In September 2024, sister sanctuary Happilly Heifer After (HHA) was contacted by a member of the public who, sadly, had a new born calf with a dislocated hip.
This calf had been kicked by his mum, who was suffering from painful mastitis, whilst trying to feed.
The person who had bred the little calf had taken him to the vet where he underwent surgery to relocate the hip ball back into the socket. Unfortunately, after this surgery, when the strapping was removed, the little calf’s hip dislocated again.
Knowing further surgery, if even possible, would be very expensive, the person contacted their local sanctuary, HHA, and asked for help. They then surrendered the calf to HHA.
Aware that we had previous experience with a calf with a dislocated hip, HHA contacted us to see if we could help them with this little calf they have named Bennett.
Of course, we agreed.
We picked him up a few days later from his birth property and took him straight to the University of Queensland at Gatton. He underwent scans and X-rays to determine if additional surgery was an option for him. It was and he had a Femoral Head Ostectomy on Friday, September 10. This is the same surgery our current resident, Peggy had had so we were well equipped to handle Bennett’s post operative care and rehabilitation.
After surgery and a few days in hospital we picked Bennett up and brought him home were he started his fight for life. We helped Bennett through recovery by providing him a purpose built, safe and secure enclosure to live in, lots of affection, bottled milk, daily physiotherapy and medication. Bennett had a few ups and downs in the weeks following his procedure; falling ill to infection and developing a persistent abscess in the hip, but with dedication and perseverance we were able to help him through every challenge he faced.
Bennett is now thriving. Bennett, he will always be a special needs resident, requiring daily care, nutritional supplements to make sure his joints are as healthy as possible and a safe and secure, flat area to live but he will live and we will take care of him through it all.
If you would like to help us provide for Bennett during his long and happy life, the best thing you can do is share his story and become one of his loving sponsors. To sponsor Bennett, simply click on Sponsor Me button below or set up a direct debit from your account to ours using our bank details below (if you decide to set up a direct debit please let us know by emailing [email protected], as we will not receive a notification otherwise).
BSB: 484799 Account No. 123797384 Name: Crankys FARM
