Carley

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CARLEY NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!

This is Carley, a 10 week old, 1 pound 3 ounce bundle of love and wet kisses. Carley and her sister came to us from a puppy mill, in extremely poor condition. One weighed 9 ounces and the other, 10 ounces.  After weeks of medical care (and holding our breath), bottle feeding, hand feeding, (every 3 hours) having them in an incubator, they're finally coming around, growing and happy. Carley, from birth, has dragged her rear leg. Dr.Mabley and Dr. Andrew, from  Arbor Animal Hospital in Irvine, have determined that it's her knee, and it's a mess. Instead of facing forward, it faces to the side.

Here's the plan. In the next couple of weeks, Dr. Mabley will go in and cut the ligament, on both sides to release it. He can't do anything with the bone at this point, because he doesn't want to inhibit future growth of the leg. In a couple of months, he will go back in and fix the leg, cutting the bone and securing the ligament where it belongs.

  From the beginning, we thought it was a deformity that she would have to live with, or possibly even amputate the leg. The great news is that she will have a good leg. The bad news is that our precious baby has to undergo at least 3 surgeries.

9/1

Life is busy here at LDR. Here's a picture of our Three Musketeers.

Carley is in front and Chloe, her sister is behind her. The white furry little critter in the back is our new granddaughter, Charlotte, a one and a half pound TERROR.
      

Chloe and Charlotte play like mad, but Carley can't play the way they do. She sits closely by, watching.:-((( ( We keep telling her that soon it will be her turn. It breaks my heart)  When these two little hooligans are finished playing, Chloe plays gently with Carley. It's very sweet.

She usually plays quietly by herself. Yes, we do have toys, but she prefers her piddle pads and a Bounce sheet, fresh out of the dryer. I spend my days chasing piddle pads. :-))

Carley will begin her healing on Sept. 15, when she will undergo her first surgery. We haven't asked the good Dr. yet, but we're hoping that he will allow some pictures to be taken during her surgery. We're also hoping that we can put a bit of weight on her before the surgery. Today, she weighs one pound, six ounces. We would, ideally, like to see her close to 2 pounds before her surgeries begin.

9/8

Carley is doing great and getting ready for her surgery, which is scheduled for next week, Thursday, Sept.15. Her knapsack is packed and ready to go. She's become very healthy, happy and absolutely blossoming. By the way, her reading skills are improving!!

9/15

Carley had her surgery today and came through with flying colors. We didn't make it to to 2 pounds....but we did get her to one pound, 13 ounces. Not bad.

Dr Mabley went in and cut the muscle and tendon away that was attached to the outside of the knee . He then reattached the tendon on the other side.Now, the patella will be in place, at least part of the time and we can prevent the hamstrings, which are on the back side of the thigh, from becoming anymore contracted and shortened.  They get contracted when the dog carries the leg up all the time.  Then, even if you later fix the underlying problem, the leg just can't straighten out anymore. He 's not able to touch the bone yet, because it's too close to the growth plate and her leg would stop growing. So until he can rework the bone, this should give her more ability to move her leg. Carley is so tiny, that Dr. Mabley
said it was like doing surgery on a frog leg!!

We are so appreciative that Dr. Mabley allowed pictures to be taken during the surgery. Photos by JOSH.

9/16

We're staying warm today, on a heating pad. She had some soft breakfast and did her business, while we held her up. She's a real trooper and we feel that she's going to be walking very soon. But, today's a pretty tough day.

9/17

HOLY COW!!! It's been 48 hours since Carley's surgery and she's already walking, and walking very very well, I might add! It's incredible!! Before the surgery, her leg was contracted and appeared to be very short, because of the hamstrings being pulled. Now, her leg appears to be much longer and much straighter. Even her back looks straighter. The whole shape of her body has changed and she looks like a normal dog now!!! Amazing!!  We'll keep you posted, but we think she's going to be running circles around us in no time. YIPPEE!!!!
THANKS, ONCE AGAIN, DR. MABLEY!!

9/23

Yep, that's our girl and SHE'S RUNNING...AND RUNNING....AND RUNNING!!!!!!! What a wonderful sight it is to see her running with her friends. (Actually, this happened a few days ago, but we've had a medical "bleep" here at LDR, and things have been very slowed down. Forgive our delay)

She doesn't last as long as the others(yet), but, she's feelin FINE!!!!   

10/6

10/8

CARLEY'S GOING HOME!!!!!

We are extremely pleased to tell you that Carley now has a wonderful new home!!!!! She is being fostered until her surgeries and will come back to LDR. Of course, her new foster Mom, Renee, will most likely adopt her when she's available.
Here they are. Pictured, are her new mom, and one of her new sister's, Tiffany, a 9 year old Yorkie.

And here is Carley's other new sister, Nascar, a 15 year old Yorkie.

Congratulations, Renee. Carley will certainly have you all wrapped around her little paw in no time!!!

Great News!!!!  Chloe has also been adopted by Renee, so Carley and Chloe will stay together forever!!!!!