Pack of Four

Pack of Four
Nightmare, Gabbi, Arme & Kilo

May 13, 2011

My Dog Pack- Through sickness and in health!

As long as I can remember I had dogs in my life.  My first childhood dog was 'Boots', a black dog... I think.  My second dog was Sam, black lab mix. I loved Sam, I taught him to climb a ladder, lay down while I pulled grass and covered him in it. 

My third childhood dog was Rebel.  He was actually my step-brother's dog.  Lucky.  My parents got him while I was away for a few days.  He was a great surprise to come home to!  Lucky and I walked all over Tulameen, in the woods, I never felt unsafe with him beside me.  He was hit by a car a few weeks before I was to leave home to go to college in 1992.  I missed him terribly.

For years I dreamed of having a dog and the constant companionship and unconditional love it provides.  

Finally in June 2003, once we purchased a house I was able to get a puppy.  I went to the SPCA and combed through the newspaper ads. 


I found Gabbi at the SPCA in Vernon.  I fell in love with her immediately.  She was such a smart puppy.  I couldn't stand the thought of leaving her at home while I was at work, so being the boss, I started bringing her to work with me.  Consumers and staff loved her and offered to take her for walks. 

She has such a personality and loves people.  She isn't fond of kids, so she leaves when kids come around.

After I had Gabbi for a few monthes, I wanted to get another dog, to keep her company.  So I went looking at the SPCA in Vernon, and found Nightmare!
Nightmare was a good boy and loved everyone. He loved cuddling, hunting, and chasing the ball.

When Gabbi was about a year old, she started having  difficulty moving around.  She was soon diagnosed with immune-mediated polyarthritis. She was immediately started on the steroid Prednisone, to supress her immune system. Gabbi's mobility improved, but then she developed mange from the Prednisone. So she had to change medications.  After being on medications for a year, she was weaned off, and was a happy active puppy.

Nightmare was also very active, until one morning when I noticed a subtle difference in him.  He didn't follow me from the living room to the Kitchen, which he always did. I phoned the vet right away, it was a Saturday morning.  They were able to get me in right away with Dr. Elliot Kaplan.  I could not tell the vet anything specific, just that Nightmare was not himself.  The vet did an examination and ran some tests.  He said he would let me know about the results of the test as soon as he got them.
I went home, started vacuuming.  The phone rang about 5 mins later.  It was Dr. Kaplan telling me that one of the tests he did came back it was very serious.  He told me to rush back to the hospital with Nightmare as soon as possible.  

The next two weeks were spent with Nightmare in and out of the hospital, a battery of tests and huge doses of medications.  On July 23, 2006 at 1:30 am, Nightmare passed away with Karl and I holding him.  He had developed blood clots as a complication from Predinsone and the polyarthritis.

Karl and I were devastated.  Gabbi was freaked out and wouldn't come in the house for hours.  Karl and I buried him in the back yard so he would be close to us.  

After Karl and I separated in 2006, I could not bring myself to get another dog. I just did not feel like I could love another dog like Gabbi or Nightmare. Until 2009, when one of my co workers got a German Shepherd puppy.  She was adorable and I could feel myself wanting another a dog.

So I again, went to the Vernon SPCA and looked online at ads.  I found an ad for a Lab Border Collie mix puppy, when I saw them, I chose one.  I could feel right away that he would be the perfect Nightmare #2!



The next day, I went to show someone the ad for the puppy.  I found an ad for Bernese Mountain and Shepherd mix puppies.  I have always wanted a Bernese Mountain Dog, so I could not resist getting another puppy.  His name is Merrill Armegeddon!


The puppies became brothers quickly.  Gabbi was tolerant until they respected her as alpha.



 

When the puppies were 13 monthes old, a littermate, a sister came up for adoption.  I couldn't resist.  Her name was Cocoa, but we renamed her to Kilo.  She was a husky girl when I got her, and is very much a freight train. 




My pack was complete!  In April 2011, the puppies turned 2 and Gabbi turned 8!


