I'm ready!

Callie easily gained back the three pounds that she lost while we were gone in a matter of days and is doing well.  So well, in fact, that I decided that it was time to proceed with further diagnostics.  With her hip and spinal trauma, we didn't want to waste time and money on tests that wouldn't be necessary if she couldn't live a good quality life anyway.  With the help of one tiny steroid pill, every other day, it turns out that she most certainly can!  She may never be the most graceful of canines, but nevertheless, she can run around the yard and happily play with the others.  So, to the vet we go...again.

This time, it was chest x-rays.  We were looking for an enlarged heart, a mass, or any other abnormalities (different types of cancers will often metastasize to the lungs.) that may point to the elusive "underlying condition."   What did we find?  We found a perfectly normal looking thoracic cavity.  That's right.  Her heart is regular-size.  Her lungs are clear.  Nothing is out of the ordinary.  I was as thrilled as I was surprised.  Add that to the negative heart worm tests and the superb blood work and you have a dog who is, on paper, perfectly healthy.  We have done our very best to screen and test her for anything that could be wrong, covered all of our bases.  Finally, Callie has been cleared for adoption!  I honestly didn't know if we would ever get to this point with her.  There were so many times that I have felt helpless caring for Callie, but we (and when I say we, I mean not only Jonathon and I, but the doctor and staff that treated her, her sponsors who helped with vet bills, and everyone who had encouraging words for me on the pages of this blog) never gave up on her. 

I went back and read the first few blog posts I ever wrote about her.  It was hard to believe, as she has become such a different dog in the past two and a half months.  Here, I have copied the first paragraph that I ever wrote about Callie.  At this time, she was likely within 48 hours of death. 

     "When I first saw Callie, (as I have decided to nickname her) I was a little shocked.  The pictures that I posted yesterday were actually quite flattering.  She looked worse in person.   The shelter definitely down-played the severity of her condition.  As I sat in the parking lot of McDonald's where I met the shelter director, picking the dying fleas off of her recently insecticide-coated body, I actually wondered what I had gotten us into. She stood in front of me, wobbling back and forth on her weak, decrepit legs.  She was a mess.  Her left rear paw was swollen and red and obviously painful.  She tried not to put weight on it, but the other rear leg was too weak to hold her up on it's own.  So, she swayed.  She spread her legs out as far as she could to try to keep her balance and not fold to the ground.  Her head had two oddly shaped scars, one on top, and one between her eyes.  One of her eyes had a clouded glaze over it, resembling a cataract.  And she seemed completely indifferent to everything that was going on around her.  These were my initial observations."  (Sept 30, 2010)

To have her come from near death to adoption ready is certainly a wonderful thing, but she is not a total success story yet.  Of course, she will be welcome in our home for as long as it takes, but she deserves a forever home of her own.  This may take quite a while.  Not everyone is willing to adopt a special-needs dog.  I know there are people out there with room in their homes and hearts for a friend who, through no fault of her own, is less-than-perfect.  I am asking for help in finding the right home for this brave little dog.  She is a fighter.  She has overcome much of her past, but the physical scars remain, telling the story of the neglect and pain that she once endured.  Please, share Calista's story with dog-lovers that you know and spread the word about this special girl needing a home.