Deep Joy-
Dreams do come through! Little Fa has recovered. She's well and certainly has a bounce in her step. As her foster mother, that's all I could ask for BUT there's more. I can still hardly believe it but Hope's (the doggie I'll talk about next) benefactor, MF has offered to adopt Fa and she will be taken care of by someone who herself devotes most of her time to the care and rescue of animals. Fa will have a safe home, a roof over her head, proper meals every day, a bath when she needs it and any medical attention when and if she requires it. She will be with people who respect and love dogs, who have the time and space in their home and heart for her.
Fa has gradually put on weight and finally the vet declares she is well enough to go home. Today she leaves the confines of the kennels at the vet. She has not been out of a kennel for any extended period of time since early November 07 and that takes a lot of patience to sit through. We will visit her regularly at her new home.
(Thank you to some of my dearest friends who helped me with their heartfelt contributions that went towards her medical bills and board at the vet. You have made a difference. A kind stranger who I never met but who came to know about Fa's plight also contributed a significant amount towards settling the bills.)
Fa has gradually put on weight and finally the vet declares she is well enough to go home. Today she leaves the confines of the kennels at the vet. She has not been out of a kennel for any extended period of time since early November 07 and that takes a lot of patience to sit through. We will visit her regularly at her new home.
(Thank you to some of my dearest friends who helped me with their heartfelt contributions that went towards her medical bills and board at the vet. You have made a difference. A kind stranger who I never met but who came to know about Fa's plight also contributed a significant amount towards settling the bills.)
Fa with her new collar ready for her new home
just chilling out
7 months ago, we never want to go back thereHope
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
-Emily Dickinson
Hope lying on kid's dough nut floats for swimming to take the pressure off her soresI started physio with Hope (Fa's kennel neighbour at the vet) 2 weeks ago and we've made progress in some areas. I finally met with Hope's benefactor who agreed with me that to help Hope on the path to recovery, we needed to work on keeping her limbs from losing muscle mass and strength while the vet worked on the repairs to the nerve damage with supplements. Problem was, nobody was doing anything more than having her lie around.
It's amazing how people respond when they see what can actually be done and how it might make a difference. I started with requesting the help of the vet to just get Hope out from her crate and to lay her on the floor in the boarding area. Then I set to work on her physio which took an average of about 30 minutes for all 4 limbs. Only her back legs are paralyzed but it's important to keep the circulation and muscle tone in the front legs to so that in the event that she can walk again, she has some strength in her front legs to help the back ones. It would be an uphill task if we wait too long.
Then the vet took an interest and volunteered to do whatever physio he could in his clinic time if I showed him the therapy routine. This is a veterinary clinic and the staff working at the clinic could not be expected to perform the rehabilitative routine which would require a lot more personal attention and time. What we noticed immediately was that even the gentle PROM (Passive Range of Motion) therapy routine helped with her bowel movement which would in turn improve her sense of well-being. So there's 2 of us working on the therapy. I proposed the idea of home care for Hope which will provide her the regular daily therapy for the effort to be really effective, not daring to hope that it would be possible and to find someone who would do it.
While this goes on, the vet and us battle the struggle with her pressure sores. It's not unlike taking care of a bedridden person and I'm learning a lot. I believe that the contact Hope gets from the therapy makes a difference. I feel we need to motivate her to want to live a life more than just laying there if we were to help her recover. The therapy also encourages sensory awareness and there's a chance the signals will get through to the brain and the stimulation and encouraging sensory awareness is important.
Then a week later, MF, Hope's benefactor, tells us of good friends of hers who are retired and spend much of their time at home. She suggests to them that they are in the ideal position to help Hope with providing home care. I held my breath that night in silent prayer. Yes R&P have decided they will take Hope home for a month despite not having cared for a paralyzed dog before and having to deal with tending to her pressure sores which can be quite daunting at first. There's a whole lot to learn too like helping Hope with her toilet, turning her every hour to lessen the pressure sores and allow the old ones to heal. It is a full-time job but I know how much anything they do means to Hope.
MF and I have visited them to go over the therapy routine with them and to help settle Hope in. Just 2 days after she's taken into their home, we find Hope with her ears perked up trying to hear what we're doing in the next room. She's responding amazingly well to all the new stimulus. In all the weeks I knew her before at the vet's kennels, I didn't see she pick up her ears. She just lay there quietly, sometimes raising her head. There's a bit of a spark kindled in her now.
