Sunday, August 26, 2007

Finally Photos!







I'm finally posting photos. These aren't action packed, but they show a good 360 of her progress. Here she is lying in the sunshine in our yard.



Next you see her profile. She is still top-heavy, from the weight gain from before the injury when she didn't want to play, and I believe from the overcompensating. She looked for a time like a paraplegic quarterback . . .all neck and shoulders with no muscle in her hind legs. You can see she is growing muscle in her back quarters again, gradually, and that her fur has almost completely grown back: her bald legs filled in first, but it took forever for the bald patch on her back where she had her two epidurals. She even got sunburns-- OUch!! But that has grown back now and no more need to put on sunblock!!

In the sitting image you can see she sits with her knees splayed and to one side. If your dog does this, there is a good chance she has a knee injury. It hurts less to sit this way but it also uses less of the the muscles required for proper knee function. Kayla is about 40/60 sitting the correct way/easy way after a few months of rehab. If I have a treat, she sits with her knees nice and tight to her chest, and yesterday, for the first time, she lay down that way, from a sitting position, which I haven't seen in a long time, but our hope is that she'll get up to 80/20 eventually, and that her legs will be marathon worthy by next summer. Stay tuned for pool days, and really, I'll try to get pics up sooner this time!!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

OH And What Traveling!

I forgot to Mention Kayla got to go to Indiana and play with kids!! She ran along the swing and was so excited she almost knocked them over.

Here are pics from her first day back at the beach, too:

She's getting ready to go down the boardwalk.

"Oh, so happy to see Shinta and be on the SAND!! But I'm not so sure about swimming, yet. I don't think I should go in the water yet, though."

"Hmm. Looks like mom thought of that. She got me this nifty (yuck!) life jacket to wear in the water. It does make floating easier, but I really don't like swimming with it--even if it does give me handles for mom to hold in the waves!!"






A Mile and a New Attitude!!

Kayla is sleeping peacefully (on the bed!), so I'll post this blog. Clearly, she's been too busy to type!! :-) What a month. Kayla has cleared the 1-mile mark for her rehabilitation walks, and though I'm not religious about her rehab (bad mom), she is doing so very well. She walked her old walk from last year (with a corner cut here and there) and logged about a mile and a half during two walks last week. She wanted to lie down at about a mile and rest, and she earned it! I'm hoping to be to a 1.5 miles, no rest, by the end of the month-- maybe even 2 miles. SO-- all dog walking partners from autumns past, get ready. After two surgeries, a lot of lying around, and a worldwind trip around the Midwest, Kayla is nearly back in action!

CROSS YOUR FINGERS! Kayla is making tentative plans to go up to Lake Michigan and play with her old gang at the end of this month, beginning of September. She hasn't run off leash since her surgery, and she's "cleared" to run two months after her final check up, which she had in July-- so it's any day now, if "mom" could just feel it's safe. I think after two miles, I'll feel more comfy.

ALSO, Congratulations is in order! Kayla has lost 5 more pounds!! It's been tough, and she's been eating 1/4 her recommended feeding schedule, but she is down to 76 pounds, the weight I had initially had as her target. The vet wanted her at 65 (which is unreasonable). She was quite trim at 72 pounds, and I'm hoping with the new longer walks we can get back to that weight without cutting more food. Her food-obsessive behaviors have gotten out of control, and she actually clipped me with her teeth the other day taking a treat out of my mouth to perform a trick. Very unlike her not to be more careful, and she's just fixated on food. At the same time, she's sleeping harder and longer than she has in about two years. She stretches out on the bed and fidgets less frequently. I think we can say she feels much better. Yay Dr. Probst! yay all who contributed!!

Finally, Kay is registered for Doggie Swim Day at Buhr Pool!! Maybe we'll see if her legs can swim before we take her out to Muskegon's Dog beach!! In either event, we'll post the photographs.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

A Night on the BED!!

Wow!! This week has been crazy. My human pack is dividing up and there have been boxes and moving trucks. It has been very stressful. I've lost more fur than I usually do, because usually boxes mean I get a new house and it's very diffiicult. Mom says my roommate is leaving too, and that makes me sad. I ate grass all day and puked, which is what I do because I can't smoke cigarettes, mostly because mom says it's bad for me and a little bit because I don't have thumbs.

But last night I did something great!! I climbed the stairs to the bedroom without help!! I used all four paws instead of bouncing leapfrog style. When I got to the top I circled around to make sure mom saw it-- that I climbed and that I used all my paws (she prefers it this way.) Then she helped me jump on the bed, and I was so excited I jumped on her head three times and licked her. I haven't done that since I was a little puppy. I"m usually much more sophisticated, but really, I was on the bed, and I used all my legs, and the fan was on in the window. It was just like old times-- the good days before the surgery, and I worked really hard to get up there, and I was so happy mom said it was OK to be on the people bed again. I mean, wow! I did it. By myself. I am such a rockstar!! I barely limped today, but mom said my legs spasmed last night after the jump, so I still have to take it easy. I go to my surgeon doctor in two weeks. I hope he says I can go out on a leash again. Mom says we'll go swimming most likely, and I'm a little hesitant, but I think for short trips, if there aren't any rough dogs in the water, that maybe, well, it might b OK. Wish me luck!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

oops!!

