Oh no...not again!!!

Rufus...again...chilling in The Mosh Pit...

A little background:

Our greyhound Rufus turned 3 years old in June (greyhounds are considered puppies until they're about 3). We adopted him in January 2010. He raced 4 races last fall and was retired, because he didn't win.

When we adopted Rufus, he was skin & bones, and had chronic diarrhea, greasy dry dandruffy fur...all of which I believe were due to his body not liking the food that he was given at the track.

Everyone in our family has food issues/allergies/intolerances - Jerry & Archer cannot have wheat or corn, so I'm really familiar with how food issues can lead to diarrhea and physical symptoms. The first thing we did was go to our awesome local independent pet food store Mud Bay and we got Rufus started on Skoki, a high quality kibble.

Rufus started to put some meat on his bones, shed like crazy for a couple of weeks - lost all of the dry nasty greasy fur and now has lustrous soft shiny fur - no more diarrhea too!

Around the beginning of March, Rufus seemed to "grow into" or "find" his speed - we have 1/3 of an acre and the hounds love to chase around the yard, and it was amazing to watch this massive hound (Rufus is much bigger than most other greys) simply FLY around the yard - I've never seen a creature so fast!

March 18, he was scooting around the yard, and whilst turning, literally shattered his left hock (ankle bone). Hock fractures are quite common in greyhounds - when they're running and need to turn, they put all of that weight and force onto that one rear leg and then twist it to make the turn.

Most hock fractures are simple - one clean break - Rufus put a y-shaped fracture into one of his ankle bones, and completely shattered one of the others - there were too many tiny chips for the surgeon to put back together, so the surgeon, Dr. Everett, did what he could and we hoped for the best.

My suspicion is that due to his food issues, Rufus' bones did not develop strong enough to bear his speed - therefore the significant damage.

So, since March 18, I've been caring for this giant puppy, and at the end of June, he finally got his cast off. The vet said it was OK for him to be off-leash and move as much as he's comfortable with...

He's been doing terrific, and even galloping a little - not running flat-out like he used to, but definitely getting the wind in his ears.

The latest incident:

Last Saturday night, after we'd fed Oofie, Sam, and Ivy, I turned the boys out to pee - Sam did his thing, but Rufus went out bouncy, and wanted to race with Sam, so they started to race. They weren't going super fast - just kind of galloping together...went into the turn...then Rufus yelped and came up lame.

Soooooo.......took him to the vet, she took x-rays, and yes, indeedy, Rufus re-fractured his hock...the pins in his leg are bent, but not broken (a very good thing), so at this point, he's back in a cast, and will be for at least 6-8 weeks. He goes in once a week for bandage checks - greyhound skin is notorious for being tissue thin and developing cast/bandage sores (not good at all). The hope is that his hock will repair itself enough that he doesn't need to go back into surgery...which we really can't afford anyway.

Rufus is accumulating fairy godmothers like you wouldn't believe - and it's a good thing too! He sure needs them! His/our latest fairy godmother is Vicki M. of Bellevue, who sent us a generous donation with which to purchase Rufus' very own ex-pen/mosh pit. Vicki, thank you so very much!

I must say, Rufus is NOT pleased at all about being in The Mosh Pit AGAIN, but hey, if you're gonna keep breaking your leg, you're gonna keep getting thrown in The Mosh Pit!

Rufus the Goofus, my mixed media puppy

At long last, an update on our giant puppy-hound... He's a mixed media pup because he's got ink (tattoos in his ears) and steel (holding his leg together), as well as flesh and bone. Very appropriate since I'm a mixed media artist!

Took Rufus in to see Dr. Salloom yesterday at Mountain View Veterinary Hospital, and she was very impressed with how well he's using his leg. She had me walk him around so she could see how he moves - she said she couldn't even tell which leg he'd broken (based on how he was using it).

