Scout's Story
In December 2014 my fiancé and I rescued a 6 month old golden retriever. He was our second dog and instantly became our companion.
Roughly 6 months later, he was running in the yard when he began limping. The emergency vet diagnosed him with a sprain, the following day our regular vet did the same.
Three days later he had gotten worse and we were referred to the U of M Small Animal Hospital, which I had no idea existed. Despite X-rays, testing and multiple visits, no one knew what was wrong. Within 15 minutes at the U of M Scout was diagnosed with a broken hip. Unusual for a golden this age but we went ahead and had him operated on.
Months of carrying him and not allowing him to be too active ended with a more severe diagnosis. Scout has a rare blood disease typically only found in small dogs/terriers where the femoral head is attacked and dissolved. His other hip needed surgery.
After hours of consultation we decided to go ahead with a total hip replacement. Of course this meant months of carrying him, keeping our 1 year old retriever from being too active and hoping that this was the end of his health issues.
Fast forward to now and we have the happiest, friendliest and most active golden. His hips are great and he loves to walk, run and swim. No one would ever know what he has gone through but we are so thankful to have had the amazing experience with the U of M Small Animal Hospital. Our dog is a one in a million and they treated him that way.
Share your story
Have we helped your pet? We'd love to hear from you. Share your VMC story by emailing vmccomm@umn.edu. Don't forget to include a photo of your pet!
All stories
Abby's Story
April's Story
Austin's Story
Bailey's Story
Bailey II's Story
Bear's Story
Bella's Story
Bella M's Story
Bergie's Story
Beyla's Story
Bits' Story
Bowser's Story
Brody's Story
Buddy's Story
Buddy A/O's Story
Buddy the Beagle
Burnie's Story
Cassie's Story
Cassy's Story
Chaos' Story
Cheddar's Story
Chicolini's Story
Cilia's Story
Cooper's Story
Dakota's Story
Deke's Story
Demon's Story
Deuce's Story
Devon and Peanut's Stories
Diesel's Story
Duke's - I - Story
Duke's II -Story
Ellie Mae's Story
Evelyn's Story
Fletcher's Story
Flyer's Story
Gauge's Story
Gertie's Story
Giadin's Story
Gozer's Story
Gunner's Story
Helsa's Story
Henry's Story
Henry 02's Story
Jack's Story
Jun's Story
Keesha's Story
Kenny's Story
Kindersley's Story
Kobe's Story
Koji's Story
Kramer's Story
Larix's Story
Libby's Story
Libby M's Story
Lucia's Story
Lucky's Story
Maggie's Story
Maggiemay's Story
Maximus' Story
Merlin's Story
Mousey's Story
Nicholas' Story
Nesta's Story
Oliver's Story
Oreo's Story
Penelope's Story
P!nk's Story
Pre's Story
Ragnar's Story
Raleigh's Story
Rascal's Story
Rebel's Story
Riley's Story
Riley the Superhero's Story
Ritz's Story
Roxy's Story
Rosie's Story
Ruby's Story
Sadie's Story
Sami's Story
Sammy's Story
Scooby's Story
Scout's Story
Seamus' Story
Seoul's Story
Sergeant's Story
Shira's Story
Snoopy's Story
Sophia's Story
Sparrow's Story
Squirrel's Story
Stetson's Story
Sully's Story
Summer's Story
Tango's Story
Tantra's Story
Titus's Story
Tolouse's Story
Tootsie's Story
Twinkie's Story
Wrenley's Story
Wrigley's Story
Zigi's Story