“Einstein” was rushed into Winslow Animal Hospital by his panic stricken owners one day in early March. A white, 2 ½ year old bichon/poodle mix, Einstein had been viciously attacked by another dog while out on a walk with his owner and her daughter.
Einstein was in very serious condition, as the other dog – who was much larger than little 15 lb. Einstein- had severely bitten him on the forehead and jaw area, and it had taken much effort to get the dog to release Einstein’s head from his powerful jaws. It had been a very frightening and traumatic experience for both Einstein and his owners, and poor Einstein had lost a lot of blood. A severe laceration covered the entire length of his left jaw, and several deep puncture wounds dotted his forehead area. Einstein was immediately examined by Dr. Phil Coudrai and his nursing staff.
Einstein stoically tolerated all the activity and handling…we could see straight away what a special and brave little dog he was! An IV catheter was placed in his front leg, and IV fluids were started to treat for possible shock. Antibiotics and pain medications were also administered.
After a thorough examination, no additional wounds or injuries were found. However, each time Einstein breathed, air could be seen bubbling up from the puncture wounds on his forehead , as well as puffing up from under the uninjured skin of his face…Einstein was actually exhaling through his forehead! Dr. Coudrai had never seen an injury like this before, but realized the dog’s frontal sinus cavities had likely been fractured during the attack, causing him to blow air through his crushed sinuses as he breathed.
X-rays showed that Einstein’s puncture wounds were going to need surgery to repair, as the bite had indeed badly damaged his frontal sinuses. Surgery would have to wait, though, until he was more stable. Until then, Dr. Coudrai sedated Einstein and temporarily stapled those puncture wounds closed. Next, he turned his attention to treating the 4 inch laceration along Einstein’s jaw. Dr. Coudrai flushed the wounds clean with saline before stapling this shut as well.
With pain medications and antibiotics, Einstein was able to go home with his owner that night. Two days later, he returned for the surgery necessary to repair his damaged face. His owners were still reeling from the shock of what they had experienced, but were hopeful Dr. Coudrai would be able to repair the damage done to their beloved pet. Poor Einstein’s face was very swollen and sore! He was still “exhaling” through the wounds of his face, causing him some respiratory distress. As before, Einstein allowed us to prepare him for his surgery as bravely as he could.
During surgery, Dr. Coudrai removed the fractured pieces of bone, tissue, and nasal fragments from Einstein’s bite wound. He then began the painstaking process of piecing the sections of salvageable bone back together, using plates and titanium screws. After several hours of surgery, Dr. Coudrai was finally satisfied with the results. Einstein’s fractured face was repaired, and he could now breathe properly without losing air through his open sinus cavity. To manage his post-operative pain, a rubber catheter, called a soaker hose, was sutured into his incision so that pain medication could be injected directly into the surgery site. After recovering for several hours in the ICU unit at Winslow Animal Hospital, he was transferred to an emergency hospital for continued overnight care.
Since then, Einstein has been a “regular” at Winslow Animal Hospital, coming back frequently for follow-up visits for continued care as his wounds healed. Amazingly, after such a traumatic experience, Einstein was always happy to return for his rechecks, and he became a big favorite of the staff. His perpetually wagging tail and enthusiastic attitude throughout his ordeal were an inspiration. His last visit was bittersweet, for as glad as we were that he had healed so well from such awful injuries, we would miss seeing his sweet little face and cheerfully wiggling body as he made sure to stop to say “hi” to each of the staff during his visits with us.
