Kozmo Kasi Fouts-Wonderdog of Southwest Michigan and the World Beyond
This blog is about life, our dog Kozmo, (who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair) and experiences we have had learning how to adjust to her challenges. And ours. My wife Shelly, and I, had our lives altered in a way we were not prepared for. On July 23, 2001, Kozmo’s 100mph life changed forever with the simple action of trying to jump up on our bed! Her spine casing let go and splintered into her spinal cord. We had to make a immediate choice at the vets office after hearing the prognosis. Either go ahead with with surgery with unknown results, or put her to sleep. The cost was enormous and had to be paid before we left. This is a special dog, so, the decision to have emergency surgery to save her was a no-brainer for us.
When we were allowed to see her after surgery, our hearts were in our throat. She was not in good shape. I have never had such a helpless feeling in my life! We just knew she had to make it. When we brought her home, the look in her eyes was so blank. She had no idea what had happened to her. It was the worst of days. Shelly still had 5 weeks of summer vacation before she had to go back to teaching. In those 5 weeks, Shelly laid by Kozmo’s side, moved her, bathed her, fed her, and comforted her. Shelly was Kozmo’s angel. Slowly, Kozmo started to get some life back in her eyes. She wagged her tail a couple times when I came home from work one day, we rejoiced!
We started swimming therapy for her in a livestock watering tank. We would walk her with a sling under her belly while one of us moved her rear legs in a walking motion. With the sling under her belly, we propped her rear legs up under her so she would stand until they gave out. We would massage her legs several times a day. There was no information we could find on how to help her gain mobility in her legs. It took more than a year before we gave into the fact that she would not walk on all four legs.
In September, 2001, we ordered a custom made wheelchair for Kozmo from DoggonWheels in Montana. They were the most compassionate people to deal with. They helped us with their kind words and delivered a quality product that saved Kozmo. When the wheelchair arrived we immediatly hooked her up. It was a bit awkward at first. Kozmo would not move. When she did move it was backwards. She just did not know what to think of it so she froze. Everyday we would try to get her to walk with her front legs while her back legs were in a neoprene saddle suspended in the aluminum wheelchair frame. Finally we decided to use the tough-love approach. We put her in the wheelchair out in the middle of the driveway and we then went in the house, and watched. It was gut-wrenching. She barked. She howled. Then, out of nowhere, a big blue heron came gliding in for a landing in Kozmo’s frog pond. Now, before her injury, Kozmo, would swim in her pond and chase frogs. She could do it for hours at a time. She never hurt them. She would just try to touch them with her nose! We had taught her to chase herons away so they wouldn’t eat her frogs. She saw that blue heron land and she took off in her wheelchair! Real fast! Bouncing up on one wheel, flying over bumps, she ran that blue heron clean off our 11 acres! From that moment on she has been unstoppable!
Stay tuned for the continuing adventures and life lessons of Kozmo Kasi Fouts
