Rocky 07-701 [1]

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I found Rocky at the animal shelter here in Vermillion. He appears to be a purebred yellow Labrador Retriever and he is ~ 1-2 years old. The animal control officer believes he is a hunting dog that was injured in the field and then abandoned. Rocky holds up his left front paw and rarely puts any weight on it. X-rays of the paw revealed that it has been severely crushed...possibly run over by a car. One toe is normal, but three are so badly damaged that the veterinarian had difficulty recognizing some of the bones. The accident happened several weeks ago because the joints are already showing secondary changes such as arthritis. Also, the pad of one toe is ulcerated and bleeding. Now the good news...Dr. M., who is an excellent surgeon, said that amputation of the distal parts of the damaged toes should eliminate Rocky's pain and give him use of that paw again. The surgery is scheduled for January 3 and the recovery period will be ~ 2-3 weeks. And sometimes when it rains it pours...blood tests showed that Rocky has heartworm. However, it was a very, very faint positive, so the infection is most likely at an early stage and treatment should be successful.

We've only had Rocky for two days and we've already fallen in love with him. He thumps up to us on his three good legs and leans in for pets. Rocky gets along great with the rest of the pack, though I think the cats are still under his radar. He's a big, lovable lug of a dog and I can't wait for the day when he's got four on the floor!!