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Hi to all hound lovers,
In part to glean therapy and in part to ask advice I have to relate to you all what happened this morning.
Lollypop and I walk in Rutland State Park most mornings as we did this morning. After our walk, Lollypop was reluctant to get in the car and began to play hard-to-get and keep away from me, so I started chasing her and we were, well, we were having a ball. The Rutland State Park parking lot is directly off rte 122A, a fairly well traveled country highway with a 50 mile an hour speed limit. Short of it is, Lolly was running along the side of the road and then ran right out onto rte 122 and was immediately hit by a passing car. I am having a very hard time right now coming to grips with the sound of the impact and witnessing her little body tumbling on the highway. I have never thought of myself as a screamer, but I did, many times over. I ran out into the road and stopped traffic both ways. The person who hit her did stop, but at the time I was unable to make sense of what was going on despite the fact that it all seemed in surreal slow motion. I thought she was dead. She was unconscious and blood was coming from her mouth. For some reason I guess I went into emergency mode and scooped her up, ran to my car, put her gently in the back seat and drove away to the animal hospital which I knew was down 122 in Paxton some 8 miles away. Miraculously she became conscious albeit very dazed. I drove (I admit) recklessly down 122 reaching speeds of almost 90 and passing some very irate people who, I'm sure, knowing the severity of the situation, would forgive me. I pulled into the animal hospital and ran inside. They were very good and sprang into action immediately. They took her from the car and brought her into an examining room where the doctor checked her out. Meanwhile, I was practically in hysterics. Actually I WAS in hysterics. I would not have thought of myself, a 47 year old male to be one given over to so hysterics, but I was that indeed. Apparently, the car ran over her head and, according to the doctor, is the strongest part of her skeleton. They took x-rays and all her organs and ribs are OK, no broken bones. She cut her tongue at the tip and part of her lip where it meets the gum has been severed and may require stitches, but apparently they cannot do it now as it would require putting her under, a thing we may do in a weeks time when she recovers a bit. She received a shot of pain killer and a shot of antibiotic and I brought her home. She is on the couch now sleeping, but SHE IS BREATHING! She is obviously out of it a bit from both the trauma and the pain killers. She is NOT hungry at all. We continue to check her gums as apparently if they turn white she may have internal bleeding. So far so good. My wife Nora and I are very worried needless to say, and we are keeping vigil over her as I write. She has gotten up on her feet, and she wagged her tail once in the doctors office when she saw me. I am frantic with guilt and worry, but mostly I am having a hard time NOT re-running these events through my head, in particular the few seconds leading up to, through, and after the impact. It may well be the single most traumatic thing I've ever witnessed. I am afraid to leave her side and I feel so much remorse and guilt at being so irresponsible. We love our hound Lollypop so very much. If all goes well, she will see her first birthday on May 30th. I am watching Nora feed her ice cream, something we would normally avoid, but we think she likes the cold. In the future, I will NEVER let her off leash anywhere NEAR a highway, road, lane, bike path or any place anything could do her harm. I learned my lesson the hard way.
If anyone has a hound who has been hit by a car and lived (or not), or, if anyone can offer us some advice on how best to treat her convalescence PLEASE let us know. We are sick with worry and simultaneously overjoyed that she is alive. I will keep everyone updated from time to time as to her welfare.
Thank you for reading but mostly, thank you for listening.
In part to glean therapy and in part to ask advice I have to relate to you all what happened this morning.
Lollypop and I walk in Rutland State Park most mornings as we did this morning. After our walk, Lollypop was reluctant to get in the car and began to play hard-to-get and keep away from me, so I started chasing her and we were, well, we were having a ball. The Rutland State Park parking lot is directly off rte 122A, a fairly well traveled country highway with a 50 mile an hour speed limit. Short of it is, Lolly was running along the side of the road and then ran right out onto rte 122 and was immediately hit by a passing car. I am having a very hard time right now coming to grips with the sound of the impact and witnessing her little body tumbling on the highway. I have never thought of myself as a screamer, but I did, many times over. I ran out into the road and stopped traffic both ways. The person who hit her did stop, but at the time I was unable to make sense of what was going on despite the fact that it all seemed in surreal slow motion. I thought she was dead. She was unconscious and blood was coming from her mouth. For some reason I guess I went into emergency mode and scooped her up, ran to my car, put her gently in the back seat and drove away to the animal hospital which I knew was down 122 in Paxton some 8 miles away. Miraculously she became conscious albeit very dazed. I drove (I admit) recklessly down 122 reaching speeds of almost 90 and passing some very irate people who, I'm sure, knowing the severity of the situation, would forgive me. I pulled into the animal hospital and ran inside. They were very good and sprang into action immediately. They took her from the car and brought her into an examining room where the doctor checked her out. Meanwhile, I was practically in hysterics. Actually I WAS in hysterics. I would not have thought of myself, a 47 year old male to be one given over to so hysterics, but I was that indeed. Apparently, the car ran over her head and, according to the doctor, is the strongest part of her skeleton. They took x-rays and all her organs and ribs are OK, no broken bones. She cut her tongue at the tip and part of her lip where it meets the gum has been severed and may require stitches, but apparently they cannot do it now as it would require putting her under, a thing we may do in a weeks time when she recovers a bit. She received a shot of pain killer and a shot of antibiotic and I brought her home. She is on the couch now sleeping, but SHE IS BREATHING! She is obviously out of it a bit from both the trauma and the pain killers. She is NOT hungry at all. We continue to check her gums as apparently if they turn white she may have internal bleeding. So far so good. My wife Nora and I are very worried needless to say, and we are keeping vigil over her as I write. She has gotten up on her feet, and she wagged her tail once in the doctors office when she saw me. I am frantic with guilt and worry, but mostly I am having a hard time NOT re-running these events through my head, in particular the few seconds leading up to, through, and after the impact. It may well be the single most traumatic thing I've ever witnessed. I am afraid to leave her side and I feel so much remorse and guilt at being so irresponsible. We love our hound Lollypop so very much. If all goes well, she will see her first birthday on May 30th. I am watching Nora feed her ice cream, something we would normally avoid, but we think she likes the cold. In the future, I will NEVER let her off leash anywhere NEAR a highway, road, lane, bike path or any place anything could do her harm. I learned my lesson the hard way.
If anyone has a hound who has been hit by a car and lived (or not), or, if anyone can offer us some advice on how best to treat her convalescence PLEASE let us know. We are sick with worry and simultaneously overjoyed that she is alive. I will keep everyone updated from time to time as to her welfare.
Thank you for reading but mostly, thank you for listening.
