Little updates.

Crystal here.

Just wanted to leave two quick notes:

1. We've been in touch with a few more orthopedic specialists, and the consensus seems to be that Jaida's deformity is definitely not RH (see last week's post). It was most likely due to either an injury or impeded development in-utero (possibly due to the environment/diet of Jaida's mother), and probably doesn't have a genetic component. So, Jaida's just Jaida, with her own unique version of bendy-twisty-bonky-boo-boo-leg.

2. We're still waiting for to hear whether or not a prosthesis is going to be a possibility for Jaida. The type of surgery she will have is totally dependent on this information...we're really anxious to hear what K9 Orthotics says. It's hard to wait!

Big words: stuff about club hands

Crystal here.

I've been snooping around the internet, trying to find information about Jaida's deformity. We know that it is congenital, meaning that it was present at birth. There is very little literature publicly available that discusses deformities of the extremities (i.e. arms/hand and legs/feet) when it comes to animals. From what I've found, though, the medical terminology is the same for dogs and people. I've also contacted a few orthopedic veterinary specialists for some guesses about what kind of condition resulted in her little "club foot" (which technically is a "club hand", since it's on her foreleg). Here's what I've gathered to this point:

Jaida has a type of manus valgus. This is the generalized term used to describe a club hand that bends in towards the body. If the hand bends away from the body, it's called a manus vanus. This type of club hand is usually associated with a shortening or absence of the radius bone in the forearm, conditions respectively called radial hypoplasia and radial agenesis.

Radial clubhand (also called radial hemimelia) is the term used to describe this combination of of manus valgus, plus radial hypoplasia/agenesis. Radial clubhand is actually one of the more common hand/arm deformities in human children. In this child's x-ray, you can see how the radius is missing from the lower arm, leaving only the ulna (there should be two bones there), and the inwardly-turned wrist.

However, Jaida's recent x-rays show that her radius bone is not missing, and even though it's short, it's attached in the right places and is the same length as its "sister" bone, the ulna, so that rules out radial clubhand or radial hypoplasia. All of this to say:

She has an abnormal antebrachium. (Ha, you thought the big words were all done, didn't you?) The antibrachium is simply the forearm, the part of the arm between the elbow and the wrist, so that means: she has a screwy forearm. Cause? Still unknown. But the wrist itself is screwy too, no? Which leads us to...

Carpal contracture. The carpus is the wrist. A contracture is a tightening of muscle, tendons, ligaments, or skin that prevents normal movement. So, basically, the wrist is tightened up into an immovable "club" position.

The combination of these two things make it look like she has radial hypoplasia (RH), with the associated club hand. RH was a possible diagnosis for Jaida until we got her x-rays. Here's a pic of a sweet little boxer baby with the RH condition. He was in a shelter in New York, last time I heard about him. They called him "Gumby". I hope he found a good home.

RH occurs in kitties too. They're often called "twisty" cats, and some really questionable people have gone as far as starting breeding programs to perpetuate the trait. I think it's safe to say that most people would not condone this practice (I, for one, do not). Interestingly, specialists say that RH is a heritable condition in cats, but that there is no evidence of heritability of RH in dogs - it's a fluke in canines, in other words.

Jaida and I will keep you posted if we are able to get any more information about her particular condition. Right now, it looks like a fairly unique type of malformity. We always knew she was one-of-a-kind!

Get over it, she's fine (And: an exciting weekend)!

Crystal here.

Kim and I took the girls to a dog park this Saturday. This was a very big deal for both dogs. For Jaida, this was her first "yay-I've-got-the-pneumonia-licked-enough-to-get-vaccines" major outing to socialize with other dogs. Of course, she got loads of attention, and everyone stared at her, because she's so frikin' cute and because she was accompanied by the fabulously gorgeous miss Gracie.

And because she hops around like a bunny and has a dangly little scrunchy leg.

There was lots of "aw, poor thing" and "oh, it was so good of you to take her on", which I guess is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'll be honest - it gets a little tired after a while. So, for all you owners of run-of-the-mill 4-legged dogs who happen to come across a dog with three legs or a bum leg or two legs or paralyzed, cart-weilding warrior legs at a dog park: the dog's people KNOW that their dog looks different and don't need to be reminded all the time. And, the dogs are fine. They are happy. They are enjoying their day at the park. If you watch the dogs veeeeerrrry closely, you might notice that they act, well, like fine happy dogs enjoying their day at the park. Hmmm ... sounds remarkably like all the non-handicapped dogs, doesn't it?

Ok, rant completed.

