Dog Gets Prosthetic Paw To Walk Again After Being Run Over By Car (VIDEO)

A prosthetic paw was the perfect gift for a family facing a Christmas nightmare. The Swift family was celebrating the holidays with friends, when one accidentally ran over their dog.

According to CNN, the Swifts were given three options for Polo, their nine year old Siberian husky: surgery, amputate, or a prosthetic paw. Surgeries were a minimum $5,000 bill, and the Swifts had already seen their dog suffer using just three legs - every time he lifted a leg to go to the bathroom, he would fall over.

They enlisted the help of Trey Calfee, an animal surgeon with Nashville Vet Specialists. WSMV-TV reports that for under $1,000, he fitted Polo with a prosthetic, and the results have been dramatic. Polo is back to his usual ways, enjoying walks and curling up in the snow.

According to The Telegraph, a Belgian Shepherd in the UK was the first pet to ever be fitted with a prosthetic paw in 2007. It was a breakthrough because the dog's skin could grow into the metal. Veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick was excited about the operation not just for dogs, but because "it will act as a model for human amputees in the future and provide hope for people without feet or hands."

What would you do if your dog were given Polo's options? Would you pay any price for your pet? If not, where would you draw the line?

WATCH Polo walk with his prosthetic:

Comments

[European1919]

08:37 AM on 02/11/2011

Well done Polo (and his owners and the vet of course). You'll be right as rain in no time.

[paulaswift]

04:36 PM on 01/30/2011

This is Paula, the other proud owner of Polo.

I'm happy to report that the past few days - since the surgery on Polo's back leg - I am SO GRATEFUL for our decision to do the prosthetic on his front foot. This surgery requires up to 10 weeks of recovery with the first 2-3 having no support from this back leg. Without the prosthetic on the front foot, Polo would be a 70+ pound, 2 legged dog. This would only exponentially contribute to further injuries elsewhere and delayed recovery.

We're not out of the woods yet... but the fact is, Polo is able to get up, stretch, eat and do his biz while we work to recover and rehab his back leg - while simultaneously working to adjust to the prosthetic. It's stressful, exhausting, and yet - encouraging to watch his tenacity and heartwarming to continue our bond over this time, which includes the entire family. Nothing like a little tragedy to experience love lessons.

It may not be the best choice for every animal, but knowing our dog - his personality - and his needs, we are at peace with our decisions and are now grateful to have the guidance and options provided to us.

[Jolimont]

04:41 AM on 01/31/2011

Hello Paula,

Great dog! I was wondering about the back leg too, did it get injured as well?

[paulaswift]

10:46 AM on 01/31/2011

It's a secondary injury... he tore his acl (or ccl for dogs)... and occurred the day before the story ran. We thought it was just a strain from overcompensation while healing the front foot, but unfortunately it was more.

[Jolimont]

11:42 AM on 01/31/2011

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully he'll get all better soon, and cool prosthetic!

[Enrique Navarro]

11:19 AM on 01/30/2011

That's so nice. I'm glad for the dog and for the family. I love dogs and I have bred dogs for
many years, mostly German Shepherds. I don't know what I would have done if that would
have happened to one of my dogs.

http://thegermanshepherddogbreed.blogspot.com

[kooosh]

04:54 AM on 01/30/2011

Way to go Polo!!

[SamSwift]

09:43 PM on 01/29/2011

Once again, I'm Sam Swift...Polos owner. I'm apparently saying this until I'm blue in the face but I do get the fact that many of you have owned, or know of, plenty of very successful 3-legged dogs. I get that. The problem is the MY dog was not doing well as a 3-legged dog, so we chose to go with the prosthetic. Both of his back legs were already having problems before he had the accident. I was not going to leave him as a 3-legged dog with one good front leg and two bad back legs. Do you guys get it? I'm tired of reading the posts that because your dog was great on three, that Polo should have been fine. You guys got a 3-minute synopsis on TV/internet of what we have been dealing with for the last 4 weeks. Unless you know Polo, don't spout off your opinion of what "should" have been done, or not done.