As you can see from the pics, he's healed up nicely, but there is substantial muscle atrophy, so we need to build his muscles back up. I have been taking him for short walks every morning, up and down some small hills near our home, and he seems to be doing very well. A few days ago, I began taking Ivy out with us, and Rufus acts more like a healthy non-injured hound when she's along for the walk - he even does the greyhound trot with her.

One thing that we are working on is Rufus' leash manners - he was OK before he broke his leg, but during his convalescence, I let him wander, on-leash, and just followed him, for two reasons. 1. I wanted him to take things at his speed and not over-exert him, and 2. I felt for his mental health, he really needed to be able to go sniff things, and stand around and listen to the neighborhood, since the rest of his life pretty much sucked. This worked fine while he was in a cast, but now that he's feeling so much better, and we're going on walks, he's decided that he wants to be the boss all the time...so this 82 pound hound does his best to drag Mama where he wants to go. Mama's getting a great upper body workout, but it's getting old, faster than a greyhound can find bacon.

This first pic shows Rufus' cast, and gives you an idea of how big it was, and how it fit on his leg. It's in two pieces because Dr. Salloom bisected it at one of his first bandage changes, which allowed her to cut it down to fit Rufus' leg as the swelling in his leg diminished.

In the second picture, you can see indentations along the edges of the cast where they had to cut pieces of cast away, in order to better manage those pesky bandage sores. I took pics of the cast, and then plopped it, without ceremony, in the garbage can.

Rufus still has a lot of recovery ahead of him, but I'm hoping the worst is behind us. We wouldn't have made it this far without all the love and support we've received from so many people. Thank you all, so very VERY much!

Looking Good!

Dr. Salloom of Mountain View Veterinary Hospital called yesterday to let me know that Dr. Everett, Rufus' surgeon, had reviewed the x-rays taken last Friday. He says they look good, but he wants Rufus confined for at least another month, with the soft bandage on his leg. Nothing unexpected, and quite honestly, I'm happy to keep this big happy bouncy (!!!) puppy confined for six months if it means his leg will heal better. Of course, confinement in practice is much different from confinement in theory, so we shall see. In the meantime, I'm challenged just to keep up with Rufie when he goes out on potty patrol - this critter moves fast, even WITH a recently-broken leg!

Free at last! (from the cast...)

Rufus in his red cast, tagged with love 

Rufus got his cast off today for his follow-up x-rays, and Dr. Salloom says the x-rays look great and that Rufus' leg is healing well. We are waiting for Rufie's surgeon, Dr. Everett, to review the x-rays as well, and give Rufie a clean bill of health. Hopefully we'll hear something around the middle of next week.

A detail shot of Rufie's last cast...

Rufus is still battling the inevitable cast infections, but he's on antibiotics and out of the cast, so we're hoping those naughty spots heal faster.

Rufus, rocking the new blue soft bandage

I asked Dr. Salloom if she would be able to spot an infection in the bone on the x-ray, and she said yes...so this is very good news indeed! That's been our biggest worry, that the cast infections would wander toward the bone and metal, and cause more problems for this giant puppy. We are thankful that Rufus is healing well, and we are very grateful for all of the love and concern you've shared with us.

Rufus Update, 4.29.10

It's been crazy-busy around here lately (with 2 kids and 3 dogs, I wonder why?!?), so here is a quick update on how Mr. Rufus is doing:

Rufus is still chilling in The Mosh Pit, wondering when the heck he's going to get to go on a real walk again. (Mama's wondering the same exact thing!)

Rufie is still in a full leg cast, and I've been taking him in once a week for bandage changes. He does have a couple of bandage sores happening, which we expected with the full leg cast. We are all (Hansens and vets) keeping a very close eye on him, and praying that no infection will develop at the surgery site. The folks at Mountain View Vet Hospital in Lacey, WA have been absolutely wonderful, especially about doing frequent bandage checks when Mama gets paranoid about Rufie's condition.

