We all love our dogs and sometimes we love them a little too much. This can cause us to give in and feed them when they want to eat. But what the golden retriever’s former owner did was shameful. They tried to put him down because he was overweight.
Kai, a golden retriever, was taken to the vet by his former owner. The vet immediately contacted Misfits of Alberta Animal Rescue and Pam Heggie was immediately put in touch with the dog. Her goal was to help Kai find a home and lose the dangerous weight he was carrying.
Heggie gave an interview to Good Morning America. The new foster mom didn’t know Kai and didn’t know what had happened in his past, but she knew he was in desperate need of a hug. Kai was the heaviest animal the vet had ever seen, and the vet said: ,,Anything you can do will help this dog. Kai weighed 172 pounds when he arrived at his new foster home. Since then he has lost more than half his weight.” writes blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com. When Kai arrived at his new foster home, it took him 20 minutes to climb the small ladder outside.
Heggie immediately started walking Kai three times a day, in the morning on the way home from work and before bedtime. It was hard at first, but then it got easier and easier. Heggie told GMA: ,,He would take five or ten steps, then lie down and start breathing. But they kept going and every day he got a little stronger. Kai started water therapy to strengthen his back legs and increase his endurance.”
,,Kai was put on a strict diet and became dependent on his foster mother to look after him, even though he was a hunting dog. They said I would help him and that everything would be alright.” she said. Kai continued to gain strength and achieved some goals such as crawling in bed, walking around the block, climbing stairs and spending some time at the dog park. He is now a normal dog doing normal things like everyone else.
Heggie loved being an adoptive mom, so she adopted Kai. Because her transformation was so inspiring, she was a guest on Good Morning America.
,,It shows you how to do a really important job, literally every day.” says Heggie.
,,He doesn’t worry about yesterday, he doesn’t worry about tomorrow, he just focuses on what needs to be done today and does it. We have a lot to learn from dogs.”
Peggy, you did amazing!