Diva

Every now and then I like to tell you about some foster dogs in the care of other foster families. Today I’d like to tell you about Diva, a small dog whose story shows how many people in our community will pull together to help an animal with a special need.

Diva was relinquished to the Champaign County Humane Society by her owner in early February at about 10 weeks of age. She had fleas, was thin and undernourished, but more alarmingly, had a broken front leg. I don’t think “broken” is the right word for it. Her radius and ulna, the two bones in the lower part of the front leg, were so smashed that her foot was no longer attached to them. She may have been stepped on or dropped, we don’t know, but it’s hard to imagine how much pain she must have endured.

A local veterinarian, who does a lot of orthopedic work, agreed to look at her. Surgery was ruled out pretty quickly…the bone fragments were so small they could not be repaired or plated. Amputation was a real possibility. The veterinarian had read about a procedure, used on very young puppies, in which an injured leg was tightly wrapped and casted and the growing bones allowed to heal themselves back together. Although he had never done it before, the decision was made to attempt this procedure. If it worked Diva would be able to keep her leg.

Enter fellow foster parent Kim Knap and her family. Kim is a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner and the head of the Rehab unit at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Kim was instrumental in helping us with the Redbone Coonhounds. There was no better place for Diva to go that with Kim and her family. With strict cage rest, expert care, and snuggles by Ava (see photo above), Diva’s condition improved. Here’s what Kim says about Diva:

She was casted and managed (via many bandage changes) until 4/26/2010 when her bone has determined to be healed and the cast was removed. She also had excessive baby teeth (14) removed in March 2010.  She has not had a working front leg since she was a baby in 2/2010 and she is needing to learn to use it. Her muscle is very weak and her bone has lost some density from not being used. These things can be easily rectified with some rehabilitation sessions. Diva is a very happy and spunky little girl. She is up to a healthier 3 pounds and is very dainty. As young and happy as she is, she should rebound quickly and be placed up for adoption soon.

In other words, IT WORKED! Diva’s bones came together and she has regained the use of her leg! This happened because two professionals volunteered their services to CCHS to assist an animal with a special need.

Did you catch the line in Kim’s description that Diva had 14 teeth removed? Diva was not eating well and Kim’s daughter Ava was hand feeding her to encourage her to eat. Diva also had very bad breath. When Kim started looking for a cause to these problems she noticed that Diva had two complete sets of teeth! Once again, here’s a description from Kim:

Diva had what a termed a "shark mouth" What that means is that all of the baby teeth which are supposed to fall out when her adult ones come in, stayed in place. That leaves a very uncomfortable mouth and at only 3 months of age she already had horrible gum disease and tarter. Removing the baby teeth and a few adult ones made room for her adult teeth to grow in more properly. This is not unlike a child who needs braces. Within a few days, her appetite increased substantially. Her little mouth must have really hurt. I have her teeth. none of them are bigger than a tiny piece of led on the end of a pencil.

Diva’s baby teeth were surgically extracted at the dentistry department at the UI College of Veterinary Medicine. That alone cost $550, but was essential to her health.

But Diva’s story isn’t over just yet. For about half of her short life her leg has been in a rigid cast and she has become used to not using it. Kim has encountered this type of problem before and knows how to treat it. It’s going to take some specialized therapy work on land and underwater treadmills. But using that special equipment is going to cost money.

Diva’s going to need about 8 rehabilitation sessions on the treadmills in addition to the work Kim does with her at home. Each treadmill session costs about $25. We’d like to help CCHS raise the money to cover the costs of getting this little girl the rest of the way through her recovery. Can you help? How about sponsoring one or two sessions? We’d like to raise $200 for Diva. You can click the First Giving link to the left to make a donation on Diva’s behalf.