Rufus has been taking antibiotics constantly since his surgery, the first go-round was Clavamox for 4 weeks, and now he's on a new one (can't recall the name off the top of my head) for another 4 weeks. The Clavamox was to prevent infection with the metal in his bone, and this second antibiotic is to prevent the bandage sores from becoming infected. Despite the heavy antibiotic use, his gut appears to be doing remarkably well. We have him on Skoki food and Wholistic Canine Complete Joint Mobility, as well as canned pumpkin.

I'm taking the big guy back to the vet this coming Tuesday for a bandage change, and I think they're planning to cut his cast down, to below his knee, which will give him a little more mobility.

Overall, he's doing pretty well, considering he's a great big puppy with a badly broken leg!

Bandage Check #1 earns an A+!!!

Rufie, doin' time in the pen...

Took Mr. Rufus in yesterday morning for the first of his weekly bandage checks...and the vet says it looks GREAT!

This is terrific news for everyone - our greatest concern at this point is Rufus developing an infection (either in the bone, because of all the metal, or on his skin, because of the full cast), which may result in him losing his leg.

Rufus' spirits are still up - and he's very interested in going for a walk, but we're not q-u-i-t-e ready for that yet (and we won't be for some time).

We will return to the vet next week on the 8th so they can split open Rufie's cast, cut it down to fit his less-swollen leg, and replace it to continue supporting all of those tiny bone fragments in the hope that they will decide to heal.

Because the vet will have to use a cast saw to bi-valve the cast, Rufus will either be heavily sedated or under anesthesia - we can't have him getting spooked or moving around while they're working on him. Sure wish they could sedate Mama too...

Michelle Buchan, one of the very talented Greyhound Pets, Inc. volunteers put together the following slide-show of adopted GPI hounds - Rufus and Sam aren't on this one, but you will see lots of happy hounds!

Farewell Fentanyl!

Rufie, post-surgery, with Fentanyl patch on neck

It's Friday night of one of the l-o-n-g-e-s-t weeks I've ever had - but that's OK, because Rufus made it through surgery (which was my biggest worry) and is now beginning the long road to recovery.

Rufie's spirits are good and he got his Fentanyl patch off today. So far, his toes peeking out of his full cast are still looking really good (we’re watching very carefully to see if they get hot or swollen – we'll need to take him to the vet right away if they do).

He’s getting around better than I’d expected, and tired of the x-pen already, LOL. I think we’re going to experiment with the crate Sunday – I can’t leave him home alone in the x-pen with Ivy & Sam roaming free in the house – there is way too much potential for disaster, so Rufus has been going for a few rides in the car with us. He lays down mostly, but every so often, he’ll stand up while I’m driving – which is not at all good for my stress level, the little stinker.

Rufus is tolerating his cast fairly well – it’s a full cast, because we had no other options – the surgeon put a tension strap on one of the bones he broke, to hold his Achilles tendon in place, but the other bone is basically crushed, with many small pieces, too small to do anything with. We’re hoping the tiny pieces will knit themselves together, if provided enough rest and support with the full leg cast.

Our biggest concerns at this point are keeping him very quiet and doing all we can to prevent any sort of infection...should one develop, hopefully we're watching him close enough to spot it right away and get him in to Dr. Salloom.

To everyone who has sent love, prayers, white light, and healing energy to Rufus - words cannot begin to describe how much this means to all of our family. I firmly believe that Rufus is doing so great because of it. Knowing how many people care about our sweet boy gives our family the strength and courage we need to keep a positive attitude about this challenge.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who has so kindly shared their blessings with us by donating to Rufus' surgery fund. This unexpected generosity has eased the stress we face as a family. We did not expect this sort of help, especially with the economy as it is, but please know that we do truly appreciate it!

