Head Rock Dogs

This is where we will tell you all about some of the worst cases that we in HRD try to help. Sometimes we can help, sometimes we can only aid the dog to go to a better place where there is no more suffering.

Maggot Infested Wound

Whilst undertaking a major vaccination programme at Wat Tam Ma Rong we were alerted by a monk to a nursing mother who had made her 'nest' in a muddy hole under some concrete stairs.  The monk told us her back leg was wounded so Dawn, being braver than me, lifted up the mother who had a tiny puppy suckling her in vain as she had no milk.  On looking closer we found the wound wasn't on her back leg it was under her tail and it was heaving with maggots in fact we couldn't tell if they were eating her anus or her tail.  She also had only three legs.  We immediately decided she had to be taken back to the Adoption Centre together with her puppy and two more of her litter the monk found looking for tiny scraps of food - all three were near to death and three more puppies from her litter had already died.
                                     starving puppy trying to eat Mum's food
Once back we attended to the mother whilst the tiny pups were desperately trying to find food to the point of attempting to eat the food we gave her.  We knew they were near starvation and had made up some puppy formula ready for them after we washed out the mother's wound.  After pulling out as many maggots as could be reached Dawn washed out the wound and packed it with antiseptic cream and maggot killing powder to kill any left behind.  We then fed her as she was near  starvation herself before attending to the three tiny pups.  To read more about the puppies go to New Puppy Yaps or click http://headrockdogs.org/index.php?id=53
The motherwas living with our other dogs at the Adoptions Centre for a month during which time her wound has healed although it opened up twice after it appeared to be healing.  When she had put on weight she was returned to her friends at the Temple.  Two of her puppies have been adopted.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Acid Attack

In early March, I came across a beautiful female dog wandering near my home. She seemed very friendly and approached me, tail wagging. However, she kept curling her body to the left and biting at her side, as if it was hurting, or itching. When I got closer, I noticed with horror that the skin and some of the flesh from her hind legs to her ribs on that side was missing, with some stinking dead patches of hair and skin left floating in the rawness.
The vets were the first stop, where she was sedated so the dead skin could be debrided and the wound cleaned. This picture is not very clear, but you might just be able to see her wound if you look closely. This is before any treatment.

After ten days of daily wound cleanings and treatment, the wound looked like this. You can still see some dead skin patches in the shape of splashes (I assume drops of acid fell in those places), but those were superficial wounds, only skin deep, and after they came off, they didn’t take long to heal.

She had to wear an Elizabethan collar for a long time, to prevent licking at the wounds as they were healing.

She was spayed on the 1st April 2009, when these pictures were taken. I can’t believe that there seems to be no major scarring or puckering of the skin and that the hair is even growing back in most places!

As you can see, she’s a beautiful dog (still unnamed; I can’t think of a name that suits her!) and has a lovely nature. She’s very loving and never once snapped or even growled during those daily wound dressings. She loves her food and can be a little aggressive with other dogs where food is concerned. Other than that, she has a great temperament. If you could give her a home, please get in touch soon, as I will have to release her back onto the streets if I can’t find a home for her, as I can’t keep her here (my home) due to neighbour problems & my temple pen is overcrowded already. This lady really has been through enough and now needs someone kind to love her and look after her, as she deserves. Please help.

NB The dog is now called 'Astra'. She's a lovely girl and very friendly. Please help her find a family to love.

Inhuman Monster Severs Puppy's Tail

This is the story of a little puppy brought to us at 7.00 a.m. by two dog loving fishermen in the hope we could do something to save her life.

The puppy who we've named  DOW which means STAR in Thai is one of the bravest little things I've come across in the 8 years I\ve been with Headrock Dogs (formerly HuaHin Dog Rescue Centre). Her rear end was teaming with maggots and we had no idea if they'd eaten her anus away even until the next day when 80% of the maggots were out. We pulled out over 100.  We believe that some monster resembling a human cut off her tail when she was only about 2 weeks old and left the wound to fester and become full of maggots.  She was abandoned near the main road together with her little sister and it was pure luck that some well meaning person brought them to the beach near our house as we're well known in Bang Saphan for caring for sick dogs and puppies.   Two fishermen found the 2 puppies and brought them to us.

 
Dow on arrival                                                                     The maggots are grey

 As Dow was so tiny I had to hold her in the air as Dawn started pulling out the maggots and as she had to go deeper and deeper into the wound Dow never made a sound.  I suspect she had got so accustomed to the pain of these things eating her alive that she didn't really know what was happening.  When all the maggots that could be reached with tweezers had been pulled out we cleaned the wound and then put  maggot powder  deep inside to kill the remaining ones.  We were relieved to see that it wasn't her anus that was being eaten it was her tail stump and  it was then that we realised that some vile person had cut off her tail.  The wound wasn't jagged but looked like a straight cut i.e. a knife cut.  The maggots has eaten all around the tail stump and were nearly 2 inches deep inside her.  It would only have taken a matter of days before they ate either into her intestines or her urinary tract which would have been a very painful death.