Gabbi had a vet appointment on April 26, 2011 to find out about her limping.  The vet recommended x-rays to see how much damage had been done.  The x-rays showed significant deterioration of her joints in the shoulder. The vet recommended to admit her for the day, to do a joint tap and a blood test.  He suspected she had Rheumatoid Arthritis, but had to be sure.

April 28- Gabbi went to the vet for the day, she was sedated for a joint tap.  The test on the joint tap fluid came back full of white blood cells, but not conclusive of RA or polyarthritis. So the vet recommended the blood sample to be sent away to be tested for a definitive answer.

May 6 -The results came back and Gabbi was diagnosed with a return of Immune Mediated Polyarthritis. A great website for information describing the various types of polyarthritis, click here

To be brief, I am terrified for the treatment she has to go through to have a chance to live any life with quality. She is an increased risk of blood clots, like Nightmare #1, because of her age.

I want to track her progress and keep this blog post up to date, in hopes that other dog owners might find this helpful.

Treatment started May 8, 2011 - Gabbi started on a high dose of Prednisone, Azathorapine, and liquid Aspirin.

May 9-  Increased thirst is a side effect of the Pred. and it noticeably  increased for Gabbi.

May 12- Gabbi ate her breakfast, but was very lethargic for most of the day.  She vomited up all her food in the afternoon.  I phoned the vet, and he advised to stop the medication right away.  He suggested trying the medication again on Sunday and not to push food on her.

May 13- Gabbi ate her breakfast and dinner, didn't vomit, but still lethargic and very thirsty.

May 15- Restarted medication again

May 18- Gabbi had great energy and was playing and rolling around in the grass

May 19- appointment with the vet- he was impressed with how much the swelling had gone down and she was not limping as much.  We were both optimistic

May 20 - 22- Gabbi was good, just increased thirst

May 23- Gabbi was very lethargic, increased thirst, and decreased appetite

May 24 - Morning- Gabbi vomited up all of her food and wouldn't eat at all.  She was very lethargic, extremely watery eyes, diarrhea, difficulty walking due to un-stability.  She seemed to get worse very quickly. I called the vet about 12:30

By the early afternoon, her back left leg started to swell and her stomach was very red. There was a sore on her leg that started to bleed. The vet called me back about 1:30pm.  He advised me to bring her in for an appointment at 630 pm. 

From 4 pm until her appointment she was very hot and unable to move much.  The bleeding on the back of her leg was significantly more.

When we got to the vet, her temperature was very high, the bleeding had saturated her fur, and her heartbeat was high.

The vet shaved her belly to get a better look at the bleeding. The redness had increased significantly in her belly. The vet thought it look liked a tumour. She drew blood right away to look for mass cells.   Mass cells were present, but the vet recommended the blood sample be sent to a pathologist for a second opinion.

Two techs came in right away to take Gabbi to start her on IV fluids.  She needed to be stabilized right away.  She was not very responsive

Before we left, Karl and I went to say goodbye to her.  She wagged her tail and lifted her head when we came in, but she couldn't do much more than that.

May 25-  The vet called me just before 5am to tell me that Gabbi was not doing well. The techs had called the vet in at about 3am because her heart rate had gone up significantly.  The vet had managed to get her heart rate down a bit, but was very concerned.

The vet told me she was going downhill quickly and would be unlikely for her to recover.  The vet asked me if i wanted to continue treatment,  and I said no.  I didn't want Gabbi to suffer and I knew she was not well at all.

I called Karl to tell him we needed to go to the vet to put Gabbi down.

The vet called me back and told me that Gabbi had past away.

My mom, Jeanette, Josh and I met Karl at the vet to say good bye to Gabbi. 

I am still numb from how fast things happened this week.  Gabbi passed away within a month from her first appointment and 9 days from starting medication on consecutive days.

This condition is so hard to understand.  I really hope I have had a lifetime quota of dogs with immune mediated polyarthritis.