Dogged Blog

TWO-Legged Dog Blogging?

There are those who think even a three-legged dog is going to have a hard time, something I found not to be true with Raven.

But this came across one of my canine bone cancer email lists today, via GreyTalk.com: A TWO-LEGGED greyhound. You really won't believe it until you see it.

Canine Flu: The Truth Is Out There

It's been a while since I saw so much panic among dog lovers as I've seen over the "Canine Flu," a newly emerging disease in dogs that recently jumped species from horses.

This seems to be my night for sending you to other places I blog, but I wrote about this on Vet Techs - including information on treatment. Before you totally freak out and wrap your dog in saran wrap or cancel his playdate at the dog park, read this.

To The Man With All the Answers

Just before Raven died, the new issue of The Bark arrived, and a letter to the editor caught my attention. It was from a guy who had all the answers on how to care for dogs.  Given how much losing a dog I love hurts, I was thinking I might give his method a try.

Yeahright.

I blogged about it on The Bark's blog, moderated by Gina Spadafori. Check it out.

How Long Do Dogs Live?

How long do dogs live? Not long enough.

"After my dogs go," my boss told me this morning, "I'm only going to have pets who outlive me." (Since in addition to his Ridgebacks Sasha and Gus, he has a parrot and four tortoises,  I think he meant that literally.)

He told me this when he called to say I didn't have to work today, even though I didn't work yesterday, either. That was because yesterday, I took my beautiful Raven on her last journey, the one dogs  don't come back from. When they have trouble breathing and stop eating, any idiot knows it's time. Some people might think I'm an idiot to love my dogs the way I do, to have taken this fight as far as I did, but I'm not too much of an idiot to know when I've been beaten.

I don't regret fighting for Raven's life - not the chemo, the Chinese herbs, the experimental inhaled interleukin-2 and IV pamidronate. I just think it was all too late. Helen, her vet, said she had a nasty aggressive osteosarcoma, and it tore through my girl like wildfire. I've never had an animal with cancer before. I know now why so many people call it The Beast, although it seems Raven's cancer was among the most beastly. Despite that, it gives me some comfort knowing I did everything possible, and a few impossible things, too.

I definitely don't regret the amputation. Every day after I brought her home from the surgery was better than the day before. Every day she exceeded my expectations of her recovery. Stairs, hills, even chasing a jackrabbit - my girl had some golden weeks in this unexpectedly cool and foggy summer.

I just didn't know how short our post-amputation honeymoon would be.

I don't regret making Raven part of my life, either, despite the way it ended. I remember picking Raven out of her litter, a sleek black puppy in a sea of grey. I had just had a disappointment when a litter I bred turned out to be one male puppy, and I bought Raven originally expecting to breed her to my dog Doughal when she grew up. It wasn't to be, as she turned out to have severe allergies, and considering osteosarcoma is a genetic disease in Scottish Deerhounds, that was a blessing in disguise. I'd cut my own arm off before I knowingly produced puppies who might put their owners through what I've just gone through. But regret having her in my life? Not hardly.

Because I loved Raven like nothing else, with more fire than the one that burned through her, with more joy and hope and love every morning, when she opened up her eyes and looked at me.

How long do dogs live? They live forever.

And Then There Are the Bad Days

Raven had a very peaceful night, but I should have known something was wrong as she slept all night with her head on my shoulder.

And today started out well, because she came on the walk with us and went further than she's gone in a couple of weeks.

At first I thought she'd just overdone it on the walk and was in pain, but I couldn't get her to eat anything at all, and if you give her pain meds on an empty stomach it makes her very sick. But she really wouldn't eat a thing, not one bite. I forced some Reglan into her (thank heavens the pills are tiny), and some herbal drops for nausea that usually work very well, and about half an hour later was able to get her to eat enough that I could give her the pain meds. Still, she was unhappy and sick all day long.

