I would like to introduce Kai to RAGOM.  Kai is a 5 month old Golden Retriever/Collie mix and as sweet as they come.   She was one of 8 dogs (7 puppies and 1 – 1 year old) that came into RAGOM from a hoarding/abuse situation in Cando, North Dakota.   Scared, sick and truly skin and bones from being fed corn, grain and scraps every 3-4 days, our sweet Kailey Bear arrived with her sister Dreamer very late on a stormy  Friday  evening after a 800-mile trip to deliver all the dogs to their new foster homes (thank you so much Mark and Barry and everyone else that helped with that transport – that was a LOT of miles!).

We have only had them in our care for a few days over 2 weeks, but there is already so much to tell.

Initially our family was going to be fostering Kai and her sister Yuki, and Dreamer was just going to spend the night at our house and then move on to her final foster the next morning, but plans can never be set in stone when it comes to helping rescued animals.    Very sadly, Yuki crossed over the Rainbow Bridge the night before the dogs were picked up to start their long ride home.    It was assumed that she was just too weak and stressed to go on.    More heartache occurred that   Friday   night for another foster family who had welcomed Ozzie, another littermate of Kai, into their home.    He too crossed over the Rainbow Bridge after only a few short hours of love and care.    It was Ozzie’s passing that ensured that the rest of the puppies made it into the vet the very next morning.    And it was a good thing that no one waited until the following   Monday .

Kai weighed in at a whopping 8.6 pounds – she should have been nearly 3 times that size.    We hoped that fluids, food and a lot of love would be all this little girl needed, but we were all in for some unpleasant surprises.    In the end, of the 5 remaining puppies, 4 of them tested positive for the Parvovirus – Kai and Dreamer were among them.    Both girls were so weak they had a hard time walking.    Another RAGOM volunteer met me at the vets office that morning and we were there for close to 2 ½ hours.    They both received fluids that day, since they were SEVERELY dehydrated, they also got other medicine to try and entice them to eat something and a long lasting anti-biotic.    There is no treatment for Parvo; you can only provide supportive care.    The symptoms are treated and you try to prevent any secondary infections, but in the end, the virus just has to run its course.

That  Saturday   morning at the vets the girls just sat in our arms, staring off blankly.    They didn’t flinch when there was a big noise, or look around when someone entered the room.    They were so lifeless I kept thinking that there is no way they can be 5 month old puppies.    I took Kai and Dreamer back home with me.    Dreamer was supposed to move out to a foster in the country, but with the critical condition they were both in it made much more sense to keep her in the cities where we have quick access to medical care if needed.    The next few nights we set our alarms for every couple of hours to make sure that they girls were still alive.    For the next week we made daily trips to the vet for fluids and anti-nausea drugs.    I cannot thank the vets and staff at St. Francis Animal and Bird Hospital enough for making time for these girls again and again.    They met us after hours and on a   Sunday   – ensuring that we were able to give them everything we could.    Without their dedicated care and help… I don’t know if these little girls would have made it.

Dreamer started to perk up almost immediately, but Kai on the other hand was still having a hard time.    She wouldn’t eat on her own.    We were feeding her via syringe, and even though she was wasting away to nothing she would fight us like crazy when we tried squirting food in her mouth.    It was a good day when she kept down part of the food we were giving her.    Time has blurred together, but that   Tuesday   or Wednesday   after they arrived was the first time Kai ate anything on her own.    Boiled hamburger had tempted her just enough to give it a taste and we didn’t have to syringe feed her that night – there were a lot of happy tears from me that night.    It might seem like such a silly thing to cry over a puppy eating a few bites on her own, but it meant that not only was she feeling a little better, but she had life left in her and that she hadn’t given up.    The next few days were hit or miss with her eating on her own.    But by the weekend she was eating completely on her own.    Mostly boiled hamburger and prescription wet food, and while it was not a lot of it either, but it was still better than nothing.    We have been keeping kibble down the whole time as a backup if they ever get hungry and we saw Kai eating the kibble sometimes when hamburger didn’t appeal to her.    That was a pleasant surprise.

A week after they had arrived we received some more bad news.    Skylar, the 1 year old that had traveled down with the girls, had crossed the Rainbow Bridge and was now playing with Ozzie and Yuki.    He had been diagnosed with distemper and was showing advanced neurological symptoms to the point where he could no longer walk.    That meant that these tiny things with almost no immune system and hardly any strength to fight what was already attacking them had been exposed to another often deadly disease.    We kept our paws crossed that Parvo would be the only thing Kai and Dreamer would have to fight, but Kai wasn’t that lucky.    The next morning,   Saturday , Kai’s eyes began to cloud and when she had them open, which wasn’t very often, her third eyelid was partway closed.    Unfortunately this is often a sign of distemper.    We made another trip to the vet and in addition to helping us treat her eyes they ran the test and poor Kailey tested positive. Parvo and distemper – these are two incredibly easy things to prevent via proper vaccination.    For the rest of the weekend I fought tears every time I looked at her.    She got lots of snuggles that weekend – you scoop her up and she tucks her head under your chin and will let out this huge sign and her whole body melts.    Kai had almost no energy, she was barely eating anything on her own, we were still happy if she kept down most of the little she did eat.    I just kept wondering where she was going to get the strength to fight.

She found it somewhere.   And I am honestly amazed and completely, happily, surprised that she is still here today.   Kai had a very rough several of days; actually this whole past week has been rough.   There have been several days where she went back to hardly eating anything, and then she had horrible diarrhea so we started worrying about dehydration again.   But this past Friday   evening was another turning point for her.   Exactly two weeks after she arrived she started eating again.   And eating with enthusiasm!!   We had been trying to tempt her with all sorts of things, but it was the boiled hamburger that did it again.   She is now eating everything we put in front of her in addition to a fair amount of kibble.   She is dancing around for love in the mornings or when I come home – even putting her feet up on the baby gate when we get near.   Kai has been playing with Dreamer – tug-a-war and some wrestling.   She is alert and watchful, and happy. Her energy level is still very low, but she is still recovering from a lot.

This is Kai next to a healthy sized 4 1/4 month old golden/collie puppy

These past two weeks have been an emotional roll coaster ride for so many.   Right now Kai is continuing to improve - quickly.   We, along with her vet, have every belief that she will continue to improve and keep growing stronger.   Slowly but surely she is gaining a little weight. Kai is still skin and bones, but she doesn’t feel quite as delicate as when she first arrived.   Right now we are just working on fattening her up and keeping her happy. 

I know that they are very scary viruses, but she is no risk to a healthy vaccinated adult dog.  Parvo and distemper will remain in her system (with no symptoms) for about 1 more month slowly diminishing in quantity over that time, meaning she will be virus free at 6 months of age. According to the vet she will never get these two diseases again as she has a natural immunity built up against them.  Kailey Bear needs a home of her own and a backyard to sniff and explore.  She gets along well with other dogs and is curious about cats.  She is such a sweetheart and climbs into my laps every time she has the opportunity.  This sweetheart of a puppy is a fighter – determined to live out that long golden life promised to her the second she became a RAGOM girl.