Success Stories

Nuegent, May, 2001

Nuegent, a year-old black male, had been living in a car when his owner surrendered him to a shelter in Bozeman, Montana. The landlord said "no pets," so the car was the only place Nuegent could stay.

He was soon adopted by a young man who loved him, but who had no fenced yard. Rumor had it that the neighbors were letting him loose and he turned up at the shelter as a stray a few times. The adoptive owner tried tie-outs and harnesses, but Nuegent eventually ended up back at the shelter for good.

It was soon after his final return to the shelter that workers there noticed Nuegent's right rear leg would "go out" and Nuegent would limp. A veterinarian who visits the shelter weekly looked at the leg and said there was no way to make a diagnosis without x-rays, so films were taken and the diagnosis was made. Nuegent had bilateral medially luxating patellas; his tibias were twisted and both legs were affected, though the right leg was worse than the left.

The treatment involved deepening the grooves in the knee and moving the patellar tendon so it would be in a straight line. Despite the seriousness of the condition and the amount of surgery involved, Nuegent was expected to make a good recovery with full function in his legs and live a long, healthy life.

The shelter was able to raise some of the funds necessary to cover the costs of surgery, and the surgeon gave a very nice discount, but LABMED was contacted for help with the remainder. We voted to do so and Nuegent is well on his way to full use of his legs.

The surgery on the first leg went well and the vet feels Nuegent may not even need surgery on the other leg. He wanted to play right away after the surgery and had to be sedated the first few post-op days to give him a little time to recover.

Nuegent was described by the vet as a "remarkable Lab with a fantastic personality." He is now waiting for someone to give him a forever home, and that someone will have a lot of fun with him-if they can keep up with this happy, active dog!

Update, June, 2001

Nuegent has found his forever home. His rescuer wrote about his new family:

"They have a 1 year old female chocolate Lab(spayed). I explained that he did just have his surgery on Wednesday and will need to be kept quiet. When he asked for directions, he asked if he should bring a crate for him to ride in the car, so he wouldn't`t move around to much. Nueg rides great in the car. It`s about the only time he is quiet.:) Anyway, I was doing a volunteer orientation and came out of the dog room. We have Nueg in the front office, always. It`s a good way to keep our knees washed off. They visited with him for about an hour and then asked if he wanted to go home with them. Nueg said yes, and so did we. They already have an appointment with his vet to go over his recovery procedures and anything else they need to do. These folks have a whole family that will take care of him."