Once upon a time there was a ruggedly handsome Cardigan Welsh Corgi called Jimmy Joe. Jimmy had weathered more than his share of tough times and was eagerly anticipating a holiday in the lovely countryside of Cumbria (northern England). Eileen had promised Jim he could go for as many walks as he wanted, that he could visit Hadrian's Wall and go on lots of other explorations and expeditions.

Jim, Nick, Yorick, Eileen and Eileen's parents arrived at the Cumbrian cottage late on Saturday evening. One of the first things Jim got to do was go for a walk up the lane and visit with a lamb and a big shire horse. Then it was time for bed. "Don't worry, Jim, you'll get to go exploring in the morning", said Eileen as she tucked him in for the night.

The next morning Jim was awake at the crack of dawn and raring to go. It took forever, but finally Eileen had had her coffee and her toast and put her clothes on. Then she got out the leashes! "Oh, wow, here we go!", barked Jim.

Eileen and the dogs went through a gate and into a field with some heifers, calves and their moms. The cows all came up to visit and snuffle at the funny looking corgis. Jim said "Good morning, girls, isn't it a lovely day?". Everyone, cows, dogs and human, ambled up the field to the next gate which was open, and began to cross a bridge to the next field. The cows were coming, too.

Eileen hadn't met the farmer and didn't know if the gate was meant to be open and if the cows were meant to be able to cross the bridge, so rather than risk the wrath of the unknown, she told Jim that they had best head back and explore in a different direction.

As the hiking party turned back, one cow (definitely a Mad Cow) attacked Jimmy! She kicked him in the back end, then things got wild. The other cows set up a cheering section. Eileen was trying to protect Jim, make sure that Nick didn't try to attack the cows, and keep Yorick from being tangled in all the fuss. The mad cow was determined to flatten Jim to a pancake. She kicked him again and tried to trample him. He was crying out in pain. Not knowing what else to do, Eileen yelled at the cow to scram and leave her dog alone. She waved her arms and the cows ran off, leaving one bleeding and broken Cardigan behind.

Eileen didn't know what else to do.. they were a quarter mile from home, so she gently picked Jim up and carried him back to the cottage. The cottage owner was home and was able to rouse his vet. We took Jim in to the doctor who felt him carefully and decided that the best thing was to give him an injection to relieve the pain and send him home for some rest. The next day, Monday, they would do some x-rays. The bleeding was just a superficial scrape to one of his shins.

Jim couldn't control his bladder on Sunday. He cried a lot, and this is a very stoic dog. A very worried Eileen brought him to the vet on Monday. When she picked him up that afternoon, the vet showed her the x-rays: Jim was one lucky dog. The cow had broken Jim's pelvis - both the left and right wings, with the right side being more crunched and the left being more cracked. His spine and tail connection looked okay. He was severely bruised and in a good deal of pain, but had no broken legs, and no broken back. For the rest of his holiday, Jim would have to be confined to his crate, allowing for trips outdoors to relieve himself and eat. Prednisone and aspirin were presribed to alleviate the pain and inflammation.

Poor Jimmy Joe. He was 99% recovered from massive back surgery last September and was finally getting to go on some longer walks. Now he was being sent back to his crate and could look forward to more physical therapy and short excercise periods.

After three days or so, Jim had control over his bladder and could also move his bowels. That was a major happy event - no serious internal injuries, Hooray!

Jim and Eileen visited their local vet when they returned from their holiday. The vet told them that the best way to recover from a pelvic injury was to get good excercise. Jim is to be encouraged to walk as much as possible (four times per day for now) and to build up his strength gradually. The right hind leg is giving him some trouble... it looks like the hip is very wobbly back there, making it difficult to get into a standing position. But he is already improving and has a great attitude.

For their next holiday, Eileen and Jim will visit somewhere safer... perhaps the Yorkshire moors .

Story by: Eileen Eby