Kona Kai Cattledog Chronicles

I just have to add this photo that I took last month.

The total happiness in their faces is just wonderful and hopefully puts a smile on your face.

From left to right: Kona, Cotton and Bella. (note Cotton blind in left eye, while Bella’s blind in right eye…both deaf too…all from birth..homogenous albinos)

I had to add this photo we took the other day.  It really ‘explains’ Kona’s new techniques in cuteness. Working  all the angles.

Gotta love it.

      Denise

Here we are, August 14th  2010, and I’m happy to say that we’re living life. Kona has shifted into her adjusted life with three legs. We have a new ‘normal’. Her appetite is really good. (thank goodness!) Ok, her appetite is REALLY GOOD !!!  I swear she can read the clock! No kidding. At the stroke of 7pm, she starts a barking frenzy, getting the other two pups to join in…this doe not stop until they get their food…later I regain my hearing! They’re so loud, you can’t even hear your own voice.

 She’s keeping her adopted sister and brother in line, diving, yes, and stealing their toys like a shark week episode. She plays with her cat brother, Shaymouse (like Seamus). She’s still making up for his rough play with her when she was a lil puppy and he, Shaymouse was the larger. (he’s around 14 lbs). Of course, now Kona towers over him at around 63 lbs.  Yes, I used to warn Shaymouse when Kona was a little puppy that she would grow and a lot…boys, he didn’t listen!  Shaymouse is 10yrs, 11 in December…Kona turned 9yrs in April.

Ahh, kids.

Ok, so today Kona proved just how fast she is….

I was taking the pups out to go potty after their dinner…

Our deck is 10 steps above  our backyard…well, we do have a child gate that was closed, however, Kona has seen how easily brother Cotton can stick his nose in the edge and pop it open enough to get through…sister Bella, however, not so much…anyway, so here I am walking behind them with Kona’s Ruff vest in hand…

Next thing I know, she flies over to the gate, shoots her nose in and is zipping around the corner to go DOWN the STEEP stairs !!!

I dove !

I hooked my arm around her left rear leg (no right rear) and she was not happy….got a growl……I had to keep my arm around her while putting on her vest…(wild child doesn’t like her vest on….acts like it’s a “naughty thing”  like a muzzle…….ahhhhh, so we have a deal, she lets us put it on for the steps , but ONCE we reach either the top or the bottom step, not a step further, we remove it….yup….)

Ok, so I got the vest on and I assist her down the steps….remove the vest, she trots off and goes potty…then acted like she was going to follow her sister further away from the steps. I took this opportunity to run up the steps to grab the gate to now put it at the bottom of the steps, blocking an upward attempt…well, I was most of the way up the stairs when I hear a clattering behind me…….yes, any guesses? Kona was halfway up the stairs….slipping, yes, a little controlled falling on one step or another……..I race back down and put my arms around her and assist her the rest of the way up…….then, she was just happy as could be…….like, wha???  See, I could do it!

uhuh…….scared the crap outta me!

My wild child….my independant girl…she’s a “MyDo” girl.

sneaky sneaking always thinking cattledog.

I think I have a new gray hair………

Hi all, I’m happy to say that Kona’s been doing really well after this second chemo. Gets tired, but, hey, CHEMO .   She’s just amazing. Stronger than me, no doubt.  I have to say it’s amazing in the changes with her….

As I’m mentioned before, Kona is a Aussie Cattledog….suspicious by nature…ok, very suspicious. However, since we’ve begun this journey of living/fighting osteosarcoma, her techniques have changed.

Where if she had been scolded for something in the past, she would have looked at us like, “So what !  What are ya gonna do??? Huh huh huh???”   Basically, defiant.   Now, though, she’s decided to work the cute aspect…rolls on her back, wags her tail, “look at me, I’m so cute….look look, only three legs ….” (insert cute cute cute looks)  

            TOO FUNNY !!!

As I’ve said before, she is VERY smart and knows how to ‘work it’.

Ahhhhh, my big girl.

Here it is, July 10, 2010.

Kona Kai is a 9yr Australian Cattledog……a wild child.

She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on Memorial Weekend, 2010. Amputation of her right rear leg on June 4th 2010. June 18th 2010, Kona received her first chemo .  July 9th 2010, she had her second of three chemo treatment. Here it is the next day and we can’t believe how well she’s doing. To say we’re thankful is a major understatement.

Kona is the alpha of our puppy pack. We adopted Kona as an 8wk old pup and of course, now she’s 9yrs.  Next, there’s Bella Luna 7rs. We adopted her as a 5+month old pup…she was rescued from Blewett Pass in the Washington state mts….dumped and survived for quite a long time…….how she did it, no one knows….two weeks before she was found, her brother was found….Bella is a homogenous albino…deaf and blind in one eye…very limited vision in the other…we know her doctor well at the eye specialist clinic….

Then, the kid of the group is Cotton, although we also call him, K2, because he absolutely idolizes Kona and tries to be just like her. Cotton is 3yrs old. We adopted him as a 6month pup. He too, was dumped in the mts of Washington, but in a different part of the state, in Chinook Pass. He too is albino, deaf and blind in one eye (different eye) however, his seeing eye is like an eagle’s!!!

Both Cotton and Bella still have a lot of issues, mentally, from the hell they went through early in their lives, but are better and better.

Ok, here’s a few pics that I took today because we are just so thrilled at how well Kona’s doing.