Special Prayers Needed For A Special Mom - Written by CPCRN VP of Intakes

We don't know what really happened to her, only she knows for sure, and she can't tell us. We have some facts and we have some theory. Following is a little of each:

Enter Col. Potter. We checked on a Cairn at a shelter almost two weeks ago and were told she was going to another Cairn rescue group. When we checked back to make sure the other group had taken her, we discovered they had backed out from rescuing her and she once again needed Col. Potter's help.

Dina officially became a Col. Potter kid last week and was taken to one of our vets for her boarding and examination of what would be needed to treat her skin condition. We weren't prepared for what the vet gave us for a diagnosis -- rather than skin allergies or skin infections, the diagnosis was solar burns. How would she possibly get them? We don't know for sure, but I have my ideas and I would like to share them with you.

It was a very cold and snowy winter in Wisconsin, especially hard on PM Mamas and their babies. There was record snowfall and record cold temperatures. All of this made it extremely difficult for mamas and their babies to survive in these elements. Some millers, in an effort to provide heat and keep babies from freezing to death in these conditions, will put a heating pad or electric blanket in the kennel with the mama and her babies. Some will also use a heating lamp. Sometimes the lamps burn or short out, taking away the heat and the babies freeze to death. Sometimes the heating pads or heating blankets will short out and stop working and sometimes they will get so hot along the coils, they will burn the mama and kill the babies while shorting out. This is what I think happened to one little, 9 year old mill mama sometime in March. Now having no more need for an old female whose babies were dead and she was scarred, she was sold at auction as having a hormonal, skin condition. The buyer, discovering it was more than that, dumped her at a shelter where she was diagnosed as having a bad skin condition, was spayed and then determined she was not adoptable because of her skin issues and she was too shy.

Now, it really doesn't matter how Dina got the wounds she has. What matters is what can be done for her and can she survive it. Dina has two "racing stripes" of burns running down both her sides. On the right side, the burn terminates under her front leg with a quarter size open wound, but on the left side, the burn terminates under her front leg with a gaping 4" open wound. On top of all of this, her skin is extremely thin and in bad shape. The vet isn't sure if there is enough good skin to stretch over the large open wound, or even come close. Nor is it known how deep the wound is or what other damage may exist in the burn and wound areas as Dina is so uncomfortable, they can't fully examine her. I've attached the shelter picture of Dina. You can see the brown "racing stripe" running down her left side.

Tomorrow Dina will undergo exploratory surgery to start with to determine the extent of the injuries and if it's possible to cover the wound where it will ultimately heal, and to control any infection. If this can be done, then the surgeon will continue and repair the wounds, clean out the infection and whatever else is needed to get Dina on the road to recovery. However, if the surgeon determines that Dina's injuries are too severe, that her skin cannot stretch to cover and heal, that it would be too painful and require many more surgeries to even give her a chance, she will call me and Dina will be allowed to go to the Rainbow Bridge where she won't have to ever suffer again.

Dina can use all your prayers, positive energy and good thoughts tomorrow to guide the surgeon in finding all the infection, being able to find enough good skin to stretch over the wounds, not finding anything else major wrong deeper down and to Dina to have the strength and Cairn will to come through the surgery and recuperate. Even if the surgery is successful tomorrow, Dina will have a long road ahead of her with wet to dry bandaging to remove the dead burned skin from her sides and hopefully allow new, healthy skin to replace it. She will need frequent bandage changes on her wounds, medication to fight the infection and who knows what else this little girl has been living with.

I will keep everyone updated tomorrow and hope that I only have GOOD news to report. Please join me in sending SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR THIS SPECIAL MOM ... Dina, we love you little girl and I'm only thinking positive thoughts of the report I'm going to get from the surgeon at the conclusion of the surgery when you are on your way to recovery ...