A few years ago, the first thing people noticed about a Staffordshire bull terrier mix named Tigger was the unique way he got from one place to another. The Staffie would balance on his hind legs and hop around just like a kangaroo.
Unfortunately, Tigger was forced to walk like this because of a congenital deformity called ectrodactyly. His leg bones developed abnormally, and his paws resembled lobster claws. The canine could only place his weight on his stunted front limbs for brief periods.
The Staffie wasn’t able to get the medical attention he needed in the care of his former owner, who eventually had to give him up after losing his home. Thankfully, a volunteer for the rescue organization Savin’ Juice saw the Craigslist ad for Tigger and offered to take in the canine.
Eve Good, his foster-turned-forever mom, consulted with Dr. Warnock of the Oregon State University’s veterinary teaching hospital. They found out that unless Tigger undergoes surgery soon, his condition will only lead to more pain and extensive arthritis.
The hospital estimated the cost of the procedure to be around $10,000 to $15,000. Still, there were no alternatives for Tigger, so Eve set up a GoFundMe page.
Fortunately, animal lovers everywhere sympathized with the Staffie’s plight, and they were able to raise enough money to cover Tigger’s medical bills. After his surgery, the pooch got a custom set of prosthetics from Animal Ortho Care in Virginia.
Derrick Campana, the founder of the orthotic company, had to make several adjustments to make the device more comfortable for Tigger, but it all worked out well. Soon, the canine was walking around freely and gracefully as he had never been able to do before.
The Staffie is also undergoing training to become a therapy dog to inspire children, especially those with disabilities like him, to live their best life. Tigger loves being around kids and delights in their attention, so he would certainly enjoy the work.
In the meantime, the Staffie is recovering from a recent bout of cellulitis. However, his doctors say he’s now doing well after treatment. Watch the adorable Tigger adjusting to his new stroller in the video below:
Forgive the long gap between Tigger updates. We have been too exhausted from carrying recovering dogs up and down stairs. Samantha had knee surgery for a torn cruciate the second week of March. Which meant eight weeks of carrying her around in a harness while she recovered. Then Claire had the same surgery the second week of June so we are almost halfway through the her eight weeks carrying her in a harness. Samantha is 65 pounds and Clair is 75 pounds. Then there is Danger Dog who still has not regained use of his one back and one front leg so he is 75 pounds of all harness carry all the time. But while all that was going one of the Therapy Dog people was kind enough to meet with Tigger. They checked out the rules to let us know that the utility cart https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZWLmfNjpvjNNwvZR7 we have been using to get Tigger really long hard surfaces is not acceptable for therapy dogs but a dog stroller is. They also mentioned that he needed to work on being a bit calmer. So we have been working on the calm and…..
Posted by Tigger The Dog on Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Source: Tigger The Dog on Facebook