Mom said watch out for bad manners. I've been so bad at writing lately that I nearly forgot!! Thank you Aunt Melanie and Mrs. Dusseau for helping with my recovery. High paws to Gracie Butterball and Lulu. (Oh, and Gracie? mom says to tell you to only eat what Aunt Melanie puts in your bowl!! I know the humans have silly rules, but really, this one kind of makes sense, and it's so much easier just to do what they ask. More treats that way.) Also, thank you to Sandy Fontana and mom says to say congratulations on the new publication and high energy back to you, too, whatever that means. High paws and puppy tails. --Kayla

OY! What a summer!

Sorry I haven't written in so long.

I've been having a rough time. Mom says this surgery isn't going as well as the last one. I don't care what she says, though, I'm running and jumping whenever I get a chance, I just only don't step so much on my other leg. A while ago-- maybe a few weeks after surgery, when I was coming in from sitting outside for the sunset, I fell on the concrete steps, but I was a smart dog and I didn't put my legs down. I know how mom worries about my legs, so I just rolled to my side a little and landed on the cement step with my ribs. OUCH!! Well, anyway, I keep telling mom I'm fine and let's go for a walk and let's go swimming and let's go find Shinta and play in the woods, but she says I'm walking funny, which means we go back to the doctor and look. This time we went to the doctor who lives close by mom. She's our new doctor and mom says she's the best regular vet we've ever had. They let me go in a room with soft carpet and nice dog beds and play nice music if I want to relax. That way I don't slip on slippery floors and nobody puts me up on a metal table or makes the table move up and down on a switch or anythng. Mom says if the vets we went to last year had been helpful at all or even listened to me, then I might not be in such bad shape now. I'm glad mom isn't mad when we leave the doctor now. And the doctor even gets on the floor to rub my belly when I visit and calls mom to check on me!! Her name is Dr. Wells at Washtenaw Animal Hospital, and if any dogs in Ann Arbor are looking for a good doctor, she is very nice and she listens to dog moms, which not all vets do. If you are in Muskegon, however, mom can't recommend any-- best to go to Dr. Prelsnik in Grand Haven, because we couldn't find ANY vets who would look at my legs, and then they broke.

Anyway, the X-rays Dr. Wells took looked fine, but she agreed I'm not healing properly. I need to go back to Michigan State. My surgeon will be back from vacation in July, and mom hopes in the meantime that I'm just taking a longer time on this surgery. They don't know what's wrong, except I keep getting in trouble for being too active. They think maybe it's my back from that fall, so they put me on new medicine that makes my back feel warm and soft, and it makes me a little drowsy. Mom says that's a good thing, but I don't like it because I don't want to play as much. I don't think mom understands how hard it is to sit still when it's summer and I've been being so very patient for six months. Kaajal, my roommate goes on walks, and yesterday, because Kaajal's mom is on vacation, my mom walked her and not me, and I was really MAD.

This morning I woke up late and hadn't had my medicine, so I did rolls all over the carpet on my back and tried to eat my tail. I haven't done that since I was a very small puppy, and I forgot how much fun it is. I must have been feeling pretty good, and mom laughed and didn't yell at me for playing!! It was a good morning. Now I've had my medicine and it's time for a nap. Mom says if I sit very still and follow my rules then we can go swimming in a few weeks. I just want to know how long that is. Human weeks seem very long!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Week One, second surgery

Wow!! This time the surgery time is going by so much faster. Maybe it's because there isn't so much snow or because mom's home and not at school, or maybe because I have two-- TWO legs to walk on after this surgery, but I feel pretty great.

Last week when I got home, mom said I looked better than the last surgery, but then when she tried to clean under the bandage, I was pretty touchy. I swelled up a lot more than expected and my leg hurt really badly-- more than last time. I didn't really want to touch it on the floor either, but mom said maybe that means the first surgery just went really well and I feel stable. She put a big collar-thing on my head again so I wouldn't lick my leg, but when she was out of the house, I got aound it and chewed off my bandage. Boy did that feel better!! The swelling went down, the red streaks disappeared. The vet thinks maybe I have an allergy to surgical tape and that's why I acted so angry at mom when she tried to remove it. I've never done that before. I licked mom a lot, and my teeth never touched her, and she didn't seem mad, but I know that I did what bad dogs do, and I felt really bad. I try really hard to be a good dog, and even other dog's moms say I am very, very good. I was glad that mom said it was OK and stopped touching my leg. I also am glad it stopped hurting after I chewed that bandage off. Mom still put ice on it, and I let her, and she made me take that medicine that gives me the falling dream, but the pain got a lot better, and I was ready to run by this week. Mom says "no running." Humans and their rules! I didn't want to tell her last night that my leg hurt after horsing around with my toys after she told me to lie back down, but early this morning, I just had to tell her, and she gave me medicine, and I am doing much better. I get my staples out in a couple of days!! We've started doing bicycle paws too, though I've never liked them much.