I go away for a week tomorrow to my home before, Bali. I'm looking forward to seeing Hope when I get back and how things may have changed.
Sorry the next photo is graphic but it's the truth about real life.
It's amazing how people respond when they see what can actually be done and how it might make a difference. I started with requesting the help of the vet to just get Hope out from her crate and to lay her on the floor in the boarding area. Then I set to work on her physio which took an average of about 30 minutes for all 4 limbs. Only her back legs are paralyzed but it's important to keep the circulation and muscle tone in the front legs to so that in the event that she can walk again, she has some strength in her front legs to help the back ones. It would be an uphill task if we wait too long.
Then the vet took an interest and volunteered to do whatever physio he could in his clinic time if I showed him the therapy routine. This is a veterinary clinic and the staff working at the clinic could not be expected to perform the rehabilitative routine which would require a lot more personal attention and time. What we noticed immediately was that even the gentle PROM (Passive Range of Motion) therapy routine helped with her bowel movement which would in turn improve her sense of well-being. So there's 2 of us working on the therapy. I proposed the idea of home care for Hope which will provide her the regular daily therapy for the effort to be really effective, not daring to hope that it would be possible and to find someone who would do it.
While this goes on, the vet and us battle the struggle with her pressure sores. It's not unlike taking care of a bedridden person and I'm learning a lot. I believe that the contact Hope gets from the therapy makes a difference. I feel we need to motivate her to want to live a life more than just laying there if we were to help her recover. The therapy also encourages sensory awareness and there's a chance the signals will get through to the brain and the stimulation and encouraging sensory awareness is important.
Then a week later, MF, Hope's benefactor, tells us of good friends of hers who are retired and spend much of their time at home. She suggests to them that they are in the ideal position to help Hope with providing home care. I held my breath that night in silent prayer. Yes R&P have decided they will take Hope home for a month despite not having cared for a paralyzed dog before and having to deal with tending to her pressure sores which can be quite daunting at first. There's a whole lot to learn too like helping Hope with her toilet, turning her every hour to lessen the pressure sores and allow the old ones to heal. It is a full-time job but I know how much anything they do means to Hope.
MF and I have visited them to go over the therapy routine with them and to help settle Hope in. Just 2 days after she's taken into their home, we find Hope with her ears perked up trying to hear what we're doing in the next room. She's responding amazingly well to all the new stimulus. In all the weeks I knew her before at the vet's kennels, I didn't see she pick up her ears. She just lay there quietly, sometimes raising her head. There's a bit of a spark kindled in her now.
I go away for a week tomorrow to my home before, Bali. I'm looking forward to seeing Hope when I get back and how things may have changed.
Sorry the next photo is graphic but it's the truth about real life.
the extent of Hope's pressure sores are a constant daily battle
Hope at home care- she's rather serious but is always patient with us and never complains
Sadness
This week we lost Mama Girl. We just heard from the family who adopted her and have no clear details of how she died.
A free-ranging dog on a farm, she had been taken in by some friends of mine for critical surgery as it was suspected that she had either been involved in an accident with a vehicle or badly beaten by some workers who were staying at the farm. She was found to have a ruptured diaphragm and her internal organs from the abdominal cavity were all spilling into the chest cavity.
I went to see her after her surgery. She was listless, silent and unwilling to even stand on her feet. I couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like for a free-ranging dog to be kept in such a foreign environment, (not that the vet's wasn't the best place for her at that time). It's just that the spirit of a free-roaming dog finds it difficult to understand the human constructed environment, my life with free-ranging dogs in Bali whispered to me. I asked to take her home immediately for home care and rehab. That's how our friendship began. Once we shared days of slow, lazy, quiet afternoons.
A free-ranging dog on a farm, she had been taken in by some friends of mine for critical surgery as it was suspected that she had either been involved in an accident with a vehicle or badly beaten by some workers who were staying at the farm. She was found to have a ruptured diaphragm and her internal organs from the abdominal cavity were all spilling into the chest cavity.
I went to see her after her surgery. She was listless, silent and unwilling to even stand on her feet. I couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like for a free-ranging dog to be kept in such a foreign environment, (not that the vet's wasn't the best place for her at that time). It's just that the spirit of a free-roaming dog finds it difficult to understand the human constructed environment, my life with free-ranging dogs in Bali whispered to me. I asked to take her home immediately for home care and rehab. That's how our friendship began. Once we shared days of slow, lazy, quiet afternoons.
remembering the good days
rehab and relax
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