me the crazy dog lady who treats her pet as a child.
Yesterday, my canine companion suffered a horrible accident, she was hit by a car.
Saturday morning I awoke very sleepy from staying up late super cleaning the house. Possible renters were coming from 9-11am for an open house. I took out Maui as usual so she could take care of her business then we went back inside. The door was open but Maui was by my side. I assume following me around as I did some last minute preparations for the house were boring, so she went outside. I watched her step outside and she was just sunbathing in the grass. I decided to go inside to rinse out a few cups that were in the sink to put in the dishwasher.
The house was ready to go, I stepped out to bring Maui in. As I looked outside I didn't see her. I looked over to my neighbor's house where she has recently grown fond of the going under the temporary fence into the fields and looking for the horses, cows, and donkeys found on the ranches near by.
As I looked out over the orange fence I saw her. I called out her name again. Suddenly, I hear a loud scream from a donkey! I screamed at the top my lungs in a panic scare, "Maaaauiiii!" I ran as fast as possible over to the fence. There came Maui limping and crying over to me. My heart begins to race in panic. My only thought is the donkey got angry and kicked her. I pick up the fence and dragged her under so I could pick her up.
She is crying and bleeding. She can't seem to walk and lays down on the tile with the occasional whimper. I immediately call Brian in frantic tears and explain what happened. I'm upset because her curiosity has gotten her into trouble but saddened to see her suffer. We decided to call the vet to see what we should do. I honestly thought she had just gotten kicked and had some cuts on her. They told us to get there as soon as possible because they closed at 12.
I waited around to see if the people were gonna come. After waiting around a bit and seeing the Maui was still bleeding Brian and I decided, forget the house, I needed to go the vet. I carried Maui to the car as I sped to vet. Dare the cop that tries to pull me over!!
They put us in a room right away. The vet tech came in and documented her wounds and I explained what happened. Shortly, the vet came in. He looked at her and said, "Hmm, well I'm willing to bet money she got hit by a car." She had some black marks on her fur and it had appearance as if her fur was fried. Still thinking it was the donkey, I told him maybe it was an electric fence. He said that it didn't smell like burnt hair. They took her back for x-rays.
They sedated Maui so they could get the best angles on her x-rays. Waiting to hear the results seemed like eternity. I truly have amazing friends! Thank you Ransom, Braxton, and Kief for talking to me while I was waiting. The assured me Maui would be okay and were ready to be by my side if needed. Luckily, Stephanie was already on her way to come visit me. Finally, the vet explained her x-rays. He said, there's no question about it, she was hit by a car. "As we handled her our hands had oil grease on them. " First, he showed me her pelvic bone, we zoomed into the picture and take a closer look. He explained that his biggest concern was her hip bones. Thankfully, those were perfect. Then showed me her pubic bone, there was a line that came down the bone. A fracture that will take only time to heal. That was what was creating the soreness and her walking funny with her hips.
Then we looked at her scapula, shoulder blade. As Maui walked she wouldn't put any pressure on her right paw. Now we understood why, she has a broken right shoulder blade that will require surgery. It would be up to orthopedic surgeon to determine exactly what will be done. He could just repair it or she may need to have a permanent plate put in. "She will need surgery in order to walk again." He continued explaining that they cleaned up her cuts but had to give her stitches on her back leg because the cut was just too deep.
I don't know how I kept my cool and kept listening attentively, but hearing "in order to walk again" just made my heart drop!!! The vet and vet tech kept saying how lucky she was, her wounds could have been worse or she could have died!
The end of the talk has concluded with explanation for her antibiotic medicine and pain killers. Explaining to me that she needed to walk as little as possible. That I need to try to carry her to the grass when she needs to take care of business. They will call me Monday and let me know what the orthopedic surgeon results will be.
Once I got her in the car, I called Brian to explain what the vet had just said. Having to repeat it for the first time, I completely lost it. I just cried and cried in the parking lot as he listened, obviously not being able to help in anyway.
That night, I had tickets to take Stephanie and my nephews to the Rangers vs Yankees game. I figured that were was nothing more I could really do for her and headed for the game feeling INCREDIBLY guilty. We had a great time! When we got back, I could tell Maui had just spent her time sleeping. Currently, Maui is doing well. On pain medicine and just taking it easy. I'll find out more tomorrow.