Mom says there are a bunch of other Orthodogs up for two surgeries like me, so if you're reading this Maddy and Shadow and the rest, hang in there! Don't let the humans take it all too seriously. It's scary, for sure, and I was a little mad to go back to the vet and get MORE surgery when I thought I was finally all better, but I feel like I'm going to have two strong legs. Maybe we should have a puppy play date after all the surgeries.

HIgh paws to bionic dogs!!!

Kayla

Friday, April 27, 2007

Thank you!!

Thanks goes out to my Uncle Pat, my cousins PJ and Jenny, also to Hannah, Heather, Danna, and Kelly for donations made towards this surgery. Kayla is my very special light brought back from a very dark time, and your help to bring her back to her healthy self is such a blessing.

Also, special thanks to Beth for taking me to Sam's club and for contributing to the fundraiser BBQ food.

Surgery #2 complete

Kayla's second (and we hope final) surgery is complete. She looks fanstastic! Less bruising than last time, though I'll admit she's limping more than last time, so it's still early to tell. After her last surgery she only had her other "broken" leg to support herself, and she put weight on the surgery leg from day one. This limping is more like what we're told to expect, so I'm choosing to believe she has more faith in her left leg (the one that already had the surgery) and is keeping herself off the new surgery for now.

She's pretty bummed out about the surgery-- I think she thought her recovery day were over. Poor thing. She's snoozing now, just like a baby. She doesn't sleep very well when she's away, even with a little bit of doggie downer, I suspect, because as soon as I came home from work today, she just sighed and went into REM. She let me ice it for about twenty minutes, so she must be experiencing significant pain, but she's a real trooper. Stay tuned for pics. I hope to have them up this weekend.


Brett/Kayla's mom

Saturday, April 7, 2007

X-Rays Look GOOD!

Hey guys. Mom really needs to get the camera out. She's soooo lazy. I went to the doctor a couple of days ago and, even though mom dropped me getting in the car-- twice!-- I am OK and good to go. I went on walk all the way to the park that night, but mom said no playing with other dogs still, no big running and no stick fetching. She says slow and gentle, but it is soooo hard when I finally get to go for walks!!

Today my roommate and I played chase each other's tails in the front yard, but mom yelled to stop. She's so protective. She and the doctor say I have to get a surgery on the other leg soon, and I hope it gets over with faster than this last one, because I don't want to be bored again for so long. Still, I think she might be right (don't tell her I said so), because when I escape her prison and go for little twirls and runs, I always come back holding up that paw.

Also, my roommate isn't feeling well. The doctors see a little bump on her shoulder in the pictures and she has been limping. She has to have a biopsy, which is like a surgery, but different. I think if the people want to stop having to think we are sick they should stop taking us to the doctor-- it's always there that we get bad news!! I don't understand it, but Kaajal's mom is worried, and so is mine. So if you're reading, please put my roommate, Kaajal in your doggie prayers.

Kayla

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Walks!!-- Two steps forward, one step back

This week mom let me go for walks outside on a leash. We walked towards the park and I was so excited. I saw other dogs over at the park past the block from our house, but mom only let me walk one block and then I had to come home. I tried to tell her I was fine, but she wouldn't listen. She used to love it when I ran and played with other dogs, but when I tried to pull mom to the new dogs on the street she told me no. On our second walk a dog came over to my yard and he wanted to play the king of the mountain game on our back legs. I was sooo very excited. I Love jumping on my back leg, but mom said no. I pushed awy from her and tried to play anyway, but something happened and my legs wouldn't work right. As we walked our block mom and I could hear a little clicking sound coming from my surgery leg. click click. click. every time I stepped. Mom was worried, but when we got home, it was actually the other leg that mom didn't have them fix that hurt me. I walked on three legs all day using my new leg and not the one that still has to get fixed. Mom didn't hear any more clicking, so she hopes it is just my right leg making that noise. Either way, mom says we are cutting back on walks to less than a block again.

Geesh. She totally doesn't get anything!! I mean, I could have gone all the way to the park. I have so much energy!! And my new leg is so strong!! And, well, I don't really care if I have to hobble some when I get home-- it's sunny out and there are sooo many dogs outside and I want to make friends with them all. It's been so long since I got to play with friends. The last time was in the cages at the doctor's office when I had my surgery and all of those dogs felt just as icky as I did, so we couldn't even play a game of nose licks in our cages.

Still, mom says it's not good to put all my weight on the surgery side. She says it's still healing and we still have to get another picture of the leg from the doctor to make sure the surgery took. She doesn't believe me! She also says she wants to get the surgery on my other leg as soon as possible, but that means I won't play at all this summer, even on three legs, and that sounds like a total drag. I don't think I can be so bored all summer. I jumped up on the bed and the couch this week just to prove to her that I don't need the doctor and I don't need restrictions. But then I yelped and now I"m limping a little, and mom thinks she gets to be right again and I have to be back on "restriction." I hate "restrictions." I so much prefer bones, and treats, and greenies, and hikes. Ugh. I hope she gets it right soon!

