Hi, I wanted people to hear of my horror story about my 6 month old boxer puppy Phoebe. It was Easter evening (3/31/01). My husband and I were back from visitng our parents and my husband decides to use a paper shredder to get rid of some old papers. He decided to do this in our living room on the floor. Well you know how rowdy boxers can be, Phoebe was pouncing all around the paper shredder while we were shredding. And you know how long boxers tongues can be. Well all of a sudden all I hear is Phoebe screaming at the top of her lungs. We were sitting right in front of the shredder not even 12 inches away. All I see is Phoebe with the shredder attached to her tongue. She actually pulled the shredder out of the wall and the top that attaches to the basket was attached to her. I was able to tackle her down after she ran for a few short feet. I layed with her and tried to comfort her while my husband called 911 and ran next door to get help. At this point all I can think is that my baby is going to die in this pool of blood in my arms. She actually layed in my arms very calm and very responsive. Needless to say don't ever call 911 if your pet gets hurt becasue they wont come. We had to get her to an Emergency Vet (it was in the evening) and we made the decision to remove the shredder form her rather than carry her with it attached because we thought it would do more damage. We could not remove it with screw drivers so we had to actually removed the shredder with a circualr saw. The noise made her freak but it was real quick and she was free. Her tongue was still attached but hanging really far out of her mouth. We wrapped her mouth in a towel and we were off. The whole time I thought she was gonna leave me. Driving there felt like at eternity. We arrived at the hospital and they informed us we had to make the decision to allow them to try to sew the tongue back on. Her tongue was ripped off 95% from the back of her mouth but her main artery was still attached. They said it was a 50/50 chance for her to live. The doctor also said it would be VERY costly (1500-3500) and even if she made it she may not be able to ever use her tongue and would need a feeding tube forever. Well of course we said do everything you need to, to make her better. So they sent us home and they operated. They had to do a traceotomy because her tongue was so swollen and put a feeding tube in her neck. They said the first 24 hours would be the most criticle to know if the tongue would take. Well to make my long story short she was released in a week. We had to take her home with the feeding tube in and we fed her like that for a month. She is now 10 months old and you would never know this has happened to her unless you look at her tongue. They had to remove a substantial amount of her tongue (from the front and from the side) becasue it was dying off. It sticks out to about her lips. She gives the best kisses now, I seem to love them more than ever since the accident. She does have full use of her tongue, but it does go to the side slightly becasue of nerve damage. She eats hard food and plays with all her toys. She is just messy with her food and water. Her only problem is that she gets food or treat imbedded in the carpet and can't lick that up really well becasue her tongue is real short.
I just wanted everyone to hear of our story and please pass this along because I have talked to alot of people that leave paper shredders on the floor all the time. Phoebe was also the 3rd case where this has happend at the Emergency Vet we took her to, but Phoebe's case was the worse.
We now call her Phoebe M.D. (Miracle Dog)
I just wanted everyone to hear of our story and please pass this along because I have talked to alot of people that leave paper shredders on the floor all the time. Phoebe was also the 3rd case where this has happend at the Emergency Vet we took her to, but Phoebe's case was the worse.
We now call her Phoebe M.D. (Miracle Dog)
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