Abby (Niki 07-661) [1]

Sponsored by:

Ken and Barb Kostial

Pat and Paul Forsman and RAGOM dogs Cody and Teddy

Niki came to RAGOM because an older MN man knew he was over his head as a Back Yard Breeder. Niki actually came into RAGOM last Sunday afternoon and a wonderful volunteer took her home. During our in-take Diane and I knew that poor Niki was in trouble. She is a very small Golden in a very FAT body. Niki weighed in at 80 pounds and should be more like 45. She is so large she was not able to get up or walk on her hind legs so she would scoot using her front legs to pull her. To make matters worse, she has so much fat that her eyes are almost completely covered so she can not see. That first night Diane (original foster) knew that Niki was going to need some real help to get her through this first phase of her new Golden Life!

Diane brought Niki to the vet on Monday and found there were many issues that needed to be looked at. By far the most pressing was to manage her pain. Dr G. got her started on some Rimadyl and did several x-rays on the back legs to see if they could figure out what was going on and to find out why Niki was not getting up and walking. As of Friday we still do not have as many answers as we would like, but Niki is a little more comfortable and is able to pick her back end up with help and walk a few steps. She still can not go potty without someone helping her, but she is getting better.

Niki came home with us this afternoon and as you can imagine she is a little scared, a little worried, and wondering what is going on. We will take the next few days very slow with her and get her to see an orthopedic surgeon within the next few days. Her appointment with Dr. R. will be to look at her back hips and knees. We heard that she will possibly need surgery to repair her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which is when a tear happens that makes the joint unstable and the femur and tibia can move back and forth across each other and thus create a lot of pain. If it is her ACL, Niki will be restricted to the amount of exercise she can do. Also she will need to get to normal body weight. Once these happen then we will be able to see if she will have any long term effects which could be degenerative joint disease.

Niki already tries to follow the girls around and plays with toys. She seems to seek us out even if she has to scoot to get to us. I can tell she will lose weight quickly for the first couple weeks, but we will be very careful that it is not too much. Oh yes and Niki got her first bath already! Oh the most amazing thing in all of this is Niki’s legs are only 12 inches long and she is around 12 inches wide too! She is like a little box, no wonder the poor girl has a tough time walking!

So take at a look at our big girl and watch her become the shrinking Golden to her appropriate weight. It will be slow going, but it will definitely happen. Feel free to send Niki all your best wishes!