Santa Cruz, Galapagos
Early one Monday morning, as the team were just about to sit down to breakfast, a man entered the clinic with his dog, Max. Having come from a farm and usually treating his own animals, Max’s guardian had given the pup an antibiotic injection in the gluteus muscle about a week earlier.
While not entirely sure the previous issue that Max had, the guardian, affectionately known as “The Cowboy”, reported that Max’s initial issue had disappeared since the injection. However, he now had a new problem. Max had been limping since the injection and was not able to put his paw on the ground.
Unfortunately, while administering the antibiotic injection, the Cowboy had hit a nerve, causing significant damage. It takes a long time for nerves to heal – if at all – and there is no medicine which can help the process. This meant that for Max, the team would just have to wait, hope and see if the nerve would heal. To make sure that during this time Max wouldn’t further injure himself by dragging his paw on the ground, and to help the healing process as much as possible, Dr. Marijke, Grady and Dr. Daphne put their heads together to develop Max a specialized splint.
The Doctors were able to build and apply a unique splint so that Max could walk, and not damage his leg any further. The team will continue to monitor Max and hope that he will improve.
Please remember, that while instructions for administrations or uses of medications may seem simple, there are often complicated side effects and considerations that must be taken into account. Whenever possible, please only have a medically trained professional administer medications to your animals.