[Lucinda1]

10:17 PM on 01/29/2011

Good for you and for Polo! It is obvious he had problems with his back legs. Was that from the accident or something else. He seems happy and so do you. Good luck to you all. I think this is a wonderful story!

[SamSwift]

10:46 PM on 01/29/2011

Lucinda, yes, the day before the news crew came to our house Polo tore his Cruciate Ligament while outside. The day after the story aired, he was back at the vet's office to have TPLO surgery to repair his knee.

[grasyknol]

11:05 PM on 01/29/2011

Sam - You highlight what bothers me about HP and other sites.. There is no shortage of experts who like to tell you this, that, and the other.

Once - I commented on a story about a young girl who claimed to be bullied by boys in her high school. I claimed that she appeared to be very happy go lucky and didn't seemed to be all that agrieved.

What happened? I was "bullied" by those against bullying...lol.

[keemia]

08:25 PM on 01/29/2011

Is $995 really cheap for a dog leg?

[DOHC Holiday]

08:33 PM on 01/29/2011

Human prosthetic legs (especially microprocessor-controlled ones like the Otto Bock C-Leg) can easily run $30,000-$50,000. A grand is a bargain, even more so when you consider this is a prototype.

[Chumleysmom]

07:53 PM on 01/29/2011

If the dog is comfortable (and active) wearing this device, then it's the right thing to do. But the story leaves the reader with incorrect information: that animals cannot function normally on only three legs. I've had two male dogs and one female goat - weighing between 20 - 60 pounds who managed quite nicely on only three legs; and I certainly never saw the dogs fall over when they went to bathroom. Also, if people are being charged $5000 for a amputation, they should look elsewhere for vet care, because that vet is probably soaking them for treatments for EVERYTHING. All three of the surgeries on our animals totaled far less than $600.

[DOHC Holiday]

08:36 PM on 01/29/2011

The $5000 figure quoted was to rebuild the original, injured leg. And the problem stated with letting the dog get by on 3 legs was that it's a male. When he hikes his leg, he falls over.

[Chumleysmom]

10:11 PM on 01/29/2011

As I said, neither of MY TWO MALE dogs (nor the 2-3 other three-legged MALE dogs I've seen over the years) have EVER lost their balance when hiking their legs.

[poochytown]

07:48 PM on 01/29/2011

When I was a boy there was a cat in the neighborhood that had a wooden leg, front right, shoulder downwards. Its owner made it; it was wood and was held on with a harness. The cat seemed completely nonchalant.

[Cherry Davis]

07:45 PM on 01/29/2011

That's cute but I see three legged dogs all the time and they seem happy as larks. Running around, sniffin dogs butts and being dogs.

[tallen]

07:42 PM on 01/29/2011

With so many stories of animal abuse, it is nice to have one about people who love their pet, and go to great lengths to show it.

Well done Polo and family.

[Kolors]

07:24 PM on 01/29/2011

Polo is the perfect type of dog for this sort of thing. He's strong and active, but has a relaxed demeanor so he doesn't seem to be bothered by the prosthesis. I'll bet by the time he gets the permanent prosthetic leg he'll be running around without a care in the world.

[commonsense2]

07:10 PM on 01/29/2011

The vet is an attractive guy.

[Mattie]

06:56 PM on 01/29/2011

what a great story, I love happy endings. It's hard to draw the line on what to spend on a animal. I guess quality of life is important when making that decision, and this dog looks great.

[Karama]

07:13 PM on 01/29/2011

Yes, and I'm happy for Polo.

[firstcougar1]

06:43 PM on 01/29/2011

Glad for the family and hope this can lead to advances for both animals and humans.

[techjockey]

06:42 PM on 01/29/2011

I'm suprised this has taken so long. They've been fitting horses with prosthetic legs since the mid '80's.