Rompe - a sad story of an Italian Greyhound
I adopted “Rompe” (aged 5 yrs) in mid 2009 from an interstate organization after he and his female companion were abandoned by their owners and taken in.
I had lost my 16 yr old IG in February and then just a couple of weeks before Rompe arrived, my old Jack Russell cross had suddenly died so it was a very emotional time.
However, when I heard of Rompe’s miserable plight, homeless in a Victorian winter and his distress, I sent for him without hesitation.
When I picked him up from the transporters, his eyes were very weepy with a yellow discharge. I could also see that his leg was in very poor shape, very bowed and bulging (it had been pinned after a second break which I hadn’t been told about), and he was limping. And then there was a horrendous smell, a real stench. Initially I thought it was from the crate but I discovered it was coming from his mouth. His teeth were very bad indeed. He also had a nasal discharge and sore ears although they looked clean. No paperwork was sent with him.
He acted like an undesexed dog, even though no testicles were visible. I began to wonder if he had undescended testicles. I have a great deal of experience with dogs so knew I was looking at strange behaviour for a desexed dog.
I immediately took him to my vet who found undescended testicles, very bad teeth and infected gums. She suspected the infection had been untreated for so long and his eyes showed signs of long term infection. Apart from sore ears, he also had very swollen lymph glands on his neck. My vet was also very concerned about his bowed leg and booked him in for emergency a day later, saying she would take xrays of his leg so she knew what we were dealing with.
I had been told he didn’t eat much, but I imagine it was because he was in so much pain. For the 2 days he was here, I gave him 4 meals of just meat and rice both days. He ate this food with enthusiasm, he was certainly very hungry and bonier than he should have been.
On the Friday morning, my vet put him under anaesthetic, took xrays of his leg and his jaw. She rang to tell me that poor Rompe’s jaw was all crumbled when they started taking teeth out (and they'd all have to come out) due to the infection which had also spread to his nasal cavity and possibly his brain. This was causing his painful ears, sore eyes and nose discharges and the swollen lymph glands.
The xrays of his front leg showed that the bone had either not grown back, the pinning was badly done or his bone was dissolving so his leg would have to be amputated. At the other end, she could not locate the 2nd undescended testicle which would mean major surgery to locate the other one in his abdomen.
The only thing to do when a dog's jaw has crumbled is put them to sleep. The jaw has crumbled because the infection has been left so long. I don't know that even if I had taken him on 2 months ago that it would have been enough time to save him but I would not have left him to suffer.
How anyone could have let him suffer for so long is unbelievable to me. Nobody could have missed his problems, they were very evident.
Rompe is a sad example of bad breeding (dental and bone issues), bad ownership for letting him get so bad and for giving him up. It is also an example of ineffective rescue procedures – Iggy Rescue has been set up to act ethically in these types of cases. If we don’t have the funds to proceed with extensive vet work then we will humanely euthanase a dog, rather than rehome in a compromised state.
RIP Rompe, I’ll always remember you with love. May your death not be in vain.
Jane Henderson
I adopted “Rompe” (aged 5 yrs) in mid 2009 from an interstate organization after he and his female companion were abandoned by their owners and taken in.
I had lost my 16 yr old IG in February and then just a couple of weeks before Rompe arrived, my old Jack Russell cross had suddenly died so it was a very emotional time.
However, when I heard of Rompe’s miserable plight, homeless in a Victorian winter and his distress, I sent for him without hesitation.
When I picked him up from the transporters, his eyes were very weepy with a yellow discharge. I could also see that his leg was in very poor shape, very bowed and bulging (it had been pinned after a second break which I hadn’t been told about), and he was limping. And then there was a horrendous smell, a real stench. Initially I thought it was from the crate but I discovered it was coming from his mouth. His teeth were very bad indeed. He also had a nasal discharge and sore ears although they looked clean. No paperwork was sent with him.
He acted like an undesexed dog, even though no testicles were visible. I began to wonder if he had undescended testicles. I have a great deal of experience with dogs so knew I was looking at strange behaviour for a desexed dog.
I immediately took him to my vet who found undescended testicles, very bad teeth and infected gums. She suspected the infection had been untreated for so long and his eyes showed signs of long term infection. Apart from sore ears, he also had very swollen lymph glands on his neck. My vet was also very concerned about his bowed leg and booked him in for emergency a day later, saying she would take xrays of his leg so she knew what we were dealing with.
I had been told he didn’t eat much, but I imagine it was because he was in so much pain. For the 2 days he was here, I gave him 4 meals of just meat and rice both days. He ate this food with enthusiasm, he was certainly very hungry and bonier than he should have been.
On the Friday morning, my vet put him under anaesthetic, took xrays of his leg and his jaw. She rang to tell me that poor Rompe’s jaw was all crumbled when they started taking teeth out (and they'd all have to come out) due to the infection which had also spread to his nasal cavity and possibly his brain. This was causing his painful ears, sore eyes and nose discharges and the swollen lymph glands.
The xrays of his front leg showed that the bone had either not grown back, the pinning was badly done or his bone was dissolving so his leg would have to be amputated. At the other end, she could not locate the 2nd undescended testicle which would mean major surgery to locate the other one in his abdomen.
The only thing to do when a dog's jaw has crumbled is put them to sleep. The jaw has crumbled because the infection has been left so long. I don't know that even if I had taken him on 2 months ago that it would have been enough time to save him but I would not have left him to suffer.
How anyone could have let him suffer for so long is unbelievable to me. Nobody could have missed his problems, they were very evident.
Rompe is a sad example of bad breeding (dental and bone issues), bad ownership for letting him get so bad and for giving him up. It is also an example of ineffective rescue procedures – Iggy Rescue has been set up to act ethically in these types of cases. If we don’t have the funds to proceed with extensive vet work then we will humanely euthanase a dog, rather than rehome in a compromised state.
RIP Rompe, I’ll always remember you with love. May your death not be in vain.
Jane Henderson