I am taking a little break from hound-care tomorrow morning - I'm going up to Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle to make glass beads with other Fire & Rain/ISGB members for the Beads of Courage program. Beads of Courage provides artisan beads to children coping with serious health issues; for each procedure or treatment, a child is allowed to choose a bead to add to his or her string. The string of beads gives each child a tangible way to document his or her journey. I'm delighted to be able to contribute what I can to this project! (I just hope my beads turn out pretty for the kids...eeek!)

Rufus Update, 03.23.10

Just got off the phone with the vet’s office this morning – Rufus is doing really well and ate his breakfast this morning, which is always a good sign!

The tech I spoke with said that they will be removing Rufie’s IV pain control drip at 11 a.m. today, and then they’ll be watching him for a couple of hours to see how he does.

My plan is to pick the kids up after school and take them with me to fetch Rufus.

Regarding Rufus’ surgery... anytime one of my loved ones goes under anesthesia, my benchmark for success is “coming out of anesthesia alive” – I consider everything after that pure gravy.

I know our vet and the surgeon did the very best they could with the mess they found (it turned out to be much worse than had been indicated on the initial x-rays), and I have faith that Rufie will be just fine, one way or another.

I received a couple of emails yesterday from greyhound-savvy folks who voiced a few concerns regarding our treatment plan for Rufus.

1. One person asked if they were amputating Rufus’ leg, and whether or not they did a biopsy, since it’s odd for a bone to just break.
2. Another person mentioned that we should not allow the vet to put a full cast on Rufus’ leg, because greyhound skin is so thin. She said the standard procedure is to place a bandage and change it out every three days.

When we took Rufus' food over to the vet's last night, I ran those comments by Dr. Salloom.

Dr. Salloom said they were absolutely correct and valid concerns, and that she and Dr. Everett, the surgeon, were both very aware of them - they both looked over the x-rays with a fine-toothed comb for any bone thinning or weird appearance that might indicate that a biopsy was necessary, and found nothing suspicious for cancer or whatever else.

Dr. Salloom also said because multiple bones were involved, that was another indicator that it was a straightforward break, albeit rather messy and complicated, and not something due to an underlying condition.

Regarding the full leg cast, Dr. Salloom said they didn't really want to put it on, however and I realize this, with all the crushed bones, there really isn't another option, if we want to support those bones and try to help them heal.

The full leg cast will become loose on Rufus’ leg as the swelling goes down. The plan is to bivalve the cast in 2 weeks, cut it down to fit his less-swollen leg, and replace it. Then every 2 weeks after that, the cast will be taken off, cut down, and replaced.

Dr. Salloom fully anticipates that we will have to deal with a cast infection, because of the full leg cast, and because of Rufie's thin skin.

All, after voicing these concerns with her yesterday, and upon hearing her response, I'm more confident than ever that Dr. Salloom and Dr. Everett are giving Rufus the very best care possible.

If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Salloom and the rest of the terrific team over at Mountain View Veterinary Hospital, here’s a link to their site: www.mountainviewvet.com.

Our deepest gratitude goes out to Rufie's care team, and everyone who has sent love, white light, prayers and healing wishes to Rufus – I know that so much positive energy is really making a difference for him, and please know how thankful our entire family is for the love.

We are also truly grateful for all of the kind and generous people and organizations who have shared our story with their friends and offered to help out with Rufus’ vet bills. Janet Steele very graciously allowed us to borrow her crate and x-pen for Rufus’ recovery, and I’m starting to sell more of my work, which will help us to pay off the giant credit card bill we incurred. (Guess that means I need to get busy on the torch and make some more pretty things to post!)

I’ll post another update as soon as I get a chance, either later today or tomorrow morning.

Again, many thanks and much love to everyone!
Chris, Jerry, Emily, Archer, Ivy, Sam, and Goofy Rufie the Gimp-Hound

Post-Surgery Update on Rufie

From left: Rufus, Ivy, and Sam, keeping the soft spots warm last night

Just got off the phone with the vet - Rufus came through surgery OK, but he isn't awake yet. Doctor Everett said Rufie's injuries were worse than they appeared on the x-rays, so he wasn't able to fix it as much as he'd hoped. He was able to do a partial fix, and the rest we just have to be patient and see if Rufie heals up well.

