MUNGO EATS Latin America

Mungo’s  journey continues.  First of all, let me assure you that he feels great.  He is still doing all things Mungo, like playing, eating, trying to hump other dogs, but in the past few months, he has put less and less weight on his hind left leg and when I radiographed him last, it became apparent that he was not likely to use his leg again.  The new rads showed us that there had been a fracture at the tumor site and the joint was now too damaged to use.

With this new information, we had another decision to make.  We could leave his leg in place, as it was and just continue on as we were.  If we did this, it meant that the leg would always be there as a source of pain for him.  As well, the chances of him injuring it more was ever present.  We therefore made the tough decision to have his leg amputated.  Even though he would be more painful in the short term, he would not have to stay on pain meds for his remaining time with us, and we would not have to worry about him doing more damage to the leg.

I asked a surgeon friend of mine (actually she was my old surgery professor from vet school) to do the procedure and she graciously agreed.  So today, Mungo’s leg was amputated.  I went to see him tonight, and although I do not have any pictures to show you yet, I want you to know that he did very well during the surgery.  His pain is very well controlled and his was able to walk to the visiting room to sit with me.  With a little help, he curled up on the couch with me and went to sleep.

He will stay in the hospital tomorrow as well and then come home with us tomorrow night.  He already knows how to get around on three legs…very well, in fact, so we just have to help him recover from the surgery and then he will be back to his old self.

Goodnight Mungo, rest well, see you tomorrow.

(Sorry, having trouble with the blogger, this was written by Daniela, not Sean)