Sign In
Register
Help
This topic is locked
Kaia didn't come to IMOM in the traditional way. Some of us at IMOM have been following her progress and thought our community members might like to help this sweet girl and BDBH. We are asking that all donations be sent directly to her rescue.
NOTICE - IMOM will match the first $500 made to BDBH for Kaia. Please be sure to tell BDBH that you came from IMOM so we'll know how much we need to match. IMOM's pledge will be a LuvBug Grant paid directly to one of the veterinarians.
Click here for Kaia's own web page where you can make a donation Be sure to tell them you came from IMOM
To date, Kaia’s expenses total for two emergency surgeries and two weeks of veterinary care: $7077.61
Estimate for follow up appointments, and her eventual spay are: $580 Orthopedic consult: $100, additional Rx food for 4 weeks: $240
For a total of: $7997.61
Donations - Every donation is gratefully received.
Click here for Kaia's own web page where you can make a donation Be sure to tell them you came from IMOM
Kaia: The Story of a Survivor
In January 2009, a German shepherd listed as ‘no name’ found herself in a rural shelter in Kentucky. She was a petite owner turn-in, and she looked more like a lesson in anatomy than a living dog - each of her ribs was protruding and her hip bones jutted painfully in the shelter photo. Depressingly, there was a footnote to her listing: “Please note this pooch only has three legs”. Clearly, she was not going to be enticing adopters with her appearance. Luckily for this little girl, Darcy Drons, of Big Dogs, Big Hearts (BDBH) rescue in Rochester, New York saw her just in time. She was named Kaia and arrangements were made to pull her from the shelter, put her in temporary foster care and start building up her weight and her immune system while a transport was set up to bring her to New York.
Kaia does in fact have four legs, but is missing most of her right rear foot, through either accident or a birth defect. She uses this leg to balance and lean on. She apparently had had pups recently, who were given away before she was brought to the shelter.
Kaia was delighted to leave the shelter and settled nicely into her foster home, but the good quality food she was getting had no effect on her weight. In fact, she was becoming steadily thinner while obviously losing strength and feeling sicker by the day. When it was obvious that something was drastically wrong, her foster mom rushed her to the hospital where a suspected intussusception was diagnosed" a telescoping of the bowel which causes a blockage that can be fatal.
In spite of her poor condition, there was no choice" Kaia had to have surgery or die. Because of her emaciated condition, the surgery was a real risk" it was possible she would not survive. But Kaia has an indomitable spirit" she came through surgery with flying colors and slowly began to mend. Eighteen inches of diseased bowel was removed from her abdomen, allowing her to resume normal digestive processes, albeit on a strict diet. She is a tiny girl with a huge spirit.
Kaia was discharged from the emergency vet clinic in KY on Monday, February 16th, a full week after her surgery. Then, a decision was made that it was best to transport Kaia up to BDBH in Upstate New York - she made her journey on Tuesday, February 17th.
Both BDBH and Kaia were very fortunate to have a trusted, experienced, loving “convalescing” foster agree to bring Kaia into her home and pack. Kaia and BDBH had no idea just how fortunate, but would soon.
Before we bring you up to date on Kaia’s medical whirlwind since arriving in NY, we wanted to share a little bit of what Darcy had to say when she meet Kaia on February 20th:
“She is an amazing soul, truly. She was pretty tired and I am so so sad to see how she is skin and bones, but as Jean says she doesn't seem to care really. She has such a spirit. Quiet, yet softly strong, if that makes sense? I could have sat with her for hours. I kept trying to hold her body close to mine to share some of my body heat.
I didn't want to cry in front of Jean, so after I left, I have to admit this overwhelming sense of emotion - joy to see Kaia, sadness to see in her body show clearly what she has been through, anger that she could have ever known anything but love..
I know there are many, many wonderful loving dogs that have experienced far worse, but she is the closest I have come personally to such neglect.
I know we still need to see more of who Kaia really is, but I guarantee you, it is all wonderful.”
