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.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
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.
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!
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)
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
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
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.
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.
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