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Scabbers: Hit by car, left for dead
Scabbers was found on the side of the highway laying in the snowbank. He had been hit by a car and left for dead in a blizzard.
Tonya, Alpine's Hospital Manager at that time, shown on the right of the photo, was unsure if he was alive when she found him.
Tonya began to cry when he wagged his hairless tail when she touched him, but he was too weak to move anything else. She scooped him up and rushed him to Alpine Animal Clinic to see if anything could be done to save him.
Upon presentation to Alpine Animal Clinic, Scabbers was in shock with severe hypothermia (low body temperature), severe emaciation (starvation state), and a broken left hind leg, avulsed (torn off) left hind dew claw, and crushed penis.
His body was overwhelmed by severe, chronic mite parasitism causing very serious protein loss, which placed him in liver failure with inability to clot his blood normally.
Dr. Heidi Wampler treated Scabbers with aggressive iv fluids with nutrients, antibiotics, and pain control to stabilize him. She also placed a urinary catheter in Scabbers to relieve the pressure in the kidneys and allow him to drain his bladder while the trauma to his penis resolved over several days.
Scabbers spent several weeks in Intensive Care recovering under the care of Dr. Wampler while awaiting surgery. He could not have his broken leg repaired right away as he was too weak and emaciated to handle anesthesia, and his blood did not clot normally due to liver failure from his starvation state.
Surgery had to wait a couple of weeks to allow Scabbers to regain a functional liver and blood clotting system before Dr. Wampler repaired the tibial fracture and amputated his crushed dew claw.
Here, approximately 2 weeks after being admitted to Alpine Animal Clinic, Scabbers is greatly improved (and has just enjoyed another high-calorie yummy meal!) and resting comfortably.
He is now ready to head to surgery to repair his leg fracture as his internal organs are functional and able to handle the anesthesia and recovery process.
Meanwhile, Scabbers also began the long and difficult process of combating the severe mite infestation.
Scabbers had Demodex Mites so badly that nearly all his hair was missing from his body, and his skin was severely thickened with scar tissue and darkened with pigmentation. His lips were swollen and cracked from skin breakdown.
Scabbers has found his permanent home with Tonya and now enjoys a happy, fun life with her many other pets. As you can see, he has returned to a completely normal and healthy dog, with a comfortable, healed hind leg. His parasites are gone and who knew his coat would be a beautiful red!
The scars have minimized over time and his skin has thinned to a normal texture and feel again. He visits Alpine often to mooch cookies off the staff and get a good belly rub before jumping in the car with Tonya to head home!
