Kinder

by Makayla Bunn
(Sparks, NV USA)

Meet Kinder! He is a playful and loveable 2 year old German Shepherd with a disposition second to none. He is a very special dog with a very special story.

When he was a little over a year old he underwent two life threatening surgeries in a one week duration resulting in his spleen and part of his liver being removed, his stomach tacked, and because he had no blood flow for almost 3 days prior to his surgeries and his spleen being removed he required a major blood transfusion in which there was no blood at any of the clinics here so one of the techs had to drive an hour or so away to get some from clinics from another town. At first they thought he had a blockage, but when the barium wouldn't go down they opened him up. They were shocked at what they found.
He had a very very rare genetic disease called Chronic Splenic Torsion that caused his spleen to shift to the other side of his abdomen and wrap around his intestines. They decided not to take the spleen out because it looked healthy and they didn't want to take it out if they didn't need to.
This dog has stolen not just our hearts, but everyone else's who he's met. I don't think anyone loves this dog as much as us, but his vet clinic isn't to far behind in the love they have for him and I don't blame them.. they have been beside him every step of the way and dreading the fact that he probably wasn't going to survive through the night after his first surgery..Well he did. I brought him home 2days later and he was still acting off and I had a feeling there was another underlying problem and I just didn't feel right about it, but I didn't stress all to much since I had to bring him in the next morning to take his blood to monitor his blood count. I mentioned he was still a bit bloated and after palpating him they rushed him back to do an ultrasound which showed his spleen had grown to the size of a football overnight and he was again rushed into surgery to remove everything and give him a blood transfusion. They finished his surgery around 10pm and at that time they called to inform me that I need to get a good nights rest because he had a less than 1% chance of surviving and I need to be prepared for the worst.
Can you imagine what happened next?? I got a call first thing the next morning that he was up, wagging his tail, and finally eating.
His vet has never performed a surgery for the extent of his illness so they weren't 100% sure what to do and how to go about it especially since they are tampering with important organs. They took their time and got the job done well for not having much experience in it.

Now, almost a year later, he is VERY HEALTHY and VERY HAPPY.
He is a true miracle dog with a strong urge to fight whatever is thrown his way.

He just lost his "mama" figure in October from cancer. She was a GSD of course and she's not his real mom, but she acted like it so he's been a little down lately.

Soo... everyone say hello to my number one boy who loves everyone and really does make a lasting impression on everyone he meets!
He is such a wonderful dog with an amazing disposition!!!