Heidi arrived at Lort Smith with a long list of injuries from a severe dog attack. It left her with a large wound on her back, a dislocated hip and deep bite marks all over her tiny body.
These injuries added to all the other medical issues this sweet little dog had to live with: losing an eye in a previous dog attack, being lame from a torn cruciate ligament, and having a mouth full of rotten teeth.
As soon as Heidi came into our care, our team got to work giving pain relief, cleaning her wounds and planning the surgeries she would need once she was stable.
It's hard to imagine how an animal like Heidi must feel when they come into our care. Sore, scared, unsure of who all these strange people are.
I saw her wag her tail the first night I brought her home.
Nurse Jessica
Caring for the whole animal
As supporters of Lort Smith know, when there's a sick, injured or vulnerable animal, we don't just stitch them up and send them on their way.
We care for them holistically. We address their immediate health needs, yes, but we also look at ways to prevent long-term issues, and we consider what's best for their emotional and behavioural needs too.
In short, we do everything possible for them while they're in our care, to set them up for the best life possible once they leave us.
Of course, our immediate concern when Heidi first came in was to ease her pain and work out the best way to treat her many, extensive wounds.
The most pressing was a large, gaping flap on her upper back, as well as multiple deep puncture wounds on her throat and rump. We cleaned, stitched and bandaged her wounds, put her on fluids and monitored her around the clock in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a few days to make sure she would heal.
"The first couple of days were tough, as we were not sure if the skin would hold or become infected," says Nurse Jessica. "She was on multiple antibiotics and pain relief. We just monitored her and hoped she would pull through."
"She did not wag her tail once the entire time she was in hospital, no matter how much attention or cuddles she received. She just sat at the back of her enclosure with her head down. It was heartbreaking to see this tiny dog look so … defeated."
We also take an animal's emotional wellbeing into account. We needed to operate on Heidi's dislocated hip, but because she was so flat and unresponsive, we weren't sure she was strong enough to handle surgery.
After two vicious dog attacks in a fairly short time, it's no wonder Heidi felt that way.
We knew the only way for her to recover from her trauma was to give her a safe space, somewhere she could be showered with love and attention, and shown she no longer had to be afraid.
But she needed surgery before she could go into foster care. It was a heartbreaking catch-22.
A turning point
Thankfully, on the third day, Heidi began to move. It was only to lick her bandages, which meant she had to wear a cone, but it was enough of a sign to our team that Heidi wasn't giving up, and that she was strong enough to be cleared for surgery.
The next day, our vets performed a right excision arthroplasty on Heidi's hip, and Nurse Jessica took her home to recover in peace and quiet.
The change in Heidi was instant.
"I saw her wag her tail the first night I brought her home," Nurse Jessica says. "I lifted her onto the couch with me, she looked up and her little tail began wagging. She curled onto my lap and went to sleep, perfectly content. She became an entirely different dog once I got her home."
Despite caring for animals all day as part of their job, many of our staff are also foster carers. They volunteer their time outside work to keep giving these animals the best care possible.
After a few weeks in foster care, Heidi came back to the hospital a different dog. Sassy, sweet and lapping up all the attention, we couldn't believe this was the same girl who wouldn't look any of us in the eye just weeks before.
We gave her a full dental, including removing seven rotten teeth, and performed cruciate ligament surgery on her right leg. We wanted to make sure that when this sweet girl was finally adopted, she had the best chance at a healthy life.
"This is what I still find so amazing about Lort Smith," says Dana Keirs, General Manager – Nursing. "We don't just bring them in and make sure they get a home. We make sure they get the best possible home. And we make sure they're in the best possible shape when they go. We don't just do what we have to — we do everything we can to make that animal's life as best as it can be."
This is why Lort Smith is worthy of your support. Our team knows that caring for an animal goes beyond treating their immediate physical needs. They will always go the extra mile to give that animal the happiest life possible.
A generous donation to Lort Smith today will go so far in helping us keep saving the lives of animals like Heidi. Please donate today.