Roosevelt's big day

Roosevelt had a big day today.  We left home at 11am and went to visit our friends at Eddie's Wheels for Pets for a 1pm appointment.  They evaluated the fit of his cart and made some adjustments.  It has not been lowered so that he should be able to pick toys up from the ground and drink out of a bowl that isn't elevated.  He'll need to learn to do that, since it involves stretching his hind legs in a different way.  We know he'll catch on quick, though.  he folks at Eddie's Whee's took a little video of him zooming around chasing Arthur, which they posted on their facebook page.  You should be able to see it here:  http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=380630021164&ref=mf although you may need to be a member of facebook in order to do so.


After leaving Eddie's Wheels, we drive another hour to consult with an orthopedic surgeon about Roosevelt's twisted front leg.  We wondered if there was anything that might be able to be done to make it more usable for him.  After examining the leg, the doctor felt that Roosevelt's radius was not developed, and the only bone he had that was usable in that portion of his leg was the ulna.  His thoughts were confirmed by taking an x-ray.  Normally, the radius would bear 80 percent of the weight.  So the smaller ulna had grown a bit larger than normal to try and compensate, apparently.  We discussed possibly surgical fixes, the chances of success and the pros and cons.  Basically, they could cut the end of the bone, and fasten his wrist to the end of his ulna, using an exterior fixture to hold it in place for the healing process, which would take 8-12 weeks.  If everything were to go perfectly, there was only a 50% chance of success, and a 50% chance that the limb would be made more painful.  And the risk that things wouldn't go perfectly reduced the odds of a successful outcome.


Roosevelt is doing phenomenally in his cart, as you can see in the video above (or previous videos posted here if you can't see that one.)  His quality of live is very high, he is a very happy guy, and his leg does not seem to bother him the way it is.  Therefore, we don't think it's worth the risks associated to try and change it.  We will of course continue to monitor him, as his future adopters will need to do, and reassess if some type of problem developed in the future.  However, we really don't anticipate that!


So, the next step is to finish up his routine medical needs such as neutering and microchip (we have been holding off in case he was going to need to be put under for radiographs and the like.)  Then we find his perfect family and he goes on to his forever home.  He is such an amazing and delightful dog, we are going to be heartbroken to see him go!


Please watch for Roosevelt coming up for adoption soon!