If you are a dog reading this, please send your letters to my mom telling her I can play and that doctors are dumb. just address your letter to Kayla Dog Mom at Kayla's dog prison in the white house with the red canoe near the peeing tree by the cracked sidewalk, eight sticks from the little park and across the field from the circle walk. It should get there fine. Oh. And please don't leave p-mail. Mom never reads it and usually she only lets me get the headlines. Oh and about that--- to the dogs in my neighborhood. I tried to catch up and leave you all messages on our walks this week, but as you see, I didn't get much time. I'll do better next time. Kajaal has begun to take some dictation, so she can pass notes between us. I'm especially interested in hearing about the new families of squirrels up at the circle walk park. We have new squirrels in our yard too, and I heard there are lots and lots of little furry things at the park, so tell me your stories of chasing and catching. For now, that will have to do.

-Kayla

Monday, February 26, 2007

Thank you ATT in Pontiac! I received a nice card and a contribution of $130 for my next surgery!! Aunt Jenny's mom, Pat organized a 50/50 raffle for me and all the nice people at AT&T joined forces to help me out. I am so lucky to have so many nice humans in the world. I wonder how I'll ever get a chance to lick them all. Mom says she's going to send a big thank you to AT&T, and, because they are so close, we might go there to say thank you in person!! That would be really fun!

Kayla

A bit of a limp

Well, Kayla has been doing GREAT!! She's been allowed outside to potty on her own two times and has slept upstairs in the bedroom twice! but her increased independence seems to come at some cost of discomfort, and today she seems, while not in extreme pain, a bit uncomfortable, with a bit of a limp. Time to back back off the independence. She has three more weeks until follow up x-rays for the first surgery, and we should get the go ahead to begin walking and exercising in increments. Of course, I don't know what all this says for her other leg still waiting for surgery. It's a tough balancing act. This weekend she will get a car ride up north and a stay in a hotel while Mom visits family. She likes the car these days, mostly for the change of scenery, and I have a friend ot help with any lifting, though I'm not sure she still needs so much at this point. New photos coming this week!

Brett

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Happy Days!

I got my stitches out last Tuesday (February 6), and it's been three weeks since my surgery. In five more weeks I can start going for short walks-- if only my other leg were ready for walks, too, but mom says that means another surgery . . .I'm trying not to believe that yet. I have a little thing on my knee that i can't stand, so I pick at it and have made a red callous and mom seems dismayed about this, but not concerned so much as she was when I came home and was bleeding. Last night, when mom slipped on the ice trying to help me in and lunged forward, I ran a few steps. Mom said it looked really good, that my legs ran independently instead of bunny hopping like I usually do. She also said never do that again until the doctor says I'm allowed to run.

At night time mom lies on my bed with me and makes my leg go long and straight and short and bent and pets my belly and tells me I'm a good dog. It is uncomfortable. Sometimes I take my leg away from her, and she says that is also good. I can't really tell what she is doing, but I sometimes limp when she is done. I wish she wouldn't fuss with me and would just rub my belly where I like it, and I try to get her to focus, but she's always with that leg. I try to be a good dog, to do what she wants, but I don't really understand what it is. She says I'm good if I move my leg how she moves it with her and that I'm good when I move it against her. . .how can both be right? Mom says it makes my leg strong. I've never had surgery on my leg before, and my roommate says she hasn't had surgery on her leg before, but I guess since mom and I made it through when I had stitches on my belly that I should listen, but sometimes I don't really think she knows what she's doing.


My friend Shinta and her mom sent us a card a while ago. Mom says when I can walk and run, which will be a very long time--32 weeks, however that much is., that I can go back to the beach to play with her. I can't wait. In a few weeks I will go have pictures taken of my new leg to see if it is all OK, and then I can begin swimming. Mom says it is in a warm pool somewhere, but I don't mind the cold. I just wish I could play outside more. It has been snowing lots, and some of my favorite things are to eat snow, roll in snow, and sled in snow. Mom says, maybe next year, but she also puts snow in my bowl inside for me to eat. It's nice, but it's not the same. Humans just sometimes don't get it, even if they try.

Kayla

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Just a quick update

For those checking in-- Kayla hasn't been quite up to blogging yet (wink). School is getting crazy, and most time out of school I"m down with Kayla in her recovery room. She has most of her staples left, and the scabby parts are coming off the scar. It actually looks very nice, so I'm not being as vigilant if she wants to lick it clean, so long as she leaves the staples. I used Chlor-flush on the wound everytime she got to it at first, on suggestion from another surgery-dog mom. It worked great, so if anyone stumbles here to find info on TPLO recoveries, that is one good tip (find it at Petsmart--it's blue!).

Kayla has been doing super well, but I let down my guard yesterday, and while letting her out of her pen, I neglected to notice a pile of books by the side. Rather than waiting for me to open the pen all the way, Kayla bolted out and jumped over the books. Then coming back in from potty, we got our timing off, so she did a little jump to get up the steps rather than the two of us splittting the weight. She was limping last night and couldn't sleep but this morning she seems to be feeling better and is weight-bearing. I gave her an additional pain agent, an NSAIDS, which she doesn't usually take as they upset her digestive system terribly, but I think a half a dose on occasion for pain increases might be OK, so long as it isn't every day.

