Two weeks after her operation, the pooch is adjusting well to her new mobility – and Gorshkov says she will soon be living a normal life, though he was “surprised” by the speed of her recovery.
“I don’t think we were optimistic about it,” he told CNN. “But on the third day she stood up and walked around the clinic, going from room to room.”
However, getting Monica into the operation room was not easy – she was initially found without her claws in December 2020 by workers from the village of Plastunovskaya, and volunteers rescued the suspect who abused her.
Monica was brought into the care of animal rescue volunteers Marina Gapich and Alla Leonkina based in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, where she amputated her damaged limbs and received a blood transfusion.
Gapich told CNN that he and Leonkina had “sleepless nights” on Monica, and disagreed with veterinary advice that she be euthanized. Both women contacted Gorshkov and raised 400,000 Russian rubles (over $5,400) for the operation.
Monica’s prosthetics then had to be printed by a 3D printer in the city of Troitsk, not far from Moscow and then biocoated at Tomsk Polytechnic University before the procedure was carried out by Gorshkov.
For the vet, much of his work during the past 18 months has taken on a new importance, with “epidemic pet” being particularly important to some.
Gorshkov said, “I am especially happy to give a new life to the animals during the Covid period.” “People find some solace in animals and so by treating animals I treat people.”
And Monica has already made her way into the hearts of the volunteers who saved her. When asked if Poch would stay in Novosibirsk, Gapich’s answer was not certain.
“We are his caretakers, we are responsible for him!” She told CNN that she and Leonkina had been in touch with a London animal behaviorist who could now be consulted on Monica’s case.
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