Kermit the 8-year-old Miniature Schnauzer was dumped in a cardboard box at the Denver Dumb Friends League on February 16th. Abandoned in the middle of the night without so much as a name, Kermit was emaciated, badly matted, and suffering from an infected right hind leg that caused him excruciating pain.
After a visit to the DDFL's veterinarian, Dr. Carolyn Karrh, Kermit and his caretakers at the League received some bad news: The infected wound on Kermit's leg was so serious that he would never regain full use of the leg. The infection had become mineralized, and involved a serious laceration to the tendon at the back of Kermit's foot.
“You could tell Kermit loved to go for walks, he just had this injury
holding him back. It was so heart wrenching,” Dr. Karrh said. “I didn’t
want to have to amputate the leg because he still used it for balance.
He has such a wonderful personality and I knew he’d make a great pet
for someone who understands his needs. I knew I needed to find a way to
help Kermit.”
Dr. Karrh called Martin Kaufman, founder of a company that builds prosthetics and orthopedic devices for pets, and, just like that, Kermit's luck turned around. Kaufman agreed to build a special prosthetic splint for Kermit. The splint would stabilize Kermit's injured leg while retraining him to bear weight on it, rather than hiking it up to his stomach and hopping on his other three legs.
On Saturday, March 14th, Kermit wore his splint for the first time. Within half an hour, he was hobbling along like a champ. Kermit will now be able to go on to an adoptive home where he'll live forward without limits, thanks to a vet, orthopedist, and rescue team who went above and beyond to save his leg.
Related:
Quarter Horse filly gets a second chance after losing part of her leg.
Posts about animal amputees
Filed under: dog, prosthesis, happy, rescue, good news, denver dumb friends league, miniature schnauzer, good deeds, prosthetic splint, orthopedics, schnauzer
