Ella and Francisco

It was not long after Katya came into our humble home that she needed some medical attention. Katya had a case of puppy pyo (a small staph infection), a little mange around one eye, and a wound on her tail that the vet determined might require amputation of the tip. The treatment for the infection was easy; oral antibiotic once a day and apply antibiotic ointment twice a day to her hot spots on her belly. And the mange required a little cream once a day.
The tail was another matter entirely. The vet initially bandaged her tail to see if it would heal on its own. When we returned a week later, the vet wanted to put her on the antibiotic for both the puppy pyro and the tail. He also advised us that we should give Katya hydrotherapy for her tail; basically, put the tail under running water twice a day for ten minutes. The running water apparently promotes skin growth around the wound. Sounds easy enough but along with the antibiotic ointment and the mange cream, we now had to drag our little girl into the scary bath tub and force her to sit still for ten minutes while we held her tail under the tap, twice a day. Additionally, she had to wear a plastic cone so she wouldn’t pick at her tail or her hotspots.

If dogs could write journals, I would not want to read her entries during this fussy time when her masters seemed to be obsessed with topical creams and bathing her tail. Katya began communicating her displeasure about her medical treament by:

• Dragging her plastic cone across every wall in the house producing a horrible tearing sound
• Using the cone as a means to scoop up dirt in the backyard and bring it into the house
• Jumping into and lying on the ferns and other delicate plants in the backyard, thereby crushing them
• Splaying out spread-eagled on the floor so we couldn’t pick her up and place her in the tub (I call this maneuver her anti-hydrotherapy defensive posture)
• Farting

Ella and I quickly found some toys and activities that seem to put her in a better mood. These include:

• Walks
• Roofball (throwing a tennis ball on the roof and waiting for it to come back down so she can jump and catch it)
• Belly rubs
• The Kong (a little rubber ball that contains a compartment in which we place a treat so she can try and fish it out with her tongue and teeth)

After two weeks of struggling with Katya to avoid surgery on her tail and clear up her puppy pyro and mange we finally took her to the vet today to determine if the treatments were a success. I told Ella before we met Dr. Newton that if it turned out Katya would still require surgery, I could not be held responsible for my actions. I instructed Ella to hold me back, and if need be, to slap the cone on me.

Lucky for everyone, Dr. Newton is an animal genius because the hydrotherapy fixed her tail without the need for surgery. Today, Katya is a healthy, hot spot-free, tail-wagging maniac.

Our family has grown by 16%! We adopted a dog in November from Austin Dog Rescue. It happened one Saturday morning when we decided to check out a dog adoption event in downtown Austin at Lofty Dog. Ella and I had been searching for a dog to call our own for a few months. We had visited the Town Lake dog shelter, the Austin SPCA, and attended events sponsored by Blue Dog Rescue. We liked a few dogs we met but never fell head-over-heels for any one candidate.

From the moment Katya smelled my hand and wagged her tail it was game over. She was all snowy white with a tan colored face that said “Take me home and spend gobs of money on me at Petsmart.” It didn’t hurt that her foster parents, Julie and Brad, did an excellent job of promoting her easy-going and loving personality. Ella remembers that Brad commented on how Katya reminded him of his childhood dog, and indeed, Katya’s personality reminds me of one of our family dogs named Sofia.
We got home that afternoon and filled out the long application on their website. That evening we received an email from the organization director, and later, from Julie and Brad to set up a meet. The following Thursday they came by with Katya and after some conversation, Brad asked “Well, are you ready to take Katya this evening?” We had not expected that we would be allowed to take her that night, and thinking that Ella would want to wait until the weekend I started to stammer out a response. I turned to Ella and before I could say “What do you think?” she was nodding her head and saying “Yes!”. Julie and Brad said a heartfelt goodbye to their foster dog, clearly sad to see her go but happy that she found a home.

That night Ella and I went to Petsmart and purchased a crate, dog food, treats, food dishes, and a few other items. We have been rushing home every night after work since that night to be with our dog. Katya is a mixed-breed Pyrenees/Collie. She is very submissive, loving, and so far has barked only to warn us that our roof ‘possum was threatening the integrity of her new home and family.

We want to say how grateful we are to Austin Dog Rescue for rescuing Katya from the mean streets and to Brad and Julie for caring for her. She has been a great companion and adds a lot of love to our home.