Warrior Princesses Casey & JoJo survive Cougar

This is our Airedale JoJo after seeing the Vet and cleaned up. She was a bloody mess when she came running back to us after an encounter with a cougar .  Her little red buddy did not come back with her and we found her lifeless body further up the trail with a cougar perched over her. The cougar fortunately fled when seeing us and hearing us yelling. We picked her up and saw that she was still alive, but barely, so we rushed her to our vet at Chase River Veterinary Clinic.  They took her in right away.  
 That was Oct 22nd. JoJo was able to recover at home with antibiotics after being treated by the vet for puncture wounds to her face and fractured nose and a gash in her back.  Casey had major injuries but was miraculously holding on to life and stabilized due to the urgent care she received.  The swelling around her brain was worrisome, but she made it through the night! Now we had some agonizing decisions to make, a lot of variables to consider. We knew from the Exrays that she had multiple fractures to her face and skull and definitely going to lose one eye. After much deliberation we decided we wanted to give her a chance which meant she needed a CT scan so off to Waves, the Urgent care Veterinary Hospital in Victoria.  
 The results from the scan where worse than what we were hoping for but she survived another night and her vitals remained strong. More agonizing decisions to make!  This is my daughter Taryn Carr's heart dog and she is not ready to say goodbye!   I know what most people are thinking by now,  that this is just a dog, but this is not just a dog to me and my daughter and we knew she was fighting to live and she deserved that chance. 
 So the next leg of our journey takes us over to the mainland to consult with a neurosurgeon. So deeper into the rabbit hole (and pocket book) we go.  
Still no rosy picture or guaranteed outcome but there was hope that if she survives the Surgery (6-8 hours) she has a chance at a comeback. We got the news from the Doctor just after midnight that she made it through! Well the next couple of days were a roller coaster ride of ups and downs some good news, some bad news.  The good news was that she had mobility and she was able to eat!  This was important because there was no room for a feeding tube in her nose so if she couldn’t or wouldn’t eat the feeding tube would have to go into her esophagus which would require another operation.
 But after a couple of day she stopped eating and was fading.  The Doctor gave us multiple possibilities why, and one of them being that the swelling and pain from her damaged left eye was just too much for her and it should come out.  We knew it would have to be removed eventually but hoped that she could have more recovery time from the first Surgery. 
Well we were in too deep to quit on her now, so we opted for Surgery.  It went well and after a few days in recovery she was ready to come home! Thisis a picture of Casey and Taryn 1st day home.JoJo is mending well too spending lots of time resting  on her favourite couch .
Casey has been home a couple of days now and is making small improvements every day.  Her appetite is coming back and she has a spring in her step!  She even has started holding her tail up!  She still has a way to go and must be kept quiet and away from other dogs and excitement for a month but we feel confident that she will make a full recovery due to the amazing surgery performed by Dr. Gordon fantastic care she received from all 3 Vet clinics, Chase River, Nanaimo.  Waves, Victoria and Boundary Bay Specialists, Langley, BC  
This of course was a very expensive venture, close to $30,000 that my daughter, Taryn Carr and I are sharing.  Even at that we have drained all of our resources.  It is not in my nature to ask for help but we have been encouraged by many people to do so and we will be forever grateful to all the people that donate to cover the Veterinary bills,  no matter what the amount.