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!

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

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

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

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