JJ

For those of you that don't know the 6 member of the Kudlas family, let me introduce you to JJ. She is our 13 year old black lab. JJ was our first "baby." Brad saved her from a not-so-pleasant roomate at college in 1998. She has been our dog ever since...And of course dogs get old...they get old pretty quickly. For labs, 10 years is considered old. The reason why you don't see much of JJ is because Aidan is highly allergic to dogs (and cats) ever since the age of 2. So when JJ was 8 she was moved to an outdoor dog. This is something she has adjusted to well. She has never has been a dog to wonder or leave the house. We have never had to put her in a fenced in back yard to get her to stay around the house. Lately (the last year) all she has done is layed around...expect when the UPS or mailman comes up the driveway. JJ does not like when men/women in uniform come close to her brother and sisters. Although now that has turned into any caretakers we have come to the house while we are gone. She is becoming a cranky old women! Needless to say, she is great with the kids. I would say that she would do anything for them!

Not being able to walk very well or hear, Brad and I have been increasingly aware that she is near the end. While getting ready to leave the house for a football game on Saturday (Brad had already left the house), JJ got a burst of energy and chased our neighbor cat through our woods injuring her spine severely. I found her laying on the neighbors porch looking up at the cat with scraps on her legs. After lifting her (she weighs over 3/4 of my weight) into the childrens wagan and pulling her home, I made her as comfortable as I could and left. On our way to the football game I talked to the kids about what may happen next and really didn't expect to see her alive when we got home.

Good news was she was still alive, but needed some serious help. With a call to a vet, we were told to try to hold off until Monday to see if anything changed. Still no eating, drinking or taking bathrooms brakes, we loaded her up in the car to take her to a new vet. Blood test came back all negative and she was just as heathly internally as she was when she was a puppy, but the spinal injury was pretty serious. They gave her some wonderful drugs to help with the pain and inflamation.

As of today, she is walking around well, eating and interacting with the kids.

Thanks go out to the wonderful vet in Cumming and to everyone that were thinking and praying for us that weekend!

We don't know how much longer she has, but at least she is out of pain and the kids can enjoy her for a bit longer!