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!!

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.

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!

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