I have no clue if this is the IL-2 or the disease or something else. I think that not knowing has been the worst thing about this, other than seeing her suffer. My brother and sister-in-law and my beautiful little baby nephew were here today, and fortunately they are big dog lovers so were very wonderful with Raven and my preoccuation with her during their visit.  It made it a little easier on me to give the meds a chance to make her more comfortable.

It is possible that Raven really did overdo it and this is pain, and has nothing to do with the IL-2, but it seems to me that her abdomen has fluid in it and she's just very slightly edematous all over body. I suspect this is the underlying disease or a side effect of the IL-2. If it's the first, it seems to me we are too late with the IL-2, and if it's the second, we can't continue with the IL-2. Both of which leave me with nothing at all up my sleeve.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. She has a vet appointment on Wednesday but of course, if she's still uncomfortable tomorrow we'll go right in. Job? What job?

Getting the Hang of It

I finally figured out a few things about taking care of Raven.

One of them is that she has good days and bad days. Each bad day doesn't mean we're at the end, and each good day doesn't mean we've turned the corner. Yesterday was a good day, in fact, a magically good day. Today seems to be a good day, too, as while her feet are still swollen, she came halfway on the walk with us this morning.

I am working on having some kind of serene baseline of my own that doesn't get disrupted with every good and bad day that Raven has. I won't say it's been a stunning success, as my poor sister-in-law found out when she asked me, in all innocence, how Raven is doing and I burst into hysterical sobbing. And that was yesterday, on a GOOD day! But I'm trying.

I've also pledged to not neglect the other dogs while caring for Raven. Raven doesn't need and doesn't like me hovering over her, and the other dogs still need my attention, need to enjoy this early fall we're having here, to be taken out to run and down to the creek to splash around. And I need it, too.

Raven's swollen feet first improved quite a bit after we discontinued the IL-2, but the swelling came back after two days off the treatment. From this  we concluded that most likely it was not an allergic reaction or even a side effect, and is probably related to the lung tumors disrupting her circulatory system. The only real hope is to shrink the tumors, so yesterday I started the IL-2 again. Other than it irritating the heck out of her eyes - I've sealed up the edges of the mask to the best of my ability but some is obviously leaking out - she is tolerating it well this time. Well, she's not necessarily tolerating it any better than before, it's more that I now understand that this IS powerful medicine, it's NOT benign, and that even though it makes her feel like crap it might still be helping her.

I came to this conclusion after talking to a number of people who had gone through painful and distressing cancer treatments themselves, who said, "Yes, I wanted to die while I was having chemo. But I didn't die, and now I'm alive, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat." The catch,  of course, is that we don't know if we'll win this bet or not. I might be making Raven feel crappy and not shrinking her tumors at all. But when I look at the results of the small study on IL-2 nebulization on dogs with lung tumors, it seems that all the dogs, even the ones who didn't get a long-term remission, did still get some benefit from it in terms of tumor shrinkage. And if that is what's causing her swollen feet, then this is the best way to fix that.

As to making her feel crappy, she actually doesn't seem to feel all that crappy. She's tired but not depressed, her bloodwork and urinalysis were almost completely normal, she's become a bit finicky about her food but she is eating, and I think if her poor swollen feet didn't hurt so much, this wouldn't be too bad a time for her. And it doesn't appear the swollen feet are from the IL-2. Of course, "appear" is the key word here, because there is a lot we just don't know. This is an experimental therapy without a lot of data or clinical experience to draw on, and dogs don't talk so I can't even ask her what she thinks.

I get several emails every day asking me how Raven is doing, and links to her story are posted pretty frequently to email lists (I can see people clicking in when I look at my Typepad tracking data), so I wanted to let her many friends know what's going on. I do love all my dogs, in fact, I love all dogs, period, but sometimes there's one who just gets to you in a certain way, and she got to me like that a long, long time ago.