She is resting now. Time to get the e-collar and dress her up before I go to school. --OH. And I have a great smart Kayla story to tell you, about her thoughts on her recovery--but that will wait until next time.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

And here are the battle wounds

Here is Kayla on her first night home:




Actually, I have to say, that these pictures five days after the surgery look fabulous to me. The first night she bled through her bandage, was all black and burgundy, and it looked like a real butcher job. Now she's getting back to a wonderful pinkish hue-- but two staples are missing. What did mom not see. . . I wonder. Tricky dog can get around the e-collar. Yikes.


Kayla's post op

Here is Kayla before surgery, sporting her Spartanwear:



Thank you again to everyone who has been helping finance Kayla's recovery. Most recent thanks goes to Michael, Joan, and Steve. Much of this blog will be pictures.

As Kayla went into surgery, she was doing pretty well. She didn't want to go with the surgeon, and, in fact, she came into the billing office and "found" me, acting out our hide-n-seek games. She was very dismayed when they took her down the hall (dragged her I might add). However, I received the call the next day that things went well. They found some arthritis and had to do a miniscis release on her inside soft tissue, but her MDL was more in tact than they had anticipated. Yay!

Monday, January 22, 2007

Kayla went to MSU today

Kayla went in for her pre-surgical evaluation today. Surgery is tomorrow. Thank you so much to all who donated-- We raised $1105 towards here surgeries--that's 17% of her total surgery cost. Thank you. Thank you! Thank you Aunti Joy, especially for such a generous donation.

Unfortunately, Michigan state seems unwilling to work with Orthodog Silver Lining Fund for any of the funding, though I plan to attempt to submit paperwork anyway and come to some sort of an arrangement. Also, special thanks should be given to my recentl late grandfather, Aubrey Earl Waller, who, in his death this Christmas, has made much of Kayla's work possible in the near future. As a student, I need to be very careful how I spend any money I receive, but Kayla's health is, as Mastercard would say, priceless!

Kayla was very good for the doctors today as the students practiced evaluating the health and deterioration of her joints through extension and prodding and comparing to the X-rays. When it was time for me to go, however, she pulled an old rescue game she has, called "Find Mommy." I was behind a large pillar in the billing room-- and it DID look remarkably like a tree (which is where "mommy" usually hides)-- She came out to me, and lay down on the other side of the pillar, having successfully found me. She refused to stand up and she refused to leave. The doctor had to drag her down the tile that way. It was unbearable. Please pray she recovers well enough and quickly enough to realize I really did walk away for her own good!! (for my sake as well as hers).

Thank you also for all of your prayers. I have pre-opoeration pics to put on the site as well as post op pics of her nifty pirate scars when we see them, so she can brag to all the other dogs about her brave, brave battle defending herself against the masked humans!

Please continue to share links to this blog and to www.oslf.org as well as www.IMOM.org, as they help a lot of animals in need, even if they do not work with Michigan State.

Sincerely,

Brett (Kayla's mom)

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Thank you!

Kayla has received $600 in donations-- that's 10% of her surgeries!Thank you so much to Aunt Jenny! and Aunt Danna! There was a third anonymous donor we'd also like to thank. Thank you, anonymous donor! Three other people have pledged $25 each. If that goes through, we'll be at $675.


The hospital was having some difficulty at first figuing out how to respond to direct donations at the desk, but Liz, who works days, has worked all of that out for us. Keep forwarding emails and links to the blog.

Everyone's help is appreciated by Kayla and by me.

Thank you again.

Brett

Monday, January 15, 2007

For Dogs' eyes only

OK. Here's the deal for all you orthodogs. You have to look at boredom as a game you can play in and of itself. You should see how I am making my mom dance all over the place. Today, well, I was soooo soo so very bored. And I kept looking at mom when she was studying and wagging my tail. She asked if I needed to go outside. Nope. Did I want her to pick me up and put me on the couch? Nope. Did I want belly rubs. Those are nice, but nope. Finally, I made her stop studying and sit on the floor with me so I could lay upside down in her lap. . .what a pushover! And she used to hold the handle of the leash. I'm never letting her live this down. .. I mean, when I can run again. Clearly, I am the alpha dog.

Then later, still bored, so I just stared her down. Finally, she asked me to bring her the duck that quacks (I like that toy). It is in the toy basket and I can walk that far; it is much much farther to walk outside and go potty, which, by the way, I hate to do, and mom makes me do it anyway, even if I say I don't have to. She says twice a day is not enough, but I've got her down to three. She says I'll get sicker if I don't potty, but, gosh, there's no sense in going outside if I can't chase squirrels, especially if mom's going to put that human sling thing on me-- see previous post. Anyway, so mom asked for the duck. She said "bring me," which is like "sit" and "stay." If a human says those words, you have to do it. It's like a law, like the universal law of shedding. Well, I'm oh so hurt (dramatic effect-- practice this when the humans can't see you), and I know mom feels bad all the time, so I looked at her and got really excited-- I really did want to play-- and then at the duck , which I could almost reach without standing up, and then back at her and I cried-- I mean, not cried, I'm not a total poodle. I wimpered, a bit, a whine, a big dog whine, I mean a cool dog whine, but anyway, she got up, put down her book, got the toy and brought it to me. I got her to bring me every toy in the toy box that way. Humans are very easy to train if you are patient.

