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Dog Crazy Newsletter Friday April 15, 2011

DANGEROUS Things in Your Own Backyard - Dog Is SEVERELY Hurt
Hi cathy ,

I recently received an email from a loyal PetPlace subscriber that I wanted to share with you today. I think it is a good reminder of what can happen to our dogs in our own backyards if we are not careful. The story comes from Lynne Horne and her border collie named Sky.

Lynne wrote:

"Dr. Jon - I felt I should write to share my story with you and perhaps other pet owners. We have a 2 year old border collie who suffered a terrible accident a few weeks ago. I am sure you may find it hard to believe but the cause of this was my 8 year old son's trampoline.

Sky was out playing in the garden & she ran under the trampoline after a ball (as she has loads of times before) but this time she caught her side on a bolt, which attaches the safety netting.
I rushed her straight to the vet and she told me that Sky would need to have surgery to sort things out. She couldn't have her operation there and then as she had already eaten, so the vet dressed her wound and sent her home with some pain killers & antibiotics.

Sky has run under the trampoline hundreds of times, chasing balls or going under to sit with my son and his friends. The kids sit under the trampoline a lot too. That's stopped now. Imagine the damage those bolts could do to an 8 year old's head? I shudder to think.

My husband has dismantled the trampoline, my dog has stitches in her side and I have a huge vet bill! I have enclosed a couple of photos to let you see the damage that one bolt did to Sky, its quite unbelievable!
I bet there are loads of families like ours - dogs, kids and a trampoline. I just wanted to warn you and others and hope that our accident was a one off."

Thanks for sharing your story, Lynne. I can only imagine how you must have felt to see Sky in this condition. I am glad to hear that Sky made a great recovery and is back to full health now! Also thanks for helping me alert the rest of the PetPlace community to the dangers lingering in our own backyards.

For your information, I checked with my contacts at the local emergency clinic and lacerations are one for the most common emergencies. The average cost for an emergency laceration repair that includes the emergency fee, clipping and preparing wound, sedation, surgery time to suture, antibiotics, pain meds, and possibly an Elizabethan collar is over $200. This is just the dollars and cents of it all - it does not even being to account for the emotional trauma to the dog and the entire family.
So, please take a minute to check out your yard for any sharp objects that could injury your dog - including your trampoline! I can't tell you how many times emergency clinics see a dog go out in the yard and come back in the house bleeding from some laceration or another. Sometimes the dog owner never knows what caused the dog's cut. Most of the time it is a nail, bolt or fencing.

Until next time,

Dr. Jon
P.S. These types of accidents happen all the time and are filling emergency rooms around the country. Are you prepared to handle this type of emergency?

In addition to taking the preventative measures outlined above, you need to evaluate your financial situation. If a $200 or $2,000 expense is no big deal, then you may financially prepared to deal with a difficult and painful situation. However, if like most of us, you would have difficulty dealing with that kind of unexpected expense, you really should consider the benefits of pet insurance. Pet insurance helps pay for your pet's treatments, surgeries, lab fees, X-rays, and much more. This will give you so much peace of mind and the financial resources to care for your dog in case of emergency.

To learn more about the benefits of pet insurance and how it can help you better care for your dog, go to: petinsurance.com.

P.P.S. Pet insurance covers your dog's care at any vet in the country. Take a minute and see if pet insurance is right for you. Go to petinsurance.com for more information and a FREE quote.