Rocco the chihuahua gets another chance at life

This tiny(4.73 lbs)chihuahua was taken to an Animal Emergency Clinic when he got out of his house/yard and hit by a car.His family could not afford the recommended orthopedic surgery for his broken tibia, so took him to an animal shelter hoping for a better outcome for him than they could provide.
In the current economy this type of surgery is out of the
reach of most shelters and rescue groups, so I am going to foster him in a soft cast and see if it will heal adequately.(It won't be great but hopefully manageable) This is last resort orthopedic care and I do not recommend this method under normal circumstances.
He will require weekly vet visits for monitoring and for that I will be going to Westbury Animal Hospital and
Dr Jeff Chalkley again, my hero for several past orthopedic miracles in dogs.
Dr Toby Shows of Kingsland Blvd Animal Clinic has
been wonderful for orthopedics also.It is one of my rescue interests since my days working with retired racing greyhounds.
The strip over his back is part of his pain patch that was stapled into him and it was removed today.
Rocco is neutered and heartworm negative; he will be looking for a home where open doors
are monitored so tiny babies cannot get out.

Cricket the bionic chihuahua needs a home

This precious baby came into a Houston shelter with an old leg fracture and it looked as if amputation was going to be his only

option. At only 4 lbs, his front leg near his ankle was so shattered that there wasn't enough viable bone to

repair, so a bone graft from his shoulder was required. Dr Jeff Chalkley of Westbury Animal Hospital who has helped me many times, put in a tremendous

effort to repair the radius and ulna. The repair was so extensive there wasn't even time to neuter Cricket, but it has been done now! Dr Chalkley put in a metal plate but warned me that it might not work. It was very hard to go thru the weeks of rehab not knowing if we would still have to amputate at the end. A dog carries 60% of its weight on the front legs, so life is much harder than if a rear leg is amputated.

Yea for Dr Chalkley and Cricket-it worked and Cricket plays with other chihuahuas as if nothing

ever happened.

He is ready for an all adult home that is prepared to have surgery in the future if the plate shifts

or needs to be replaced for any reason.

Marvin Zindler had his angels, I have Houston vets like Dr Chalkley. Thank you, Dr Jeff!