[Dailydrool] BASSET BUPPIE & HHBR NEED HELP!!

[Jess'e Potts...Basset Rescue]

HHBR would like to introduce our newest addition.... 
He's a very adorable 14-16 week old Basset Buppie. As you can see his life
hasn't been the greatest so far and he's come to us with a serious injury to
his left front leg. HHBR was told of this buppie coming into a shelter in
Maryville, MO on Friday 11/12 & we quickly made the decision to welcome him
into our lives and hearts. He was brought to Iowa the next day and all
though we had no idea the extent of his leg injury we just knew we had to
help him. When he got here and to his foster mom, Karin Smith, it was clear
his leg was either deformed from birth or the injury to the leg happened
very quickly after birth as Little Bit certainly did not let it slow him
down. He acts like any happy healthy puppy does except he's got quite a
large limp to his step. On Monday 11/15 HHBR took Little Bit in for a
consult with our Orthopedic surgeon Dr Reimer at Iowa Veterinary Specialties
here in Des Moines, IA. After some X-rays and a little manipulation it was
discovered Little Bit's leg has all it's "proper" bones, but sometime
shortly after birth it sustained a very severe injury. This initial injury
had to be incredibly painful and it is very clear the injury was never taken
care of or looked at. Little Bit has an Ulna & Radius (the 2 major bones of
the forelimb) but at the point of the injury the Radius has stopped growing
and the 2 bones have fused together to make one very large solid bone mass.
His ankle joint where his Ulna & radius meet his Carpus and then meet the
Metacarpus (or his ankle meets his foot joint) is completely broken and this
joint literally just "hangs in the wind"...there is no stability to the
joint therefore Little Bit can not use or put weight on the pad of his foot.
He has of course learned to function without the use of his foot and now
literally does a very unique "army crawl"..he puts his forearm down and then
scoots himself around. Because of this use of the forearm his body has done
auto response mechanism and built up quite a large callus of tissue where he
primarily hits the floor on that leg. All these injuries and his callus can
be seen very clearly in the pictures below.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34773958@N07/ 
 
Now onto the good news...Dr Reimer thinks we can save Little Bit's leg!! We
have to allow him to do most of his growing so that the growth plates are
closed. Once that happens Dr Reimer feels optimistic that he can go in and
use a plate and screws to successfully fuse the ankle joint into a more
normal walking position. He thinks due to the fact the Little Bit does
indeed have an Ulna & Radius and that they have just fused together the
stability of the leg will be okay once we stabilize the ankle joint. We are
all optimistic and hopeful that this surgery can happen for Little Bit and
we do not have to remove his front leg, which in the long run would not be
the best option for a low riding Basset Hound =) 
 
Now's here's where HHBR kindly asks for donations. We have been given an
estimate of $2,000.00 for the surgery. This amount is discounted due to IVS
s generous support of rescue. We would love to raise $1,500.00 to help
defray the cost of Little Bit's initial surgery. We have 8 weeks to hit our
goal & hope you can generously help us make this happen for Little Bit. 
We've started a ChipIn page for this Fundraiser at: 
http://hhbr.chipin.com/hhbr-buppie-fundraiser 
 
You can also make donations directly to Hounds Haven by visiting our website
at for a PayPal link and a snail mail address: 
www.houndshavenbassetrescue.com 
 
We've also started a small fun fundraiser as well....NAME THAT BUPPIE....we
re struggling over here in Iowa on what to name Little Bit, and as cute as
he is he can't be Little Bit forever! Karin Smith, his foster mom, names all
of her hounds after a great musicians...we know we know it's an obsession
really =) So we'd LOVE to have our Basset Friends (and all our other furkid
friends) help us pick a name for Little Bit. Below is the link for this
fundraiser....the names are based on the below great musicians and what
genre of music they are all in! 
www.houndshavenbassetrescue.com 
Votes are only $5/name...so if you really like one of the names please vote
vote vote. All the proceeds of this fundraiser go directly to the care of
Little Bit! 
We will leave this fundraiser open until November 30th and at that time will
tally the votes and announce which name wins! 
Happy Voting!! 
NAMES: 
 
VAN Morrison - Rock/Blues songs: Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance 
MEL Torme – Crooner, nicknamed the Velvet Fog, songs: I’ve Got You Under My
Skin, Strangers in the Night 
IGGY Pop – Punk, considered the Godfather of Punk, song: China Girl 
HANK Williams – Legendary Country Western singer, songs: Your Cheatin’ Heart
 Hey Good Looking’ 
 
The HHBR Crew and Little Bit want to THANK YOU in advance for your generous
and kind donations! We can't do it without all of you =)