JACK
JACK
Hi, my name is Jack!
Golden Bond rescued me when I was 18 months old. I've spent all
my life
living outside so the very first thing I needed to learn was how
to be an
indoor dog. When I moved in with my first foster mom, Diane, she
and her dog Josh taught me all the things I needed to know about
living in a house. There were a few accidents along the way but
with lots of patience and help I quickly learned house etiquette.
She took really great care of me too. We went to the vet
for antibiotics for my ear infection and ointments for my face
and even had
x-rays of my hips and back legs. I didn't like using my right
back leg
because it was too painful and I often held it up. The vet noticed
my right
back knee could move side to side quite a distance, which it's
not supposed
to do. After viewing the x-rays he thought I might have a Ruptured
Anterior
Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and would need surgery. Not only was the
leg bad news but also Diane and Josh were going to have to move
to Georgia and I would have to move to a new foster home. Luckily
for me Murphy had found his new family and that left room for
me to come and stay with his old foster family Mike, Debbie and
their dog Sammie.
I moved in November and really enjoyed
staying with my new foster family and
they liked having me there too! It was love at first sight! Sammie
and I
get along great and we have lots of room to run and play. Unfortunately
my
leg was getting much worse. The glucosamine and aspirin I had
been taking
wasn't working any longer and I could barely touch my right back
paw to the
ground. Golden Bond set up an appointment with me to see Dr. Munjar
for an
evaluation. He was the doctor who did such a great job on Jesse's
double
hip surgeries. After looking at the x-rays from the previous vet
he decided he
would do my evaluation and surgery the same day. When Debbie and
I met Patsy at his office on the 13th of December it was noticed
that I would be turning 2 years old the very next day! What a
great birthday present I was getting from Golden Bond! After Dr.
Munjar put me under the anesthesia he took another x-ray of my
other leg and saw that I was starting to have the very same problem
with it. He called Patsy and she called Debbie (who had told her
at Dr. Munjar's
office that she and Mike decided they wanted to adopt me!) and
it was decided
that it would be best to have my left back leg fixed at the same
time.
When Mike and Debbie picked me up the next day I could barely
walk and boy,
it hurt! We stopped at Linda's on the way home and she loaned
us the crate
she had used during Jesse's recovery so I could sleep undisturbed
by Sammie.
I spent the holidays healing and taking short trips outside on
my leash with
Mike and Sammie in the yard. It didn't take long before I could
walk all
the way to the back door without resting. I look kind of funny
though with all
the hair shaved off my back legs!
On the 3rd of January I started my rehabilitation
therapy with Dr. Shaw from
"Back on Track." She has this really cool program where
you get into a tank
of water and walk on a treadmill! The water helps hold up my body
and allows
me to walk without so much of my weight on my legs. I wasn't too
sure about
it when they put me in a tank and the water started rising! Then
when the
treadmill started up it was even scarier, but Mike and Dr. Shaw
petted and
talked me through it and I actually started to like it! I go to
the pool therapy twice a week and it's really made a difference
in my recovery. I could only do eight minutes the first time and
now I'm up to a mile! There was a minor set back when I licked
one of my stitches open (well it REALLY itches!!) and I had to
stop while it healed back up but I won't be doing that again since
Mike made me a huge E-Collar to wear. Sometimes Dr. Munjar is
there too; he likes to see how well I'm progressing. He's a really
nice doctor and I always wag my tail when I see him!
While I still have a ways to go yet until
I'm fully recovered I'm already
feeling so much better then I did before the surgery. It's really
great not
only to have a new family who really loves me but also to be able
to use my
back legs without being in pain. I know I'm not supposed to jump
yet but
sometimes I just have to do some happy hopping like a normal 2
year old
Golden! I'm really thankful Golden Bond was there to help me have
a
happier, healthier life!
My next visit with Dr. Munjar is on February
8th. I'm hoping it's not much
longer till I can run around the yard and play with Sammie again.
