Kira’s story
Kira is off to her new life, and everyone at PAWS is so excited for her.
Kira’s story started out a rough one, and at the young age of 12 weeks, it got worse.
This beautiful girl must surely have been a darling pup, and for those of us who know her, we are sure she was a minx. She was born as a breeder pup and then broke her paw when it was shut in a car door. She was then given away, her paw left unfixed. She spent the next three years hobbling as her paw began to bend backwards and underneath her leg. She would learn to use her leg as a peg, and pull it up to walk and run with the leg and paw flapping quickly back and forth. She developed calluses where the paw was bent. This year at the age of 3, she was pulled into PAWS for rescue.
Our vet determined that Kira was experiencing pain in her paw, and we decided to amputate the paw, but we didn’t want to remove her leg so Kira would not become a tripod as she had learned to depend on it and used it for balance.
PAWS volunteers are a dedicated lot. We are always talking about our rescues, and they are always on our minds. We are always wondering how can we make their lives better. One very special family had Kira on the brain when they were visiting Hanger Prosthetics for their son. They mentioned Kira to Brian from Hanger who shared some of his experiences working with horses, goats, and other animals who needed prosthetics. Yes, horses!
Our volunteers promptly brought this information back to PAWS and told us that Brian would like to meet Kira and see if he could help.
When we took Kira to meet Brian and his team, there was an immediate connection. They all fell in love with her, and before we left the meeting, a plan had been put into action for her to have a new leg. Driving back to PAWS, we were all thinking out loud, and the words “can you image? This girl who is already so perfect, so beautiful and feisty, this true athlete, can you imagine her standing and running on all four paws?”
There, we said it! Brian envisioned it, his team already knew what was going to happen, and a plan was designed.
While Brian and his crew went to work, Kira and PAWS did, too. First things first, Brian and PAWS veterinarian Dr. Cameron Norton needed to work out the details of the leg and the prosthetic. We had only amputated her paw, not knowing what the future had planned for our girl. Dr. Norton would need to remove more of her leg, and measurements would be a key factor. Dr. Norton and Brian discussed the details and determined that Kira would need a second surgery. After her surgery and the stitches were removed, Kira would need to be sedated again so that a cast of her leg could be made for her new leg. We needed to decide whether this the right thing to do for her. A lot of thought and discussion went into it. And the answer was always yes, Kira was never a tripod, she always had her leg, she used it and depended on it. As she grew and aged, so did her leg. She had to lose her paw, but a new paw and half a leg added and she would be right back to that 12-week-old pup on all four paws.
Four weeks later, Kira was healed up and ready. Brian had designed a temporary prosthetic leg so that he could see how Kira would negotiate her new world using it. It took a minute for her, but she started tapping down on the leg quickly and was immediately using it to balance. On the ride home from her first fitting, we knew she would use the leg. The PAWS van is great for transporting our rescues here and there, but it’s not the smoothest ride, and before Kira knew what she was doing she was tapping the entire leg down for balance, just like every other four-legged dog in a bouncy van!
Two weeks ago, Kira made yet another visit to see Brian and his team where her final very cool looking leg was put on her. This girl is already so gorgeous and unique, but now this beauty, standing, sitting, walking, and running, has quite a sleek new look about her.
Kira will be going to rehabilitation with her new leg, because now the hard work is in her paws and with her new foster. Kira is going into the Arctic Breeds Rescue to live with an experienced husky human. This foster could not be a better fit for our girl. She knows the breed, and Kira is a true Malamute/Husky. She not only has the Husky smarts and looks but also bring with her the stubborn, high energy Husky behaviors. She toy-resource guards, and while Kira tends to run to her humans and not away from them, you can watch the wheels in her brain turn as she enters a new place, and you know this girl always has a plan just in case she needs it.
We aren’t worried about her using those plans anymore. Our beauty is now safe and secure, and at only 3 years old, we know that she’s going to live the long, happy, athletic life she craves.
PAWS would like thank the many Kira supporters who have all been following her story and checking in on her, like Brian from Hanger Prosthetics in St. George and his terrific team, April and Mick; Dr. Norton for his excellent medical care; her St. George foster mom; and her PAWS volunteer family, who watched over her constantly and loved her unconditionally. We are beyond grateful to Arctic Breeds Rescue for taking her in and continuing the rewarding work they have ahead of them.
And to Kira, we all say thank you for giving us the opportunity to learn from you; to have had the chance to play, walk, and run with you; and to sit with you and look into those beautiful, bright eyes and feel your love.
Articles related to “Kira’s story”
I wish I’d known earlier how easily I’d lose weight on a plant-based diet
Do we really need Dow AgroSciences to test pesticide on beagles?