Kaia came to New York on February 17th and was taken to her new foster home, surrounded by other dogs that had once been unwanted and now were cherished. One of those dogs is Annalise, a former IMOM rescue PIN, and all-time supporter of IMOM. The pack and person were ready to help Kaia heal, but Kaia was also there for a second reason: to help the pack heal from the recent loss of their leader, Kramer, and the loss four months prior of Nina.
Things went well for the first few days with Kaia receiving 6-8 very small meals of prescription canned food, gobbling them up, and gobbling up attention and affection. She was seen at the vet office on Thursday and was 44 pounds, which was an improvement from 38 pounds prior to her surgery in Kentucky. Kaia should weigh approximately 60 pounds. Still, all signs seemed positive.
On Saturday Kaia got to go for a ride to meet Darcy, and upon her return to her foster home was offered a meal. She ate slowly, and left some particles in the bowl. Normally, Kaia would clean her bowl so completely that it looked as if there was no food in it. She appeared fatigued, then vomited twice. The vet was called and after, she vomited two more times, the last one smelling of feces. She was taken to the vet office for an emergency appointment. Blood work and temperature were good, but her x-ray showed dilation of the intestinal loops. Nothing conclusive, so the decision was made to return for another emergency appointment at 8 am on Sunday.
At that time, another x-ray was done, still showing dilation of the loops. They looked like entirely different organs. Kaia was offered water, which she drank. She was offered two types of food, and refused both. For a dog in her emaciated condition, this was extremely unusual and very concerning. Her vet decided to keep her in clinic on fluids to be observed and if no improvement, he would have to perform emergency exploratory surgery.
At 1:30 that afternoon, he called to say that she was going into surgery at 2:00. Her foster went over, and Kaia was in surgery for over three hours while her vet found and repaired multiple intestinal adhesions, which is where the intestines stick to each other or other organs, and need to be separated again. Part of her bladder had to be removed as an irreparable adhesion had formed there as well. There was also a “ball” of adhesions where the intestines were so stuck together that they could not be pulled apart. For that, he had to remove and resection that part of her gut. This was about a foot of intestine removed, in addition to a foot and a half in her previous surgery. This was very complicated and difficult surgery.
Once again, this “Warrior Princess” toughed it out and made it through emergency surgery in her weakened condition. She will be released from the vet office, if all goes well, on Thursday the 26th. She has been there, on fluids since Sunday. On Wednesday she got to taste some food in puree form, and gobbled it enthusiastically. Kaia greets her visitors with a wagging tail and as much energy as that little body can muster. She tires quickly but is always sweet. She has been a model patient at the clinic and is loved by all who meet her.
Kaia has a long road ahead of her. The worry that more adhesions can occur is still there, and complications from these surgeries do happen, even with careful aftercare. Both of her surgeries were emergencies so she still has to go through a spay, and still to be determined is whether the injured/amputated leg is going to cause long-term problems.
Medical expenses for Kaia have been extraordinary and are continuing to mount. BDBH is in the process of fund-raising to complete Kaia’s treatment. Every donation is gratefully received.
For more information on Kaia and BDBH, please contact Darcy Drons at darcy.drons@gmail.com
Kaia, obviously is priceless, and her life precious. A dog that can fight back so much, so often-you just want her to have the chance to see how beautiful her new life could be.
However, for a rescue to spend $8,000 on one dog necessarily makes it difficult to help any other dogs for a considerable amount of time, as the financial limits have been pushed and caution will need to be exercised. This rescue has a philosophy of treating each dog as they would their own beloved pet, and Kaia has truly benefitted from this. They have three dogs undergoing heartworm treatment, took an IMOM PIN’s find (Van) who had been shot, and sadly, recently lost the fight with another difficult case, Quent. All of this happens in rescue, and the generosity of others is the reason that these dogs can be saved.
Any little bit of help, especially in these tough times, will be appreciated by the rescue and Kaia, and will allow them to help other dogs in the future.
Click here for Kaia's own web page where you can make a donation Be sure to tell them you came from IMOM
In case you missed it above: Click here for Kaia's own web page where you can make a donation Be sure to tell them you came from IMOM
Back to top
MultiQuote
) 
IMOM match has been met-and then some!
We will add that to our $500 grant. IMOM now has a $1000 grant for Kaia.
