Diva needs a Christmas Angel

Do you feel like being a Christmas Angel to one tiny little sweetheart?

Let me introduce Miss Diva, the Supreme Queen of the Hollow. She's got more personality and moxie in her 6 pounds than a dog ten times her size. She tells the pugs and mutts how to step and commandeers pillows with a will.

Diva is a 7ish year old female Chihuahua who came to Pug Hollow this spring from a kill shelter. She came to us because she was "unadoptable" with a badly broken and poorly healed hind leg. We were told upon taking her in that the leg had been x-rayed, and that it was fully healed, though nonfunctional. We were told that it presented no danger or problems for the dog.

Unfortunately for Miss Diva, they lied.  **The following description may not be for the faint of heart or easily upset. If you're one of those and want to just help out, skip to the bottom.**

On Sunday, 11-28-10, we noticed Diva wasn't feeling well. As we cuddled and inspected her we found a lump on Diva's abdomen. It was in the correct position to be a mammary tumor. We had an appointment at our vet with one of our heart patient pugs and so we called on Monday morning and appended her to his trip. Because of the scar tissue and deformity of her lower abdomen due to the broken leg, we didn't notice the lowest mammary gland was also swollen.

In the 24 hours between discovery and vet visit, the lowest mammary gland suppurated, and began expelling pus.

The vet and I both palpated the area, and immediately made an appointment for x-rays the very next morning (we were the last appointment of the day and were already there after hours by this time).

When I walked into the clinic to pick up Miss Diva today the vet was waiting with the x-ray film. She put it on the light screen and I only had one thing to say. "We have to take the leg."

The leg that we were told had healed safely, if not functionally, is a shattered mess of jagged knife edges and icepick points.  The primary break in the femur is a full break through the thickness of the bone. The bone ends resemble two knapped flint blades. The bone is no longer aligned but overlaps by a full half inch, grinding and shifting with each hop she takes. The entire leg below the break is held on only by the flesh surrounding it. *Edited because the vet called me today to say that she was reviewing the x ray and found that Diva's hip on that side is also severely dislocated.* That Diva has been such a happy, loving, demanding lady is a testament to the sheer amazing spirit of this beautiful girl.

However as bad as the break sounds, it's far more dangerous than the above description alone. The ragged edge and vicious point of the lower portion of bone is sawing into the lowest mammary gland, creating the infection that is already spreading to her other mammary glands and could cause septicemia if we don't remove the problem.  The equally ragged end of the upper portion of the femur lies dangerously close to the path of the femoral artery.  A wrong shift of the bone could sever her artery and kill her.

The leg is literally a dangling death trap for this tiny little dynamo, and it absolutely has to come off. We have scheduled Diva's surgery for Tuesday, December 7th, as the earliest safe possibility. This gives us a week to throw antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs into the fray to reduce the infection as much as possible before we operate.

Because we are not yet a 501C sanctuary I avoid asking for contributions if at all possible. However we can use all the help we can get this time. Diva's surgery will cost around $500, and we are scrambling to cover that cost on such short notice. Any contribution you can make will make a huge difference.

Contributions can be made to:
Diva's Surgery (Kara Stanley "owner")
C/O
Newcastle Animal Hospital
113 South Main Street
Newcastle, OK 73065-5402
(405) 387-5684