Please keep the good thoughts, white light, candles, prayers, and best wishes flowing her way. When it comes to things spiritual, these days I mostly alternate between flat skepticism and desperate superstition, but now and then something  crystal clear and  clean breaks through, that feels an awful lot like  serenity, and if it's coming from you, Raven and I thank you.

Not Without My Dogs

Marie Knoblock was a regular  on the Chow Chow message board back when I ran the Pet Care Forum on AOL, and she not only came and visited the new Chow Chow Forum when I  moved to DogHobbyist.com, she gave me photos of her dogs to use on the website. Her dog Jimmi's smiling face greets the visitors to the DogHobbyist Chow Chow Forum to this day.

But Jimmi smiles only in photos now, because he, along with Marie and her other dog, drowned in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, when flood waters rapidly filled their home. Her daughter Kim, her daughter's dog, a house guest, and her poodle, escaped through the attic roof, but Marie, 63, and her two chows didn't make it past the second floor.

What would you do, faced with that terrible choice? Like Marie, if told to leave, there's only one thing I would say: Not without my dogs.

In previous disasters, response to this type of thing has usually been disapproval, a sort of “tsk tsk” reaction that these people have only themselves to blame for putting animal lives ahead of human lives, for putting themselves at risk for a mere pet. But it seems there has been a sea change since the last disaster took its toll, because in the face of Hurricane Katrina, pet owners, veterinarians, the media, humane organizations, and aid groups are instead asking if there isn’t a better way.

Lucy Morgan, the Tallahassee Bureau Chief for the St. Petersburg Times in hurricane-plagued Florida, wrote an editorial a few days after Katrina made landfall, asking “Will we remember the lessons of the storm?” and pointing out one major reason that evacuation orders are defied:

You won't catch us leaving Lewis and Clark, our Siamese gang of two. Mandatory evacuation orders won't ever work until we have enough shelters for Floridians and their dogs, cats and birds. Leaving an animal to face certain death is not an acceptable compromise.

On Sept. 6, NBC-10 News in Providence, RI,  reported:

Valerie Bennett, 34, said rescuers wouldn't let her bring her dogs with her when she and her husband were evacuated from a New Orleans hospital by boat. They were allowed just one item, and that was her husband's medicine. She says she offered her wedding ring and her mother's wedding ring, but they wouldn't relent.

One little boy cried so much when police took his dog that he threw up.

Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy, who's been rescuing pets, said he found one dog tied up beneath an overpass. Next to it was an unopened can of dog food with a sign that read, "Please take care of my dog, his name is Chucky."

As I've written before, my friend Phyllis DeGioia has dubbed this sea change “The Snowball Effect,” after the little white dog pulled from the arms of a sobbing child as he was evacuated from the Superdome. She is leading an effort to encourage the Red Cross to do as some other disaster assistance groups have done, and set aside a certain percentage of sheltering facilities for people with companion animals, and to make some pet supplies, such as disposable muzzles, part of their standard disaster provisions.

I support Phyllis’ effort and encourage everyone to do as she asks and contact their local chapter of the American Red Cross and make their views known.  Do it here. (Phyllis has also put her money where her mouth is, and taken in some four-legged Katrina refugees  to foster until their families can be located. Gina blogs about it at the Bark here, here, here, and here.)

But beyond taking that action, consider this: Marie's story is not unique. There are hundreds of people dead today because they wouldn’t leave their pets behind when ordered to evacuate in the face of Hurricane Katrina. Even if you don’t think that pets are important, even if you would walk away from yours to save your own life, or have no pets and don’t understand this issue on a personal level at all, the fact is many people consider animals family members. Like it or not, understand it or not, they would no more leave them to face suffering, abandonment, and starvation than they would leave their own children. It doesn’t really matter that you might disapprove of this, because your disapproval doesn’t change the simple reality, that sometimes people love their animals enough to die for them.

If we prefer not to see that happen, we have to accept that the “tsk tsk” approach has been a failure. Not only are people no more likely to abandon their pets than in previous disasters, they seem to be even less likely to do so. And social perception of this reality appears to be coming around to acceptance, understanding, and even sometimes grudging admiration for those who stayed behind, treading water with a dog or cat clutched in their arms, refusing help if meant leaving their animals behind.

