Well the radiographs today revealed good news but made my decision a lot harder. The hock is not in a bad way and will heal but the instability is compounded by the ligaments having been sheared away. So the question is will the leg heal and be somewhat useable? I'm all for saving the leg as long as he can get some use out of it but my biggest fear is that I will put thim (and us) through all the bandage changing, cleaning, etc only to find that it still just dangles and would need to be removed anyway.
So I've decided to give a small window of time and see how he progresses. We made up an unconventional splint this time around and he's actually toeing down slightly on a fairly regular basis so I'm holding out some small hope that the hock with stabilize and be useable. The flesh is doing an amazing job of trying to granulate in despite the fact that I was not using wet to dry bandaging because I thought I was just going to amputate.
Here's what it looks like today: MORE GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW!!
Our family had a sheltie years ago that lost a leg to hemangiosarcoma so I know that he can lead a perfectly normal and full life without his leg especially since it's a hind leg vs a front. That's why I had no hesitation about amputating and it was my first thought. However I'd like to give him a shot at keeping it if it can be functional.
I haven't told his former owner that I have him. I'm sure that word may eventually leak out but I have a loophole for the euthanasia decision. Technically since she gave to dog away (sold, I'm sure) he does not belong to her and since his new owners have not shown up, he's a stray
I didn't even want to broach the subject with her as he's a "valuable French import" (don't fall out of your chair laughing Demo!) with "excellent bloodlines". If there's a buck to be made, she'll try and make it and "everything's for sale for the right price" (her words once to me).
Everyone keep your fingers crossed and I'll be sure to give updates on a regular basis.