Do You Remember Miracle? (Entry Six)

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle? (To read previous entries click here.)

The following post was written August 4, 2006:

A Letter to Miracle:

Dear Miracle:

I cannot tell you how much I ached for you when we were first contacted and how angry and upset I was that this was allowed to happen to you and then that people could be so cold and callous as to just dump you at a shelter without any medical care. When Lisa rushed you to the vet and they contacted me with the severity of your injuries, I just became angrier. Absolutely not, we were not going to let you go to the Rainbow Bridge, at least not without trying, not without a fight. I cried and worried so for you those first few days, but then you showed us what you were made of ... you are a Cairn and you had way too much living to do. The entire vet staff fell in love with you and so admired you for your courage and determination to survive.

I couldn't wait for you to get well enough and start your journey to me to foster, but then as luck would have it, you got dognapped in Iowa. Deirdre and Kenneth fell in love with you, how could they not, and so you finished your recuperation in their loving arms.

And now it is time for you to make the final stop of your journey, to your loving forever home. One that will never turn their backs on you again, one that will never allow you to be hurt again, one that will love and care for you forever. You are truly a Miracle little boy and if anyone doesn't understand what a rescue is and why they are needed, they only have to read your story. Thank you for allowing Col. Potter and me personally to be a part of your Miracle. Rescue doesn't get any better or give any more rewards than to see your foster mom's eyes dripping because you have your very own forever home. I love you little man, be good and keep in touch...

Your Auntie Valerie - whose eyes are also dripping

Do You Remember Miracle? (Entry Five)

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle? (To read previous entries click here.)

The following post was written August 6, 2006 by Miracle's Foster Mom:

Well folks, yesterday was a wonderful day …

A difficult day ... but a wonderful day...

The boy got to have a bath ... and a good brushing...

His new Mom and Dad sent him old worn, unwashed smelly T-shirts, just as I asked them to. They also sent a used bandana from his new brother Rion. So the boy got to sleep with the smell of his new family all around him for several nights.

Foster Mom worried.... Foster Mom hugged him tight and petted him and told him all about Colorado ... His new Dad likes ice hockey, so the boy got a Colorado Avalanche collar and leash ... And Foster Mom worried ...

We packed up his crate … and his paper work … and some new toys ... and a couple of old ones ... and off we went to West Des Moines.

Brad, his new Dad, drove in from Colorado and we met him at his sister-in-law's house. Shelly (his new Mom) stayed home with Rion, who is one … and a quite feeble older gentleman who is 15 and not doing too well at all. A hard choice for her to make, but one that speaks volumes of the care this family takes of their furkids ...

We arrived with no problems ... and got the boy out of his crate .... and I really worried .. and tried not to cry ....

But I shouldn't have worried ... Brad smelled right to the boy... and Shelly had sent a bag of Beggin’ Strips ... Between the familiar smell of his new Dad and a couple of strips cut into tiny pieces ... the boy knew he was with the right person and forgot all about Foster Mom & Dad....

So I asked Brad, "What are you going to call the boy?"

"Oh, we'll keep the name Miracle. It suits him so well," he said while pulling out a new name tag with the boy's name, new address and phone number on it.....

Which of course started my eyes dripping again ...

So Colorado has a new resident.

Miracle C. ... a wonderful name … a wonderful day...

And as I watched through my tears, Miracle followed his new family into the garage with never a backwards glance...

Good luck my friend ... Thank you for being a wonderful part of our life... I will think of you often.

Do You Remember Miracle? (Entry Four)

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle? (To read previous entries click here.)

The following post was written July 7, 2006 by Miracle's Foster Mom:

Miracle is getting more and more active every day. He is walking on four legs about 90% of the time. Most of the time, when he first wakes up from his nap, he limps a little on his bad leg, almost as if it is a little stiff. But by the time he has been up and about for a while he is doing fine.

His wound is completely closed with no discharge at all. His coat is growing back nice and coarse, just like it should be.

He is very good about his crate. When we tell everyone it’s bedtime he runs and gets into his crate right away. He stands in the crate waiting for his good night cookie. As soon as he has it he flops down ready for the night. When we go to let them out in the morning Miracle is usually on his back dreaming his Cairn dreams and his crate is always clean and dry.

Miracle is a sweet little dog. He loves scritches, tummy tickles and ear rubs. He gives the softest kisses and just folds himself into my arms for quiet Cairn cuddles.

As Miracle gets better and better in every day and in every way he finds more and more of his inner Cairn.

Today for example, Kenneth was working on the computer so I decided to give in to temptation and take a little nap. I was woken up by Tia who was nudging me with her nose. So I rolled over and she and I were having a Mommy and Cairn cuddle. Then I heard a little cry … a kind of a squeak, a noise I could not quite identify ... I sat up and looked around my bedroom. Who do you suppose was standing on top of my dresser? Right in among the cans of hairspray, body lotion and talcum powder was a small blond "handicapped" dog.