Then mom got another idea. I love it when she does that. She went to the car and got my car ride chewy, a purple disk-food dish rubber ball thing-- they aren't called that, but if you see one, and your name isn't Shinta, you should get one. Anyway, the two sides of the disk screw apart and mom puts my diet food in there. I can barely get it out, but it gives me something to chew on. Today she put in peanut butter and diet food. Then she said she might put yogurt or canned salmon in there and freeze it when I get home from surgery. She keeps using that word. I don't know what it means, but it sounds like I'll spend the night with doctors again, and I never like that, so I'm going to keep thinking about all that yogurt and salmon, my two favorite food groups.

And, today wasn't so bad. Mom and Kajaal, my roommate, lay on the floor with me with all of our muzzles together and played king of the mountain, but only just with our necks and heads. . . when you can only use two legs, you have to be creative. I'm glad Kajaal still plays with me even though she still can go for walks. She went for a walk today and I wanted to cry. Mom hasn't even touched my leash since before Santa Claus and it makes me sad. I hope she means it when she says I'll run again and swim and chase squirrels. She's doing lots of shopping right now-- shes' getting colorful things that are soft that go around my neck so I can't lick some places (boo--but they are pretty), and medicines that help joints heal (they taste nasty), and she's talking about getting a new bed that will fit inside my kennel, because she says I will need cage rest. . .but the kennel is a cage and it rests all the time, so I don't really know what that means. I just hope I can run soon.

Oh, and diet doggies, by the way, if your mom talks to other moms who are trying to get us to lose weight, and she comes home with the idea that dogs should eat pumpkin because it helps them lose weight, well, dude, I'm just saying sorry in advance. I mean, if you're hungry, you're hungry, and I'm not judging, but I let the spinach and the blueberries and the apples and parsley and garlic all go because I was hungry and wanted mom to be happy, but a dog has got to draw the line. I think I lost my opportunity. . .I finally ate the pumpkin---blech. Whose brilliant idea was it that dogs should eat THAT?? Mom says it's all a way to lose weight. . . .she says it's good for the surgery. The surgery. The surgery. OH well. . .

hmm. I wonder what trick I can teach mom next. ( I already have her giving leg massages on command too. . .she's so easy). I think I will write a book on human obedience.

Hi paws. Drop me a note, dogs. It's not like I can go out and find all the messages you leave me on the tree trunks!

Kayla

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Boredom sets in

Hi guys. I am sooo bored. Mom started back at school again, and I'm left to sit around. Twice she came home and I was on the couch. I'm not supposed to get up there, because I'm not supposed to put weight on my back legs, but that is just so, so boring!! I like it when mom sleeps on the floor with me or when she picks me up to be on the couch with her, but when she's at work or when my roommate Kajaal goes for a walk, well, it's just not fair.

Mom says it won't be long. Only 11 days until the surgery. She's cooking lots of yummy things to eat. I have a low calorie diet of salmon, turkey, spinach, apples, parsley, garlic, flax seeds, celery, and green beans. My good doctor, Dr. Sara says my surgery recovery will be faster if I lose weight. Mom has been trying to get me to lose weight for a long time, but before I used to sneak food here and there from my roommate or wherever I could find it. Sometimes I told other people I hadn't eaten yet. Now I can't do any of that stuff (Yuck!). Plus, mom says she doesn't think I'm as fat as the vets thought before. Since I'm only 8 pounds over my ideal weight from when I was a puppy, and since i have lost size in my legs, mom says my front legs are super strong and muscular. That's how come I can climb the steps outside and don't like mom to carry me in a sling. I mean, come ON mom, it's embarrassing if the other dogs see. I make mom wake up when it's dark instead of going potty during the day when I usually do. Mom thinks it's because she gives me my Tramadol pain killer at night, but it's really so the other dogs don't see my mom carrying me outside.

My sister is a cat. She has been complaining because we don't sleep in the bedroom anymore. Mom let me go to the bedroom that night. She used the sling thing to help carry me up, and I was sooo happy to be back in my own bed for the first time since Dec 18th, but then I realized, I didn' t know how to get up and down myself. Mom carried me down those steep stairs in the morning, but we both got a little scared, so she's sleeping on the couch again, and I'm on my pet bed. I wasn't too sure when mo got me that memory foam, but I like it now-- of course, I can't tell if it has any memor at all because I'm on the stupid bed all the time. It never has a chance to forget!! Oh well. I'm not really cranky. Kajaal and Aunt Monamie are reallly nice about everything, but I just miss going for walks and playing. It's boring to lie around and sleep all the time.

