Trauma

Our volunteers, reliable as always, bring over to our clinic their newest young addition Balkan, one of the several stray dogs they keep an eye on.

Balkan is an independent dog that roams his area and sometimes disappears for a couple of days. After one such absence, the dog returns limping, his front left paw visibly traumatized. His human friends worry he might have a fracture or that the limp might be the result of someone’s malicious treatment.

First stop, an X-ray.

Good news – no fracture!

A quick shave reveals the reason for his troubles – there are evident signs of dog bites. The tissues are bruised but no serious damage has been done.

While Balkan is under anesthesia, we neuter him. Our volunteers hope Balkan will start sticking around close to them more permanently and cease his dangerous trips into the unknown.

Our next patient is of the feline kind – another youngster brought to us by another volunteer who has been keeping an eye on it. The male kitty has had a wound on his hind leg.

It’s an old wound we need to clean up to establish if there is any acute infection going on. 

Good news – no infection. We see granulation tissue – the red, bumpy tissue that is a sign that the wound is past the inflammatory stage and is into the rebuilding stage. 

We may not know the origin of the wound but we do know it will heal, especially with a little help from us.