Next. Big deal number 2: GRACIE HUNG OUT AT A DOG PARK!!! This may not seem like a huge big exciting thing, but it sure was for Kim and I. We were super-dooper proud of our girl, yes we were. Why? Because if we had tried this last year, there would likely have been a dog fight. Probably several. The fabulously gorgeous miss Gracie, best friend to cats and all human beings everywhere, was not always the nicest with other dogs. In fact, she could be a downright jerk.

Enter Marty Walhin, dog trainer extraordinaire, and mummy Kim, expert handler. Gracie started going to "bad dog school" early this year to correct this *ahem* issue. After weeks of excellent teaching and hard work, Gracie passed her Level One Obedience class with flying colours. This weekend was proof of the value of those classes. Gracie was relaxed, happy, quite content to sniff every other object and pee on the ones in between, and met lots of dogs, with no problems. In fact, she practically threw herself at a handsome little pug (such a flirt!) It was the coolest thing to see, and Gracie provided Jaida with an excellent example of polite behaviour with other dogs. Yay, Gracie!!!

Props to Uncle Marty (he doesn't know that Gracie calls him that, hee-hee!). His website is here:
Marty Walhin
If you are looking for a dog trainer in the Ottawa area, call this guy. Seriously.

Jaida gets the "all-clear" (and the story of Jaida's first month)

So, Jaida had her one-month checkup this past Saturday. They were x-raying her lungs to see how she was recovering from the pneumonia. Good news: her lungs look much healthier.

So healthy, in fact, that she will be able to undergo the surgery sometime in the next four weeks. It's now simply a matter of getting the estimate from the vet and booking the day. This, quite frankly, is mind-blowing, despite all the time we've had to process this whole amputation thing.

Let me go back a bit...

Jaida came to us as a 12 week old puppy. She's a lovely little german shepherd. We found her rather by accident, after answering an ad for puppies in a nearby village. We went to check out the pups, and were beyond horrified by what we saw. The pups and their "owner" were living in a shack with no heat or running water (this was in February in Canada - in other words, very cold). The 12 littermates had never been outside in their whole lives. Guess where they did their "business". You got it - in the house. The floors were covered in what can only be described as s*&t soup. The little ones and all of their bedding were matted with filth. In the middle of all this, we found our little girl: Jaida. We knew she was special. Her eyes told us she needed to come home with us. We loved her immediately and unconditionally.

Then there was her leg. She was born with a deformed and underdeveloped right front leg. It is shorter than the other front leg, and does not bend at the wrist or elbow. Her paw curls up almost parallel to the lower leg. She has toes, but no nails. We knew immediately that the leg was not long for this world.

We got her to the vet right away. They cleaned her up and did an exam, which revealed malnourishment, fleas, burnt paw pads from walking on urine, and to top it all off, pneumonia. The vet also confirmed our feelings about her little leg: it would be prone to damage and injury and would add unnecessary weight (and therefore strain) to her alreay maxed out three good legs: it would need to be amputated when she was stronger and able to handle the surgical anesthetic.

She came home to us after three days of recovery in the hospital.

Since then, with only a brief scare about the health of her kidneys (which, thankfully, turned out to be just fine) plus lots of love, good food, and daily antibiotic injections, she has put on weight, has a lovely shiny coat, and the pneumonia has almost been licked. She is playful, funny, active, and fearless. In fact, right now, she is downright wicked (that wonderful terrible twos phase pups go through). She knows no limitations and does it all on three legs.

Her little leg has proved to be an issue already...it doesn't touch the ground when she walks normally, but bonks on everything and gets in the way when she tries to do something as simple as lying down or go up stairs. Her wrist, which is the part that "bonks" the most, has already become bruised and raw. She now is being subjected to wearing a bootie on her paw for protection (oh, the indignity!!)

Which brings us to where we are now ... she has recovered enough to start planning seriously for her surgery.

In the past month, we have discovered some amazing resources for people whose lives are touched (or ruled) by dogs who have undergone limb amputations (see Jaida's Fave Links on the right). Most pups have lost their legs due to injury or illness, and their stories, sometimes posted on blogs, have given us hope and great encouragement. We know now that she will be ok, and will live a normal life. Jaida decided that she wanted her story told too, so her own unique spin on things could be shared with others.

This will also be a sanity-saving exercise for one of her moms (Crystal). She tends to be a tad too much on the left-brain side for her own good. Documenting everything will placate her humongous inner science geek who needs to collect and analyse stuff all the time.

So, anyways, that's all we have for now, until the surgery date is set. Jaida's journey begins....

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"Editor's note": we have received many enquiries about the fate of the other littermates and related issues. To clarify, no money was exchanged with the individual from whom Jaida was removed. Also, the appropriate authorities were alerted about the situation. To our knowledge, most of the pups went to other homes.