Abandoned dog Wyatt takes prosthetic leg home

CLEVELAND - After a disappointing fitting last month of a prosthesis specially built for Wyatt, a rescued puppy found in Lyndhurst with a severed paw in August, an adjustment was made to a prosthetic limb manufactured in a lab of a Denver Colo. company dedicated to animal prosthetic technology.

Cleveland Animal Protective League's Head of Veterinary Services Dr. Allison Lash tended to Wyatt with APL staff members Monday morning with an obvious improvement to the length of the prosthesis.

"They adjusted it and took about three inches off, so significantly different from last time with the length and he's much more comfortable. But as we saw when he had it on at first, he was placing it pretty nicely. After about five or 10 minutes, he got pretty tired. So, he's officially taking his leg home with him today and his foster mom is going to be working on keeping it on for literally just a few minutes, maybe 15 minutes a day for a week," said Lash. 

Wyatt allowed Lash to work on the leg as many times as it took to see how he walked with it and sat. He almost always sits on the side with his severed paw first, tucking it under himself. The prosthesis, which doesn't have a hinge, doesn't collapse yet when he sits. But, he lifted his new leg with ease, tucking it under him with a new-found leg height as he was led by his step-mother, Becky Kent, around APL's inside walking room.

"Even after a couple of times he seemed to start to get the feel for it he'd start to stand up and stand right. We'll have to see, we'll play with it," said Kent.

The prosthesis was built with a donation from an APL program for healthy animals deemed to have special needs.

APL's CEO Sharon Harvey issued this statement in August:

"Because of Wyatt's size, amputation of the remaining portion of the leg was not ideal because it would put a lot of strain on the remaining limbs. However, Wyatt was an ideal candidate for a prosthetic to replace the missing portion of his leg and allow him to recover full use of the leg!

The overwhelming response to Wyatt's story, and the donations to our Second Chance Program that resulted, have ensured that Wyatt will get his new leg!  In fact, he has already had the mold taken.  Please check out this video of Wyatt's progress here at the APL!

Our Second Chance Program helps hundreds of injured and ill animals who come to the APL each year in need of medical care that we would not be able to provide to them if we did not have this program.  Generous, caring people like you who believe, like we do, that these animals deserve a second chance, make happy endings like Wyatt's possible.

Your donation to our Second Chance Program will help Wyatt continue his rehabilitation.  It will also assist the hundreds of animals who come to the APL each year who are injured or ill and need that extra care to mend their bodies and heal their spirits.

We will continue to update you on Wyatt's progress.  And on behalf of Wyatt, and of all of the animals who will benefit from your donations to the Second Chance Program, we thank you."

For more information, go to: http://www.clevelandapl.org