Kimber swimming after cold laser therapy treatments

Kimber Swimming with Herniated Disc

Kimber is now wheelchair bound

Kimber had surgery to remove a cancerous anal gland... something went very wrong as she could walk, run, eat, pee, poop, etc prior to the surgery, but now is urinary incontinent, wheelchair bound as she has lost the ability to use her rear legs, can't defacate I suppose due to the nerve damage and has no appetite. The MRI she had after the surgery showed a herniated disk. Kimber is now fighting a terrible urinary tract infection as she pees blood. She is on multiple antibiotics to fight the infection as well as a stool softener. Due to her lack of eating, I am very concerned for her life. Had I known anything like this would have happened after the surgery, I never would have had it done in the first place.... damned if you do.... damned if you don't.... and in this case, it's my beloved Kimber who is being damned for no good reason.

PLEASE HELP! KIMBER HAS CANCER (ANAL SAC CARINOMA)!

My precious Kimber has developed anal sac carcinoma. She had surgery on 4/4/13 to remove her right anal gland and tumor. Even though her chest x-rays were good as was her ultrasound, due to the location of the tumor, it was not possible to remove large margins in the surrounding area... which means, there are no doubt, cancer cells. I am trying to avoid chemotherapy and instead am trying to boost her immune system to fight off the cancer cells. She is on many supplements, which are very expensive. She will receive unltrasounds and x-rays every three months to check her lymph nodes and lungs. You can help with her treatments by downloading my songs at http://deborahkaz.bandcamp.com We truly appreciate it.

Kimber: 3 Years later post 2 torn cruciate ligaments healed without surgery!

Helping with veterinarian bills

I have written and recorded songs. You may download these songs by setting your own purchase price. This greatly helps with my veterinarian bills. I thank you so much. http://deborahkaz.bandcamp.com/

What It Costs To Love Special Needs Dogs

For anyone who has ever loved and cared for a special needs animal companion, you know what an emotional and financial burden this can be. Vet visits, tests, wheelchairs, orthopedic braces, amputations, multiple surgeries, holistic and western medical care for cancer are what people who are devoted to their pets face time and time again.
To give you an idea of what these costs are, I will describe the costs for my two beautiful dogs who died from cancer.

Prior to their cancer (osteosarcoma), between the two of them:

3 TPLOs (tibial plateau leveling osteotomies) for torn ACLs (about $2100.00 for each one....$6,300.00)
2 implant removals (about $400.00 each... $800.00)
cancer care for both of them including amputation, MRIs, ultrasounds, chiropractic care, acupuncture, herbal supplements, pain meds, biopsies, needle aspirations, chemotherapy, radiation, blood tests, etc, etc... $10,000.00.

This is not to mention the time off from work to care for these special needs family members and the gasoline and food expenses from traveling out of state to receive the treatments.

So for two of my beloved animal companions, Fly and Trouble, whom I lost within a year of each other, $10,000.00 was spent on cancer care alone.

I sought legal advice (due to the fact that the non-medical grade metal implants used in their TPLO surgeries had corroded into their tibias) but was told dogs are only "property" here in PA. Also, the company responsible for making and using the non-medical grade metal implants filed for bankruptcy once they were notified by the attorney who contacted them concerning this issue with my dogs and the other ones. You are only entitled to the "value of the dog" and because they are "property" you cannot collect damages due to "property".... only the value of the dog. Of course to someone who loves their animals as I do, THEY ARE PRICELESS! I am very familiar with this out of date and ridiculous law, because my very first German Shepherd dog was killed while being boarded with a veterinarian. They let her get hit by a car the day I went away, and didn't try to save her life until the day after she was hit. She had a punctured lung, broken ribs, ruptured bladder, and more. When the vet finally did surgery, my dog had three cardiac arrests coming out of the anesthesia and died. She was only 13 months old. Legally, I was entitled to $20.00 because that's what I paid for her.

Something is just not right with this picture. And recently, I took my Kimber to the vet for her annual check up... ready for this one??? $772.00! For what? Bloodwork and x-rays... to tell me what I already know... that her bloodwork is good, her titers are good, and that she has arthritis. Was all this necessary? Who did it benefit.... my dog... or my vet? I'm beginning to think that the only way I will find an ethical, honest, caring veterinarian who honors the Hippocratic Oath taken is if I go to veterinarian school and become a veterinarian myself.

KIMBER MAKES A COMPLETE RECOVERY WITHOUT SURGERY FROM A TORN ACL!!!

Today is July 6, 2010. It's been over a year (May 18, 2009) since Kimber, my 100 lb. Shiloh Shepherd tore her anterior cruciate ligament. We did conservative management to enable her to heal successfully without surgery. Her protocol consisted of proper nutrition, supplements, physical therapy, gentle range of motion stretches, water therapy, massage, chiropractic care and using a stifle brace. Kimber now runs around without the need for any brace. When viewing videos of her, you cannot tell which knee was injured. It is amazing to see that a large dog was able to heal from a torn ACL when we were told this could not happen without surgery. I am so grateful I found a wonderful online support group last year for people searching for knowledge on conservative management. For more information, go to www.yahoogroups.com and type in Conservative Management. You'll be glad you did.

Update on Kimber

Today is Feb. 8th, 2010 and Kimber is currently 8 1/2 months post torn ACL. She has made a full recuperation WITHOUT SURGERY!!!! It pleases me to see how my very special girl has recuperated without the invasive surgeries my Trouble and Fly had for their torn ACLs.

This month's (Feb) edition of Whole Dog Journal features an article on Conservative Management that includes Kimber as well as other success stories. It's nice to know there's an option other than surgery that may help your canine companion heal from a torn ACL. Of course, every situation is different and not all dogs may be candidates for CM, but you won't know unless you try it.

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Kimber is doing REMARKABLY well! The scar tissue is forming. Kimber shows no sign of lameness, she's bearing full weight on her leg, and when she's outside with the brace on, she can run off leash. I am so pleased with her progress. I wish to God I would have known about stifle braces when Trouble and Fly had torn ACLs.... they would still be alive!!!!
Please scroll down to "older posts" so you can read Trouble's story concerning his "plate related cancer" and Sheba's story with degenerative myelopathy.

Conservative Management for Torn ACL

My beautiful girl, Kimber, also known as"Beauty Jr." (Fly's nickname was "Beauty"), tore her cruciate ligament a month after I had to let my beautiful Fly go. Because Trouble and Fly had developed osteosarcoma after having knee surgeries, I looked into conservative management to avoid surgery. I learned so much from a wonderful support group, the Conservative Management group at http://www.yahoo.groups.com/ and had a custom made stifle brace for Kimber. The brace supports the knee externally, just as surgery supports it internally. Kimber went from walking on three legs, to walking on four, bearing weight on her leg, and now swimming.