Joy the Puppy has had a challenging past year. She is doing pretty well now.
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Joy
In 2013, when Joy the Puppy was four years old, she had her first of two surgeries for a torn cruciate ligament.
Joy and Russ at The Lake the week we adopted her. If your partner is in veterinary medicine, know that when they ask you to help rehome a patient, you have just adopted a pet.
The surgery Joy had is called a TPLO, or tibial plate leveling osteotomy, meant to stabilize the knee after the cruciate ligament, the criss-cross ligament behind the kneecap, is no longer doing so. Joy’s first surgeon was Dr. David Merkley*, one of my favorite teachers and vets of all time.
(*Fun Merk Fact - When I was having trouble learning to tie a surgical knot in vet school, Dr. Merkley told me it was easy. I said, “You try it left handed!” He did and said, “Wow! This IS hard!” His one and only moment of humility I suspect! Dr. Merkley is the reason I love surgery.)
Joy excited to be spending time with her BFF Frank Parker when they used to volunteer at Camp Kindness at Nebraska Humane Society. Frank’s Mom Allison, also a dear friend and awesome veterinary technician, and I assisted Dr. Merkley with Joy’s first TPLO.
Joy is now thirteen years old. She has significant arthritis which was becoming life-limiting despite her very impressive list of medications, supplements and mobility aids. For the record, Joy is ok with meds in treats, but thinks stairs, ramps and wagons are all terrible.
Joy trying to steal my beer at our brother-in-law Shane’s concert.
Last month, Joy limped for a day. I mean beyond her usual stiff hobble. They she seemed to rally, and I thought the scare of a second cruciate tear was over, but we kept our appointment with Dr. Tan (whose name does NOT rhyme with Dr. Zann, so do not try to remember how to pronounce either of them correctly that way) because I wanted his take on how to better treat Joy’s arthritis.
Turns out, Joy’s right cruciate ligament was long gone, and when it actually happened, I missed it. I felt like a terrible vet and pet parent for missing in my own dog what I routinely diagnose in other dogs.
The story gets so much better from here.
Dr. Tan and the Sirius Orthopedic Veterinary Center team stabilized Joy’s knee with arthroscopic surgery and even did some work on her other knee.
Spotify play list created by one of Nebraska Humane Society’s awesome social media people on Joy’s first day of recovery. I love it so much.
Joy is doing AMAZING you guys. Her mobility and comfort are better than I can ever remember.
Another sweet thirteen year old patient is one week behind Joy in her post-op recovery, also after TPLO surgery with Dr. Tan, and it is so great to be able to say to her family that our old dogs are going to feel so much better so soon.
Whenever I write to or call the Sirius team, I try to remember to add “and hi to Emily.” Well, the awesomeness of their team has once again increased, if you can even believe that is possible. During Joy’s care at Sirius, I learned that another one of my favorite people, Nellie, has joined their team. As ecstatic as I am that Joy is thriving, this…this matches it. Love you Nellie and Emily. Thank you for being there for Joy.
Please note the beautiful straight margins of Joy’s surgical sites. This is thanks to the amazing talents of Nellie who must have remembered the time we took a benign mass off Joy and her coat took a YEAR to regrow! Thanks Friend. She will look beautiful as always for this next year of healing and hair regrowth!
We are so grateful to the entire Sirius team for Joy’s loving care. You all are the best of the best. You have brought Joy - and so our entire family - so much comfort.
And Dr. Tan, thank you for seeing our puppy in your exam room where our old dog was sleeping - for being willing to invest so much in such an old dog who is nowhere near done having adventures.
Joy the Puppy now.
Joy the Puppy then.
As soon as Russ and I decided YES this was the best next step, no matter the outcome, I knew I would not look back and wish she had not had surgery. But this, seeing Joy be such a terrible sport about strict rest when she wants to run and play, and seeing her so happy again, has been the absolute best post-op scenario I could have hoped for.
Joy thinks post-op strict rest is BULL-ony. If I would just move my leg, she could tear down the deck stairs and play with Doug Dog in the yard.
Soon Sweet Girl. You got this. This will be your best summer yet.
Abby won Honorable Mention in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her artwork of Joy!
Her art as well as all of the artwork of the winners across Nebraska is hanging at the TAC building.
Congratulations Abby!
A young couple found a man dressed in several layers of badly worn clothing wandering around Petsmart with a tiny, emaciated black puppy in his arms. He was saying to himself that he could not afford dog food.
They asked the man about his puppy. He said he needed someone to take her because he did not have any money to care for her. They asked if he would take twenty dollars for her, and he did.
They brought her to me to be examined. Other than her very thin body condition, I found no other physical problems. They did not know if they were adopting or rescuing…they just saw a puppy in need and a man in distress and swooped.
Two days later, Layla came home to live with us, and we renamed her Joy Layla Finch.
The name Joy was suggested by the daughter of Joy King, who had been our very dear friend and had recently passed away. We also named her in honor of our other dear friends’ newborn daughter whose twin sister had just passed away. Joy…what an odd thing to name our new puppy during what was such a sad season for so many friends we loved. She has more than lived up to her name.
When I first met Joy, I was so angry at the man who had almost let her starve to death. My friend Janelle said, “He did take her to where he knew she would get help.” That statement stopped me in my tracks. I feel as though I owe him an apology and a thank you, though I have never met him.
So I will write one here, and though he will almost certainly never see it, I hope it serves as a reminder to let my first reaction be one of compassion not judgment.
To the original caretaker of Joy the Puppy,
Thank you for the gift of Joy. She is warm and fed. I pray that you are too. I will keep an eye out for you and try to make sure that you are.
If you had been in a different season of life, would you have kept her? If there is room in your life for a puppy again, I will do everything I can to help make that happen.
Forgive me for being so angry initially that she was such a skinny thing. I know that when you ran out of puppy food, you shared your own food with her. I would have held on to her until the last possible moment too. I will remember that before I judge someone who is probably doing the best they can.
Be proud of your dog. She turned out great. If you hadn’t protected her from the streets of Omaha in those first bitterly cold weeks, she would not have survived. If you had not taught her love from the start, it would have taken us years. If this does not reach you directly, I will try to thank you indirectly every way I can.
Rover.com is a pet sitting service that allows you to choose from a list of local pet sitters to watch your pets.
Even though Rover.com paid our pet sitting fee in exchange for a review of their services, I thought their prices were very reasonable.
We went on an “Omaha vacation” for three days over Christmastime.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown. It was beautiful!
We spent an entire day at The Zoo. This bird came right up to Abby in the jungle!
Our sitter charged $25 per dog per night (a bit more than she usually would have because it was a holiday) and fed the fishes for freebies!
The sitters set their own prices and seem to raise them as they gather more experience.
Our pet sitter’s name was Kelsey, and she was wonderful. She came over a few days early to meet the dogs (and fish). Joy loved her and Luna warmed up to her over her stay, both huge compliments from trustworthy sources.
Kelsey fed and medicated and walked both dogs and most importantly kept them company. She sent us text updates and left us a Christmas card.
Rover.com and especially Kelsey of Rover.com: 10/10, would hire again. We were very pleased and knew our pets were in capable and loving hands.
Happy 9th Birthday and a day Joy! We love you so much!
We named the new kid Luna Lovegood. It is the first name we all four agreed on, and I love her as much as I would love the original Luna Lovegood.
Happy 4th of July!
Saturday June 25, 2016 was Omaha Pride 2016.