temporal/masseter atophy

Question
Hello:  About a month ago, two of my dogs got in the street.  A lady picked them up in an effort to help them.  The 2 year old Pit, Baby Girl, jumped out of her window into the path of a car as she passed our property.  The lady said BG was run over by the tires of the car, got up, shook her head and ran toward our house (we live in a location that is overgrown).  We called for her for hours and looked under every bush, but we could not find her.  I thought she was dead.  My grandson comes and stays with me a lot so he and BG are tight.  After the initial shock of the possibility of her not being alive, I told him to walk around and call her name softly.  To my surprise, in short order, she came to our door.  I believe she either badly sprain her hip or it was broken; I don't have the money to take her to the vet unfortunately so I just let her heal and a month in, she uses it walking but not running yet.  She used it a little at first when she came home but eventually went to hopping on three. I could tell she had been run over; she had a boo-boo on the inside of her bad leg that has healed.  Besides loosing weight, she seemed to recover but I could tell she was hit in the head; there was no open contusion nor road burn but now that I think about it, it may have been badly bruised.  Every thing looked as if she was going to be okay until last night when I noticed the temporal and masseter muscles (at least I believe that's what they are called) have atrophied.  It is very profound since she is a pitbull and has always had profound head muscles.  Otherwise, her behavior is the same as it's always been.  She's playful and acts no different; but now the right side of the top of her head is sunken in, in relation to the profound healthy (muscular) left side.  What would cause such a thing and if her behavior stays happy, can I just love her the way she is or would treatment be necessary?
Thank you in advance.
Leah

Answer
Leah,

Thank you for your question,

You can contact your local animal shelter. Explain to them what happened and ask if they know of any vet that could take a look at BG and explain your financial situation. There are some vets that do "charity" type work for folks that cant afford a vet bill. Explain everything to them...If you do not get any help with 1 shelter call another one in your area. There are good people in the animal business that really care about helping people. If you have any trouble finding the shelters just send me a e-mail with the name of your town and state and i will also look for some shelters for you to call. Dogs love to make us happy...Even when they are not feeling well. You may find that she is sleeping a little more than usual and if she is in a little bit of pain this would be normal.

Please keep me updated. My e-mail address is thepuppyguy@yahoo.com  I will keep a good thought for BG.

Gary