Self confidence

Last weekend I met Elisha. This beautiful 7 yrs old merle Great Dane has been down for about a week now. The owner called me and told me he can’t get up to go to the bathroom or walk. He is about 130 pounds, and you can imagine how this situation could turn into a nightmare if we could not get this kid to get up. I was a little suspicious I might not be able to help Elisha. I discuss with the owner (Cindy) the fact that such a large dog being down, would need several daily turnings to avoid bed sores, very large cushy living quarters and a lot of maintenance to avoid urination and defecation bed sores. However, the owner said: “let’s see what your evaluation says, if we think he needs to be at the hospital afterward or may need surgery, I’ll do so”.

When I came in, Elisha was on the owner’s bed with plastic sheets and puppy training pads, which Cindy was religiously replacing as needed. There was not even a sore on his skin; obviously, Cindy was doing a great job of taking care of his needs. I could see him moving with his front legs on the bed, and almost made it up on his 4 feet, but it looked like there was a little bit of lack of confidence on his part.

Elisha has different neurological issues since a baby. Cindy has even driven from Orange County to Indiana to get gold beads implants in his neck years ago, which helped him out tremendously.

I could see he had enough motor control to attempt to make him stand up. The owner told me Elisha tends to be a “scardy cat”. So we supported him with home made slings and with just to 2 of us, we coaxed him to the side of the bed and up he was. This first attempt was clumsy, but we tried again and when I knew he was sure footed, I let go of the sling and up he was. His owner was almost in tears, laughing and crying at the same time, she could not believe her dog might once more walk again. Elisha was surprised, but a little scarred and was happy to be shown back to the bed.

I am doing acupuncture and physical rehabilitation to speed up the healing process, give him the strength and confidence he needs to get back up. To see Cindy’s reaction when we got him up was priceless. Yeap that is why we are veterinarians!

Courage, confidence and will are part of the genetic code. For those, that might not have has much of it, it is our job to cherish and nurture an environment that will encourage healing and positive mental attitude.