Mom says hang in there, that I'm going to be the poster child for speedy recovery, whatever that means. I hope it means I can go swimming soon. I hope doesn't mean she'll stop giving me those really big bones to chew-- at least there's THAT to do.

High paws to all the other Bloggindogs.

Friday, January 5, 2007

Sledding




I love sledding. This sledding hill was in Boulder, CO where my mom and my dad used to take me hiking. It was summer time, but not up in the mountains. I got to go swimming AND sledding on the same day. I loved it there. This year there is no snow in Michigan, and it makes me sad. There's just nothing like rolling upside down in the snow, especially when you are a lab that some people call a polar bear. It feels good, all that cold icy stuff in my fur. It's good for catch and for eating too. Mom says it's just as well it hasn't snowed because she doesn't want to slip and drop me when she helps carry me down the steps to go outside, but I tell her we could just buld a sled hill and I could fly everywhere! Humans just aren't creative. Mom says she hopes it doesn't snow at all, because when I come home from surgery, one slip on the ice the first couple of weeks and I could bump a screw. I don' t know what all this talk is about surgery. Mom seems worried, and I think it has something to do with how it hurts to stand up and walk. I tell mom there are lots of good lying down games, like getting belly rubs and playing chew the duck, but I admit, I miss going for walks. and sledding in the snow. I especially miss running with my friend Shinta.


People say dogs don't have tense, but they're wrong. When I was at the beach last time with my bestest friend, Shinta, she and I had so much fun. We ran in the sand just like we did before mom moved to go back to school. I was suppposed to take it easy because I'd seen a lot of doctors about me sometimes limping, but I never limped for them and they didn't know if anything was wrong, because I didn't want to have to stay home and not have any fun. Well, I had lots of fun with Shinta, and we were playing top dog of the beach, which, if you are human, you might not know, but it means you roll in sand and try to jump higher than the other dog at the beach and then maybe you run into the water and take her toy. Well, this time, when I landed in the sand, I expected Shinta to land on me and for us to do a crazy dog roll, but instead something happened and I don't know what it was. My left leg where it bends hurt really bad and it pulled up into me and I hopped and yelped and yelped. Mom and Aunt Jenny couldn't calm me down. I was afraid they would hurt it more. It just wouldn't stop stinging. Finally, mom lay me on my other side and held my leg still for a long time until I calmed down. She wasn't strong enough to carry me home, but I am a strong girl. I hopped on three paws up the beach. There's a ramp there for people who have hurt their paws too. Mom and Aunt Jenny walked that way, but after a while, I decided to take the steps. I can hop just fine on three legs, and it was faster to the car. I wanted my mom to take me somewhere in the car to feel better. That night mom and Aunt Jenny seemed sad. They put a big pillow on the floor and mom made me take pills with peanut butter-- I hate it when humans do that. Yuck. I got to open my stocking, but I didn't feel like playing very much. I lay down on the pillow and Shinta lay next to me and tried to make me feel better.

Everything was going just fine. I was going to go to a special doctor in the new year, mom said, but it seemed like a long, long time. So, i practiced walking on three legs. Mom always said slow and careful, and only let me outside to go potty, but I knew I was alright. I was fast too. Mom didn't like it, but it was still fun. Then when I was running and my mom was telling me go slow after going potty, my grandpa's dog knocked me down, and wouldn't you know, the same stinging feeling as at the beach. This time I didn't cry that much. Mom was yelling and I wanted to make her feel better. I got to the stairs to the house, but I fell and couldn't go any more. I tried to pull myself up by my front paws, but I just fell on my stomach. Mom carried me in the house. She was yelling at first, and I thought I was in trouble, but then she picked me up and pet me and told me I was a good dog. I think she was mad at that other dog, Weiland. Everyone always calls him stupid, becuase he potties inisde and sometimes he tries to bite or steal food, which is a thing dogs are not allowed to do if they want to live in houses.. I don't think hes' stupid though. I think hes' sad because his parents didn't teach him the rules the people like us to follow. I tell mom to be patient with him. It doesn't hurt so much now, and that she shouldn't be angry at that dog, but she is. People are like that. Sometimes they get angry even when it doesn't fix anything, and they can't undo it. People have too much mix up with the past and present. That is what causes humans to be sad or angry I think. I'm awfully glad I'm a dog.

After that night, I've been making lots of new doctor friends. I met Dr. Prellesnnik, who told mom I have to go to a hospital. I met doctor Sara Snow, who tells me Spartans are better than Wolverines. She makes me feel better. She gave me a magic green bandana, and mom lets me wear it, even though I'm a traitor, whatever that is. She says only until football season next year. I don't know what she means, but Dr. Sara took pictures of my legs and gave me medicine that made me very sleepy and I didn't hurt.

Mom cried a lot at first, and I felt bad. Then after all the pictures, mom got happier. They said I should get two surgeries and that I can be running again at top speed by next year. I don't know what all that means, but mom seemed happier and said she was worried she would have to put me down, whatever that is. I tried to tell her that I stay down most of the time anyway, but she was still sad. I'm gald they can do the surgeries. I wonder what that means they'll do. Maybe I'll have new legs in my stockings from Santa.