 
We took out over 100 maggots                              And washed out and packed the wound

 Amazingly Dow managed to eat something after her ordeal and we put her in a small cage with her sister for the night which she didn't like at all.  The next morning we washed out Dow's wound again when another 30 dead maggots were flushed out and Dawn made a final attempt to find any left deep in the wound.  Again Dow was so good hardly moving while she was being poked and picked at and washed out and medicated all of which must have been very painful.    We couldn't visit the vet as he was in hospital and not due to come out for 2 days.  We packed the wound with a bandage covered in Bectacin so that it wouldn't heal from the outside in.  That kept it clean until the vet was back in action and when he saw Dow's wound he was very impresssed at its clean condition so no additional dressing was needed.

Dow was on antibiotics for 7 days and the wound was dressed twice a day..  That was over a month ago.  Dow's tail stump took about 3 weeks to completely heal and now has a clean dry scab.  She did have 3 new swellings around the tail stump the result of dead maggots so deep we didn't find them.  The first swelling ejected over thirteen dead maggots and healed up very fast.  The second and third swellings each had two dead maggots which weren't so easy to eject as they were nearly decomposed making the swellings more infected than the first.  However all 3 swellings have healed up well in spite of the fact Dow loves to sit in wet sand meaning her rear end has to be constantly washed which she doesn't like.

Dow was happily adopted with her sister one month later.

Gypsy

We found Gypsy emaciated beyond belief, covered with scabs from mange, oozing pus, had two deep connected holes in her back which were infested with maggots and had an extremely bad case of VG (a highly contagious genital tumour). We picked her up, wrapped in a sheet and took her back to my house, where she is now. She’s in my ’trapping cage’ so that the other dogs can have no contact with her, lying on some old quilts.

I let her rest for a while, then was time to start to try & clean her wounds, get rid of as many maggots as I could & apply maggot killing powder and antibiotic cream.

These are the holes in Gypsy’s back - Gypsy is her new name.

I flushed the wound with sterile water, then tried to get as many maggots out as I could with forceps.

The black thing in there was a fly that had died in the hole (presumably laying eggs)

After flushing the wound with hydrogen peroxide mixed with sterile water, it was flushed with sterile water, then dried, betadined, dried again and antibiotic cream & maggot killing powder were applied inside.

Then, the wounds on Gypsy’s head, neck & elsewhere were cleaned, betadined and antibiotic cream applied if needed.

I also very gently cleaned her genital area (the VG) with normal saline

Here is Gypsy resting after her hard day. Later she will have her second feed of the day (who knows, it might only be her second feed for the last week), as Josette gave her a can of food at the roadside, which she wolfed down. She will also get oral antibiotics.

Tomorrow, Gypsy will go to the vets, where we will find out whether she has other problems. If not, we’ll concentrate on getting her fit enough to undergo chemo therapy for her VG. If she does, we’ll think about whether it would be kinder to end her suffering.

10th December 2008
Gypsy has been to the vets (in fact she’s still there on IV). She had a fairly good night, lying on her quilt & covered by a sheet. Only one barking/crying bout at 1:30am which stopped when I went out to her. More active today, but didn’t eat, which worried me.
Gypsy as she spent the night with me.
 
At vets she was weighed - 8.14kg, at her size she should be about 15 or 16kg, so she’s approx half her ideal weight. They basically had exactly the same ideas as me as to what should be done. Temp was normal, blood tests were done for CBC, kidney function & liver function. CBC not back yet, but kidneys & liver are fine. She’s on an IV as she’s extremely dehydrated.
 They injected antibiotics & painkillers, so she fell into a sound & painless sleep - when I went back later I couldn’t rouse her; I’m sure this is the first painfree sleep she’s had for months.
I’d got rid of all the maggots, so the wound in her back was just cleaned out & antibiotic cream inserted and the other wounds were just betadined. They also cleaned her eyes as they’d already gummed up, despite me cleaning them a couple of hours before.
She should be in the vets 3 or 4 days & then, hopefully she can come back & be nursed here.
 
Looks like she has a good chance of recovery. I’m so pleased!
 
 
11th December 2008
 
I got a phone call at 9am, saying that Gypsy had passed away at about 7:30am. She’d been in no pain, but simply gave up the fight that she had carried on for so long. Her CBC showed severe anaemia and a high white blood cell count, indicating a nasty infection. Poor Gypsy just couldn’t carry on, I guess. The only consolation is that she didn’t die alone on a dusty roadside. She died on a soft blanket, being cared for, after having had a couple of good meals. I wish she could have known just how many people were rooting for her & praying for her. For a dog who had probably known no love in her life, I’m sure she would have been totally overwhelmed by the love & good wishes coming her way from people all over the world, if such understanding were in her power.
 
This is the last photo I took of Gypsy - pain free and sleeping a sound sleep.
 
 
Rest in peace, little one. I hope wherever you are that you now have everything that you lacked in life.