Rufus has a full cast on his leg, and will be going back every two weeks to have the cast cut off, cut smaller, and re-applied. I hope all will be well for him, and that he will heal up beautifully.

Many thanks to everyone for your care and concern. It's really helped our family to stay positive and upbeat throughout this whole ordeal.

I will post another update when he comes home tomorrow.

Faster Disaster (or...From Bad to Worse)

my poor baby in his temporary splint - the neck wrap is over his Fentanyl (pain management) patch

It's turned out that Rufus really likes our vet - he went and shattered his hock Thursday night as he galloped around the yard. The bone holding his Achilles tendon in place was broken, and there are more fractures as well. It’s broken horizontally, vertically, and there is a compression fracture.

Rufus is scheduled for surgery Monday morning, and as you might imagine, it will be a very expensive procedure. The estimate is $2,500-$3,000. His bill from the other night’s ER visit was $500.

We are raising two kids and three greyhounds and we are in no way prepared for this financial catastrophe.

I am reaching out in the hope that someone might consider helping us. Here are a few ways folks can help:

1. I am a freelance writer with 12 years of experience writing non-fiction articles for trade and consumer publications, both print and web. In addition to articles, I have also written copy for websites, brochures, and press releases, and I’ve edited three books as well. If you know of anyone in need of a writer or editor for hire, I’m the girl!

2. Also, I am a glassblower and jewelry-maker. My work is for sale at www.christinehansen.artfire.com – I make earrings, mixed media charm bracelets, pendants and necklaces and more. I try to have work available in a range of prices, and am busy working to put more items up on the site. Every purchase will help tremendously.

3. Forwarding/posting this message wherever you can will be a real help. Getting the word out about my writing and jewelry will help me to earn money for Rufus’ vet care.

4. If a person doesn’t need a writer or jewelry, but still wishes to help out, donations may be sent to:

Rufus Hansen Surgery Fund (please make checks out to Mountain View Veterinary Hospital)
Mountain View Veterinary Hospital
4620 Whitman Lane SE
Lacey, WA 98513
(360) 438-9623

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this!

3G coverage on my couch

I never imagined all three of these rather large hounds on the couch together, but as you can see, they can make themselves compact when they want to snuggle. 3G coverage indeed!

We are so blessed to share our lives with Ivy (the hot blonde in the middle, 7.5 y.o.), Sam (the handsome black boy on the right, 6 y.o.), and Rufus (the brindle cutie with the tubes on his side, 2.5 y.o.), all retired racing greyhounds.

Princess Ivy, Queen of the House

Ivy has been with us since 2006, and we just adopted Sam and Rufus in February 2010, through Greyhound Pets, Inc.. Rufus and Sam are Ivy's "Boy Toys" or her "Pawsse," whichever is most appropriate for the situation.

Sweet, sweet Sam

We've found greyhounds as a breed to be intelligent, gentle, and a lot of fun to have around. They are not aggressive, nor are they particulary energetic - this breed is affectionately referred to as "the 43-mph couch potato." While they do enjoy a walk in the morning, or maybe a couple of laps around the yard, the rest of the day is spent keeping the softest spots in the house warm.

Rufus the Tall, pre-injury

Rufus has tubes because he found something poky in the yard and got himself a very nasty puncture wound last week as a result. Jerry, Emily, and I have spent hours in the yard (and the house) searching for the culprit, without success. We are not happy about this.

Sunshine, Rufus' sister

GPI has many more very sweet and lovable hounds in need of couches, including Rufus' beautiful and silly sister Sunshine - scroll to the bottom of the page for Sunshine's info.

You can meet these wonderful dogs yourself at one of the many "meet & greets" throughout Washington state and British Columbia. Here's a link to the schedule: http://www.greyhoundpetsinc.org/calendar.html