What I do know is mom is asking people to help. Even just 5.00 or more from a lot of people would help. The surgeries are going to cost over 5000, and mom says if 1000 people each gave $5, we'd be doing well. Mom always says going back to school has cost her a lot. I know she no longer works as much, but it's other stuff, like moving from Colorado too. I think she thinks I would never have had bad knees in Colorado, but I think I started getting hurt playing there with my big Great Dane friend, Robert the Bruce. The doctor says I have a lot of "min-tears" in my knees--that means I got hurt little by little starting a long time ago. Humnas just never understand that fun is more important than feeling hurt. They have so much to learn. -- Now I am waiting for Santa to bring me new legs and some snow for sledding. How many timis is he coming this year again?

Kayla

If you want to help Kayla, you can make a contribution directly to Michigan State University Small Animal Hospital at 517-353-5420. You can put any amount of credit on my accoung, Kayla Griffiths / Owner Brett Griffiths. There should be a note on the account to this effect. The receptionist's name is Liz. If you have any problems making a donation, please just talk to her.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Introduction to Kayla






This is Kayla Marie Griffiths. She is also known as the great whitefang, the blueberry girl, and the happy banana butt. Lately she hasn't been so happy. Shortly after this photo, Kayla's energy began to decline and she seemed reluctant to play. It took two years of visits to the vets, a scad if misdiagnoses, and finally an acute injury to reveal the underlying problem: chronic degeneration of her knees, the cranial cruciate ligaments to be specific. Here Kayla will tell her story with occassional interjections from me.

Bringing Kayla Home:

I had read the books and began her training right away. We'd always had poorly trained dogs in my childhood home, and I wanted to be sure Kayla was welcomed everywhere I was. I knew a couple of people with PAWS dogs, and I decided to do some initial, but informal, PAWS training to improve socialbilty. Consistency. Not giving in to little fuzzy cuteness, I warned myself well. I put my little 7-lb white fur ball on the screened in porch and waited for the remaining fleas to fall off after her capstar treatment. I didn't want to bring the fleas into the house to affect my cat. Kayla, having had a very stressful afternoon, looked around at the cement and went number 2. I took the pile and her out to the grass and told her "NO." "Potty outside." I felt a little guilty scolding her when she'd only been home for four or five minutes, but I held firm. She looked at the pile and the grass and then at me, then back at it, then back at me. Then she walked away. Every other accident afterwards was left directly in front of the door, usuallly while asking to be let out. She was simply amazing.

Living indoors was new to Kayla. All of her 7 weeks of life had been spent in a cage in a field on a farm. She was quite apprehensive at first. The cat, Sierra, who outweighed Kayla for a week or two, kept a strong red rapberry on her little lab nose for months to come, and Kayla seemed to always be looking to the human with fear and anticipation-- always wanting to serve, but not sure what to do.

She watched from under the couch and we began training sessions each morning and evening, before and after work. When I took her to sign up for obedience classes at 4 months, she already knew all of the commands on the list. She was, in short, amazing. At first, Kayla cried quite a bit in the evenings and the afternoon. It seemed nothing could comfort her. As the worms cleared her system I was unable to determine what else might have her so sad. Finally, I got an idea. I had hand rasied my cat from 2 days old, so I went to the store and got a puppy bottle and some puppy milk. I covered the rubber nipple with sock cloth, and put it in Kaylas mouth. She sucked and sucked and sucked that bottle dry. Then, as she fell asleep, she reached her paw out to me, closed her eyes, and dropped the bottle. She never had the mysterious crying again. I think she was just homesick. From then on, we became inseparable. I got a full time job with benefits and decided to stay in the town of my graduate program.

Kayla made a hit with everyone. When hiking with my then husband when he fell in a rocky falls area, she did a military crawl under his armpit and lifted him to a sitting position to help him up. She has pulled wheelchairs and has sat with disabled kids at the park. At the beach, she insists I check on every child lying--perhaps too still-- in the water. She is the guardian of the world. She has comforted me through four deaths of close friends and relatives and through my very difficult divorce. When my aunt was in hospice, Kayla sat beside her bed, screening visitors and entertaining her energetic terrier while the family and nurses came and went. She just knew how to be out of the way and who to greet and who to leave be. Even early on, when my aunt was on chemotherapy, Kayla spent our visits sitting at her feet, creating a circle of calm and protection. At every turn she has amazed me.

My ex, who didn't even like dogs before he met Kayla, said she was meant to be somebody's guide dog or rescue dog. We thought about getting her formally trained for rescue, but when we read about the 9/11 dogs, we decided her sweet temperment couldn't cope for long with not finding people in a real crisis. She has worked informally with ill and disabled people, and I always planned when she was a bit older to have her trained for animal therapy at a children's hospital or home for the elderly, or both. After her surgery, I think she'll be even more inspirational for children dealing with injury trauma


The Injury:

This last Christmas what had been a chronic and intermittent problem of lameness with her back lages became critical. She ruptured both of her cranial cruciate ligaments in her hind knees. She is scheduled for surgery for the first knee in late January. This is her story.