Don't give up

Strange things happen to good people and good dogs. It's how you proceed with the strange things is what can make or break a story.
Above is a photos of a boy named Rooftop Ike T. Ike was purchased at the Nationals in KS for a fair sum of money. He was a young, healthy, racer that was purchased by a couple Team Greyhound members to race at our Southland kennel.
Shortly after arriving to our Southland kennel our trainer JT noticed some sort of infection going on with Ike's leg. By the next morning Ike's leg was loosing skin and the area was turning black. Ike was rushed to our vet and reports were not good. It was believed that Ike had been bit by some sort of spider and the venom from that spider was spreading through Ike's leg and causing all sorts of skin loss, infection, and all around bad stuff. Our vet felt that there was no way to save this boy as a racer and wasn't even sure he could save Ike's leg.
A call was placed to Ike's owner explaining what was going on and the cost that might be involved. This is a hard choice for an owner. Several thousands of dollars was just spent on purchasing Ike, now the thought of more money spent on a hound who would never race again. At this point, talking with the vet, talking with the owners and using our own thoughts it was looking like Ike would be PTS.

I always hate making a choice like this and when I have hesitations I will often refer to my friend Carol. It was a hard pill for me to swallow knowing that Ike was such a young boy and might loose his life because of a spider bite. It was bothersome to me.
After chatting with Carol and having it OK by GPA-Nashville, it was decided upon to have Ike transferred to another vet's office. Dr. Pearce.
Ike arrived at Dr. Pearce's office on Nov 5th. It was going to be a long road to recovery for Ike but outlooks were good that Ike would NOT loose his leg.
Ike stayed with Dr. Pearce from Nov 5th until Dec 12th. During that time Ike was on strong antibiotics,Hydrotherapy,and wrap changes daily as his wound to the leg was weepy and oozing.
On Dec 12th Ike left Dr. Pearce's office, was seen by Dr. Carol and then was moved directly into foster care with Mary Hoskins. Mary continued the still-needed bandage changes along with the soaks. By this time the affected area was shrinking rapidly.
On March 9th, Dr Carol met with Ike and Mary again and by this time the wound had finished closing and there was no need for any more bandages.
From the first days of Ike's visit with Mr nasty mean spider, to completely healed was FOUR MONTHS!!!
Ike has now been adopted by Sarah Gerhardstein.
Many thanks goes out to so many people involved in Ike's story. First off to his owners Brett Horyna and Dennis Curry. For trusting in my instincts that Ike could and would get better. No one wanted to see this boy in pain.
HUGE Kudos to Dr Carol for talking with me and listening to me and my concerns about Ike. To GPA-Nashville for taking on the large task and bills of what Ike was going to cost, let alone the time it would take for Ike to heal. Also to Ike's foster mom, Mary Hoskins. You did amazing after care for Ike. And lastly to Sarah Gerhardstein, for adopting this super boy.

The photos above. First one is taken at Dr. Pearce's office. If you look closely at Ike's back left leg, on the inside you can see the damage done by the spider bite. This wound went from the front part of Ike's leg around both sides. From the top of his foot, to well past his hock area, up toward his "knee" area.
Next photo is of Ike making the trip from Dr. Pearce's to Dr. Carol's office.
The last two photos are of Ike in his forever home. Ike was officially adopted by Sarah Gerhardstein on 4/14/09. CONGRATS Sarah and Ike!!

It was a very long road to recovery for Ike. Not all stories turn out with a happy ending. But this one did thankfully, due to the commitment and willingness of so many.