I went over and lifted him down and explained that he was a dog, not a dresser ornament. Tia, Miracle and I went to find the rest of the gang. I told Kenneth about Mr. M's adventure in the bedroom. "Well," said Kenneth, "I think you better go and look at the living room window". "The window" I repeated? "Right, it seems that the pictures and plants needed rearranging ... I will give three guesses who did it, and the first two don't count" said my husband.

Our living room window is a bay, standing at mid chest height, with a large sill. And sure enough, when I went and looked, everything was rearranged. So please don't be fooled into thinking that this poor handicapped little dog lets his "bad" leg slow him down a whit.

He is about 3 years old and he is a real Cairn boy. He steals … shoes, laundry, and other dog’s toys ... things happen when he is around. Waste baskets and kitchen garbage cans magically fall over. Toilet paper unrolls itself ... magazines and newspapers left neatly on the coffee table fall on the floor. Plants and pictures on window sills rearrange themselves. The world is his to explore and he does his exploring at a run. Yesterday he zoomed ... just for the love of zooming.

Do You Remember Miracle? (Entry Three)

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle? (To read previous entries click here.)

The following post was written June 4, 2006 by the CPCRN volunteer that picked up Miracle from the animal shelter:

When I see dog rescues on TV, I think "Oh no, just put him to sleep quickly so he doesn't have to suffer".

When I got Miracle out of the shelter, I was thinking the same. He was so sad and suffering so. I was relieved when the vet said they'd knock him out quickly to look at his wounds. At least he wouldn't be hurting anymore for a little while. Then visiting him those first few days when he was still obviously hurting and miserable was hard to watch.

But to see him now, it was soooooo worth it! He doesn't dwell on those miserable days like a human might - he's just thrilled to wake up, go outside, get petted and look adoringly at me. I will think differently now when I hear about other sad cases who have been rescued. It is worth the trouble and pain and sadness to see them come around and be happy again. He has made me happy; he's made all the staff at the vet's office happy and he's make all of you reading about him happy.

Whoever ends up with Miracle is going to get a really nice friendly loving little buddy. It's probably good that he's moving out of my house on Tuesday because I'm getting pretty darn attached. Especially yesterday when he started jumping on my leg and licking my ear.... Time for him to share the love with the next person in line!

Do You Remember Miracle? (Entry Two)

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle? (To read previous entries click here.)

The following is an update written by one of Miracle’s veterinarians in May 2006:

WARNING: The post and pictures are graphic.

When he came to us on Monday you could hardly tell he was alive. His head, neck, and front legs were covered in bite wounds, filth and maggots. He was cleaned up and shaved. The first time I saw the wounds on Wednesday the smell could knock you out and the tissue underneath looked like spoiled hamburger. Daily changes of wet to dry bandages slowly removed the infection and cleared the necrotic debris. With each bandage change the smell improved and the tissue turned pink. By Friday you could not smell him coming. As he is healing physically he is healing emotionally as well. Wednesday he growled when you went to get him. Now he meets you with a smiling face and a wagging tail. Partly because he feels better and partly because he now knows he is safe. (He loves to snuggle) Today was a big day for him and we closed his wounds, cleaned his teeth and neutered him. It was a bit of a challenge closing the wound under his arm and it may not heal perfectly, but he is awake, smiling and well on the road to recovery. Thank you all for saving him and giving him life again!

Do You Remember Miracle?

Some Col. Potter cairns develop their own "fan club" and such is the case with Miracle. For the next few days we'll be posting his story - how he came into Col. Potter, his surgery, life with his Foster Mom and "nurse" and a wonderful update from his Forever Home. Do you remember Miracle?

The following is Col. Potter's VP of Intakes original post introducing Miracle on May 26, 2006:

Warning - parts of this post are graphic.

We were contacted by a local rescue group in Wichita, KS that there was a Cairn in the Wichita Animal Shelter that had been attacked by two Pit Bulls and surrendered by the owner. We only had sketchy details and weren't able to get back in touch with the local rescue group. After some investigation and several phone calls, we found the Cairn in question.

This poor boy had been at the shelter since Friday with no medical care as the shelter can't afford such amenities. The shelter vet had been in on Monday morning and said that if a rescue group didn't pull him immediately and get him medical attention that he would need to be put down due to his injuries.

We immediately made arrangements to get him pulled and taken directly to a vet who was standing by to examine him and give us a report. Initial exam had to be done while he was put under in order to be able to fully evaluate his injuries without causing him any further pain. First report received was that he has a 3" diameter hole on the front of his left front leg and 1" hole on the back of his left front leg that at some point, probably intersect and that his wounds were all covered by maggots from being left untreated and dirty. The vet asked did we want them to continue on or just stop now and PTS. They hadn't even had a chance to examine too much else of him or do any internal examination because of the dirt, filth and maggots on him.

Col. Potter will give this boy every chance to make a full recovery, get to a foster home and eventually to a forever home that will love and care for him like he should have been. We'll be checking back in with the vet treating him today and will report back with an update. In the meantime, please say a prayer for this boy that he has the strength and will to survive, in other words, let's hope he hasn't lost his Cairn spirit ... He needs a miracle and Col. Potter is in the business of miracles, and so we name him Miracle. Prayers for Miracle!