On Valentines Day, at lunch time while Mitch was providing our pups a day break, Ziva got out of our fenced yard and took off down the street.  The side gate by the carport was not secured.  Mitch realized this a few seconds too late.  Both her and Cueball got out.  He managed to call Cueball back to him at the end of our street.  Then he witnessed something that no one should ever see. Ziva was standing in the road when a Nissan SUV approached and hit her.  The impact sent her into a ditch.  The driver did brake but was unable to stop completely in time because of the icy roadway.  Ziva got up and took off.  Mitch called me panicking at work to let me know Ziva was missing.  He did not tell me she had just been hit by a car.  He did not want to get me worked up.  Mitch tracked her through the woods.  Luckily she was easy to track because of all the snow still on the ground.  Once she got to the roadway, he had no idea which way she went from there.  I rushed home and on my way home started getting the word out.  We are fortunate to have a very compassionate Greyhound Community in our area.  We had several people helping us look for her and spreading the word through FB, email and phone.  A good Samaritan found her wandering up to his second floor apartment which is located in the complex across a main road from our subdivision.  He was able to get a hold of her ID collar and thankfully called me. 

If you do not have an ID or tag collar that stays on your hound for identification purposes 24-7, I highly encourage you to get one. It is because of her ID collar that we got her back so quickly!! We get ours from Luckypet.com.

I was ecstatic that she had been found and found quickly.  I called everyone who was searching to let them know the good news.  Mitch and I drove over to pick her up.  Her legs were scrapped up.  Her back feet looked tore up and painful.  She was walking fine, was shaking but came right up to me.  I gave her a big hug and thanked the good Samaritan profusely.  Mitch got her leash, put it on her and said we have to get her to the vet now.  I agreed that she needed to be seen to get her boo boo’s looked at.  Then Mitch told me he saw her get hit by an SUV.  My heart sank.  Since we both had been driving to search, we decided it would be best if he rushed her to Cary Street Vet and I went home to check on Cueball and Pippi. 

About 40 minutes later, he called me to give me an update.  Her vitals were all good and they gave her an IV pain med immediately.  They were examining her and were going to take x-rays.  Because of the nature of her trauma, the ER Vet kept her overnight to monitor her red blood cell count.  I called several times (about every 3-4 hours) to check on her and get updates.  She was doing well and her values were remaining stable. I did not sleep on Friday night.

We went to visit her on Saturday morning.  She was still progressing and recovering but was not ready to come home yet.  So we left her there where she could be monitored closely.  I went to work for a few hours to pass time and get my mind off of worrying so much. At around 7:00 p.m. last night, we got the call from the vet that Ziva was progressing very nicely and was ready to come home.  We rushed over to pick her up. 

She had a restful night. We started off by letting her sleep on the couch in the living room. This is where she seemed most comfortable. I pulled up a double stacked dog bed and blanket beside the couch and slept there so that I could be close if she needed me. We were instructed to monitor her and rush her back to the ER vet if she had any difficulty breathing, had pale gums or was not acting like herself. They gave us very detailed discharge instructions and were only a phone call and short drive away should we need them. This was a huge comfort, as I was pretty nervous about her being home. I was very happy, don’t get me wrong, but nervous about getting through the next 16 hours. We had been told repeatedly that the first 48 hours were critical.

Even though the other couch was open, as Cueball was resting on the bed with Mitch, Pippi curled up beside me on the dog beds and slept. It was a great comfort for me and reminded me of my last evening with Booyah. The only place I could get him comfortable was on a dog bed in the dining room with his head resting on the cool hardwood floor. Maggie curled up and spooned me and laid her head on my side. She laid there all night with me. She always knew when I needed her support. I think Pippi sensed my need last night too.

Around 1 a.m., Ziva got up and went to the bedroom and slept in the bed laying right next to me with her head on my feet. This was how Maggie used to lay. Since Maggie passed we have not let any hounds sleep in the bed with us. It has just been too painful of a memory, but last night, it was very much welcomed by us both.

We were told by the vet that the first 48 hours are critical and that things could surface that were not present upon her admission on Friday. At 12:30 p.m. today, we surpassed the 48 hour mark. We have a long road ahead of us for her recovery, but she continues to amaze me and is doing very well. Her right lung is bruised and will take about a month for the blood in the lung to dissipate. Her liver enzymes were elevated and we are not sure if she will have any permanent damage to any of her internal organs. We will cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

She was in the best possible care. We are lucky to have an incredible ER vet so close to home. They took very good care of her. Everyone loved her and commented on how sweet she is. Dr. Miller told us that they had moved her to a larger crate yesterday afternoon to give her some more room. When they walked away, Ziva began to Roo. She rushed back over to her crate. Ziva just wanted someone to stay with her and love on her. Dr. Miller got a good chuckle out of this. I was glad to hear that story. She Roo’s every day at our house, sometimes several times a day, so for me this was a very good sign. For now, we are very happy she is still with us. We know how extremely lucky we are that she had no broken bones, neurological damage and no brain damage. So we are enjoying every second we have with her and with Cueball and Pippi too.

Below and the one above are a few pictures I had just taken of her on Thursday night laying in her favorite spot.

Here she is today. You can see some of her injuries. Our main concern now is how she is healing on the inside. We will take it one day at a time. She is definitely enjoying all the extra love and attention. I am smothering her and she thinks that is the best!

Our wish for a healthy start to this new year is not being fulfilled so far, but I am hoping it can only get better from here and not any worse!

Hug your hounds every day, you never know what tomorrow could bring.