March 21, 2016 update - Jolie is now out of surgery. The injury was worse than the doctor expected. He had to make a deeper groove in the bone than he expected. He also had to repair a torn meniscus. She will remain heavily drugged for the next 24 hours, possibly the next 48 hours. Due to the extent of the injury she probably will not be able to run again.

We are hopeful the surgery will have her out of the constant pain she's experienced and will let her lead a happy, almost normal life. There is a sliver of hope that she will prove the doctor wrong and run again!

Original story - Jolie was rescued by APAWS as an adult. She is a brindle pit bull and is now approximately two years old. She was adopted to what we thought was a great home. We were contacted by Tangipahoa Animal Control - she was at their facility. We are so thankful they contacted us - we brought her back into our program. We brought her to the vet and confirmed she was in good health and ready to be adopted. We placed her in a foster to adopt home to make sure she was a good fit for that home.

After a few weeks her foster dad contacted APAWS and said Jolie needed to go to the vet, she had a lump on her knee and wasn’t acting like herself. We authorized a visit with Dr. Liz at Old Hammond Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Liz took x-rays and performed an exam, she then contacted APAWS and said Jolie needed to see an orthopedic specialist. She has arthritis in her knee and a piece had broken off.

APAWS was able to get an appointment with Dr. Mauterer at Baton Rouge Veterinary Specialists. Dr. Mauterer confirmed that Jolie has arthritis in her knee and a piece had broken off. He feels as a puppy she broke that knee and while healing the arthritis developed. Because of the injury to the knee and the pain she was in Jolie overcompensated with the opposite knee and now has a luxating patella. Jolie needs surgery on both legs, one to clean up the arthritis and the other to fix the luxating patella. The estimated cost of surgery is $3500.

Jolie has been in incredible pain for almost her entire life. She never gave us or any of the vets she saw any indication of pain so we never knew to x-ray her legs. Dr. Mauterer said he has never seen anything like this in several years of practicing veterinary medicine, but he also said she is one of his sweetest patients. Please help us provide Jolie with the surgeries she so desperately needs. Any donation helps!

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