Animal disaster preparedness shouldn't mean pet owners being prepared to die.

What's That Sound?

Raven's feet were all swollen up this morning, and Dr. Hamilton had me stop the nebulization in case it was a side effect or allergic reaction to the IL-2. She wants me to stop for 2-3 days and then see where we are.

Raven doesn't even want to walk, but she is eating and seems happy enough - not HAPPY HAPPY, but not too bad. Over the course of the day the swelling went down about 50 percent, and this afternoon I ran her over to the local vet, who drew blood. I brought a urine sample, too. We'll check on her liver and kidney functions, etc. She's on a lot of meds, who knows what is going on? No fever at least. Hardly any coughing. We'll have the bloodwork and UA results tomorrow morning.

Poor little Raven, it would be just our luck that she'll be allergic to her last ditch miracle drug that cost more than my mortgage payment. We've done four days of a 30 day course of treatment. I could scream. I may scream. That sound is me screaming.

Presidential Speechalist

Via a good friend of mine, no idea if I'm the last person on earth to see this or if this is an undiscovered gem, but it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and I could use a laugh right now:

Harlan Mcraney, Presidential Speechalist 5000

Let's just say it's the revenge of intellectual elite against W.

The Snowball Effect

My friend and colleague Phyllis DeGioia was wondering about what she dubbed "The Snowball Effect," after the little white dog pulled from the arms of a sobbing child as he was evacuated from the Superdome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Phyllis took over from me as editor at VeterinaryPartner.com, and on that site she writes an open letter to the Red Cross:

Dear President Evans:

I’m hoping that the American Red Cross will consider updating the policy regarding animals in shelters and evacuation transportation. Many Americans watching the televised coverage of Hurricane Katrina were upset to see that young boy on a shelter-bound bus separated from his dog, Snowball. Knowing that scenario was multiplied thousands of times over makes me wonder what we can do to improve it.

More and more Americans are willing to risk their lives to assure the safety of their pets. As pets are not usually welcome at shelters, many people choose to remain with their pets. Unfortunately, their refusal to leave without pets snowballs into more problems, increasing the workload of the S&R and healthcare personnel and causing preventable deaths.

Given the attachment Americans have for their pets, I hope you will reconsider your policy about animals and allow pets on evacuee transportation and in some shelters. Perhaps people and pets could be rescued together, and then the animals taken to the local animal rescue effort or shelter. Red Cross and FEMA personnel could be trained to deal with sheltering animals as part of their regular training.

I understand that the original policy is based on factors such as allergies, potential bites, and fear of animals. People who don’t want to be near animals shouldn’t have to be, but people whose pets mean everything to them should not have their pets taken away. I am not suggesting animals be in all shelters, but if some shelters allowed pets, or a portion of each shelter, it would speed up the rescue process by eliminating the lengthy discussions rescuers have with people who refuse to be rescued without their pets. If separated, they may not be reunited. For people who have lost absolutely everything, their pet may be the only comfort they have left.

In Milwaukee, bus loads of people displaced from Katrina were allowed to bring their pets and were housed together at the State Fair grounds. In Florida the shelters that accept pets filled up first. A volunteer for Emergency Response in Britain says one of their first plans of action is to make sure that pets are kept with their owners.

I am so grateful that you offer this type of assistance, but please understand that I would no sooner leave my pets behind than I would a child. Surely we can work to find a way to accommodate the needs of all evacuees.

Sincerely,

Phyllis DeGioia
Editor, Veterinary Partner

You can find more information, a sample letter you can send if you wish, and a link to find contact details for your local Red Cross chapter, here.

By the way, VetPartner is run by the Veterinary Information Network, a membership service for veterinarians, that has raised well over a hundred thousand dollars so far for the relief effort. You can donate or get more info here.