Mama Girl Goldie has to undergo a major op.

We brought Mama Girl (or Goldie as she is sometimes called) together with Star to Dr L yesterday.


Beautiful Mama Girl


Star settling down while Mama Girl was fidgety


Star, cos he has these bald patches all over his body. According to the worker, it was spread from Tommy and Tiger and those 2 had recovered on their own, but Star has been having these patches for quite a while now.






This is diagnose as fungal infection which is treated pretty straightforwardly. Star was given an injection and course of antibiotics.

For Mama Girl, it is more complicated. Dr L gave her an examination and her externally healthy condition appeared to tell us that it is not heartworms or tick fever that is causing her thinness. She was tested for heartworms in July and the result was negative.




Waiting for Mama Girl

But she has been getting thinner since her accident 2 months back. At that point, she presented with only abrasions on her belly and groin area and reluctance to walk about. After a few days of hospitalisation, she was back on her feet and running about with her pack. But lately she seemed to rest more often than before, again under the lorry. We have since reminded the workers there to be extra vigilant before they drive off so as not to have another accident of dragging Mama Girl under the wheels!

[But I was also just reminded that where Mama Girl and the pack is, there is a group of indian workers and among them, there is one who has been seen attempting to hit the dogs, cos somehow the pack tends to go after this man. I guess they can sense his fear and dislike of them and thus, whenever he walks through the farm to get to their place, the dogs will bark and run to him, and being afraid, this man will take up rocks and sticks and pretend to hit them, to chase the pack away.

Some days back, the man again threatened to hit the dogs and that time, it was a real hitting case. V was informed by one of the farm workers and the police was called. They will be monitoring that area. We were not there to witness the hitting but I am now beginning to wonder if Mama Girl could have suffered a blow that had caused this rupture.

* Which is why we are seeking a home for Mama Girl and 1 or 2 of her pack, even more so now that she will need a quiet place to recuperate after her op. Do look for a good home for her.]

Upon examination, Dr L felt that Mama Girl's abdomen was unusually empty. She advised an X-ray, suspecting internal injuries that could have arisen from the accident and gone unnoticed. When the X-ray was done, it clearly showed why Mama Girl is getting thinner.

Her diaphragm was ruptured.

The diaphragm separates the chest from the abdominal cavity and when it is ruptured, abdominal contents pass forward into the chest reducing lung function. This is why Mama Girl's abdomen felt so empty cos her abdominal contents have spilled over into her chest cavity.




The first thing to ascertain from Dr L is that Mama Girl is not in pain. And Dr L assured us that she is not in pain. But she will not feel like eating much cos her guts are pushed forward into her chest cavity and she will be having a 'full' feeling. If her condition is undetected, she will simply remain like this, with low activity level and remain very thin cos of reduced lung function and inability to consume much. Well, a good thing is, with a possible collapsed lung, Mama Girl is not showing difficulties or having laboured breathing as should be the case. Her outward presentation looks fine but we have to remedy her ruptured diaphragm.

Dr L advised us to have an operation on Mama Girl as she is still young and healthy. She will not recommend this for old dogs as it is a major operation with risks involved, but for Mama Girl, to let her have a normal life for the many years ahead, an operation is advised.

After discussion, we decided to proceed and her operation will be done later at about 5.30pm. Keep Mama Girl in your prayers now and we all await the good news that she is well and fine in a few hours time.