Meet Bo Jangles
Last spring, Bo Jangles was severely injured by a truck running over his back right paw. The accident severed two toes and “degloved” the padding on Bo’s foot. He was left with only three toes and a large infected wound.
Bo’s owner, Al, brought him to our Murrieta hospital, where he was stabilized by our emergency team. Given the severity of Bo’s injury, Al was presented with two options by our board-certified surgeon, Dr. Sarit Dhupa, the amputation of Bo’s paw, or negative pressure wound therapy using a wound vacuum. Negative pressure wound therapy requires a considerable commitment, but it is the most sophisticated and effective way to remove all the unhealthy tissue and encourage wound healing. Al chose to try and save Bo’s foot through negative pressure wound therapy.
Bo stayed in our hospital with 24/7 care for 68 days undergoing several weeks of negative pressure wound therapy and two separate footpad graft surgeries to help stimulate new pad growth. With excellent post-surgery care by the Murrieta surgical team led by Stephanie, registered veterinary technician surgical supervisor, Bo made fantastic progress with healthy tissue growth and new footpad reformation.
During his stay, Murrieta registered veterinary technician, Emily, wanted to make his stay as comfortable as possible. She created a special place for Bo’s crate in the hospital’s quiet room away from the noises of a 24/7 emergency veterinary hospital. Al informed the Murrieta team that Bo loved to play with towels. So Emily, wanting to make sure Bo felt at ease in his temporary home, set up Bo’s crate with plenty of towels. And whenever she could, Emily would spend time with Bo in the quiet room and play tug-of-war. To give the healing bloodhound more sense of freedom, the dedicated technician would block off the entire quiet room opening his kennel door, providing him the ability to walk in and out of his kennel as he pleased. Bo loved to pull out his towels and blankets out of his crate, scattering them all around the quiet room. Bo was such a good boy that Emily would even let him spend time with her outside of the quiet room. He would just sleep on the table next to her and watch the activity going on, never once barking or crying. When the fourth of July came around, Emily made him an American Flag wrap that they could play with together. By the end of the summer, Bo was finally able to go home.
Bo is now walking, jumping, and running on his leg.
When he first got home, he made it a point to run around his yard, letting the neighbors and fellow dogs know he had returned.
Bo continued to come in three times a week for bandage changes and monitoring of the grafted tissue for the next few months. Each time he visited the hospital, the Murrieta staff treated him like the superstar that he is, showering him with love and praise.
Bo’s footpad is now completely healed and he is in his final round of follow up appointments waiting for the surrounding skin to completely heal.
Even though Bo is no longer staying at the hospital with us, Emily continues to keep his American flag wrap in her locker, reminding her of their special bond and his amazing journey.
