Duke Has Cushing’s Disease

After Emma’s Cushing’s Disease, I truly hoped it was something we’d never deal with any of our pets having again.  Unfortunately, that hope hasn’t come true. 

We boarded Duke at his vet’s office when we went to Folly Beach in the fall.  We've always loved boarding the dogs there because the vet is very hands-on.  More often than not, it’s the vet himself walking, feeding, and playing with the dogs.  It’s sort of like a week-long vet visit/observation period for the price of boarding. 

They’re also perfectly fine with you calling to check on your pets, and they usually text us updates and pictures.  When I talked to Dr. M. on the third day, he mentioned that Duke’s water consumption was excessive and that he wanted to do some tests. 

I know that excessive water consumption is a sign of Cushing’s Disease.  It happened with Emma and was really the first symptom we saw.  I should have put it together with Duke, but I didn’t.  My first thought was diabetes.  Dr. M. has lectured us for years about Duke’s weight.  I thought we’d finally have to get strict about Duke’s food. 

After the first round of bloodwork, I knew exactly what Dr. M. was looking for.  The results were similar to Emma’s years ago.

Dr. M. did all of the bloodwork necessary to confirm Cushing’s Disease and was able to diagnose Duke.  He just couldn’t tell us, for sure, if it was the pituitary or adrenal kind.  He’d already referred us to the specialist for imaging.  He was just doing everything possible ahead of time since the appointment was months out.  We were waiting for the specialist, Dr. V., who had treated Emma.  We’d had an extremely bad experience with another vet in the practice (she misdiagnosed Emma and cost us time with our girl; you can guess how I feel about her) and wanted to stick with the vet we knew we liked.  Meanwhile, Dr. M. was in contact with Dr. V. about the test results he was getting and was fairly sure Duke had the adrenal Cushing’s, not the pituitary like Emma had. 

Because of Dr. M.’s diligence, we were able to make Duke’s first appointment with Dr. V. for all of the imaging needed to determine whether the Cushing’s was adrenal or pituitary.  We also knew what our options were likely to be, so we had a little more time to plan.  Dr. V. was great with Duke, and they did all of the CT scans and bloodwork they needed. 

Dr. V. was able to determine immediately that Duke’s Cushing’s is the adrenal kind.  He has a mass on the right adrenal gland.  She told us that from what she could see on the CT scan, Duke was a good candidate for the surgery, but she wanted a radiologist to look at to be sure.  That took a few days.  Dr. V. called with the results and told us that Duke is a good candidate for the surgery to remove the adrenal gland and tumor.  The outlook with treating it with medication instead of surgery isn’t good. 

We talked to Dr. M. (because we always talk to our regular vets), and he agreed that surgery is in Duke’s best interest.  He said it’s a highly specialized surgery, and not one he would perform himself, but one he felt confident in the surgeons at the specialist practice doing.  Dr. V. isn’t a surgeon, so she won’t be the one doing Duke’s surgery. 

Duke was scheduled for surgery on Monday, January 17^th, with Dr. A., the surgeon Dr. M. is familiar with.  Unfortunately, because of all of the snow and ice in western NC and upstate SC, the specialist vet’s office was closed on Monday, and Duke’s surgery was canceled.  He’s now scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, January 26^th, with Dr. S.  

Dr. M isn’t familiar with Dr. S. but says he’s confident in any of the specialized surgeons there who do this kind of surgery.  He also said the surgery needs to happen as soon as possible.

I talked to Dr. S. on the phone three times yesterday, and I liked her.  I had some questions about some problems Duke has been having, and she said that Dr. V. was more qualified to address them since Dr. V. treats diseases.  Dr. S. talked to Dr. V. and called me back within 10 minutes.  Dr. V. and Dr. S. wanted us to get an appointment with Dr. M. for Duke to get checked out and have some bloodwork done.  Getting a call back so quickly was huge.  I feel like that means the vet cares when they communicate and work to get answers.  I also liked that she immediately involved Dr. V. when she thought Dr. V. would be better able to help Duke.  The third call made me like her even more.  She called to make sure Dr. M. was able to see Duke since all of the vet’s offices were behind due to the weather.  If Dr. M. couldn’t fit Duke in, she wanted to make sure they got him in at her office.  Dr. M. was able to see Duke, but I really liked that Dr. S. called to make sure.  I always feel better about a vet who seems to see him as Duke, the three-legged dog who loves to catch birds and rabbits and steals lasagna, not chart #12345.   

Oddly enough, Duke will have to go on steroids for a while after the surgery.  Apparently, the adrenal gland that’s left takes some time to start functioning properly, so dogs who have the surgery go from way too much cortisol (Cushing’s) to none/not enough (Addison’s Disease).  Dr. V. will be the one managing Duke’s medication and aftercare, which is good since we know she’s good and very communicative. 

We’re told that Duke will have to stay in the hospital for a few days.  There’s a risk of blood clots and complications in the first week or so after the surgery, but after that, it’s usually all good.  The specialty clinic is part of an emergency clinic, so they have 24-hour staff. 

Of course, we’re nervous.  Duke’s our boy, we love him, and he has already been through so much. 

The silver lining in all of this is that we have a great regular vet.  Dr. M. was able to get things started to get Duke diagnosed much earlier than he might have been otherwise.  We’re also fortunate to be within a reasonable drive of a specialty practice and that we have a vet we really like there.  I’m also so incredibly grateful that the adrenal Cushing’s  Duke has doesn’t suppress his appetite the way the pituitary Cushing’s did with Emma.  Duke has always been a total pig, stealing food every chance he gets.  It would be devastating to go from that to begging him to eat something, anything, the way we did with Emma. 

Assuming all goes well, Duke should be completely back to normal after he recovers.   We just want him to be healthy and happy.

Duke-Proofing The Fence

Duke is our three legged dog.  He came to us as a foster dog; heart worm positive, and with a bum leg.  I think everyone knew we would be adopting him, but we did foster him for a while before officially adopting him.

Today Duke is heart worm negative, and gets around quite well on his three legs.  Sometimes he gets around almost too well.

Duke has learned how to bust out of the fence in the back yard. (For those of you who are new, Duke isn’t an outside dog.  We have a fenced in backyard, and he goes out to potty, play, and steal vegetables from the garden every chance he gets.  We take him on walks.  He goes to work with me sometimes.  We take him on car rides, to the park, to the pet store for treats, etc.) We’ve discovered that he doesn’t go over the fence, but instead destroys the bottom of it, and goes under the fence.

We’ve been working on ways to Duke-proof the fence, and finally found some decorative fencing at Lowe’s that isn’t as expensive as the first kind we tried, and seems to be strong enough to keep Duke in the fence.

Basically, we just have to create some kind of barrier between Duke and the bottom of the fence. The decorative fencing seems to do that.  We’ve also relocated one of our raised beds for the garden to help reinforce the back corner of the fence.

We still have a long way to go (the yard always seems so much bigger whenever there’s a project going on), but we at least seem to have found a way to Duke-proof the fence.

So what about you?  Have you ever had to reinforce a fence to keep your dog in?  Does your yard always seem bigger when you have a project going on?

A Very Belated Introduction to Chuzoo

First, please don’t blame me for the name.  “Chuzoo” is something my parents came up with.  They like cutesy/weird names.  I was very nearly the victim of one of my mom’s cutesy name ideas.  Fortunately for me, my dad changed his mind about going along with it.

They were told that Chuzoo was half Chihuahua, and half Shih Tzu, so they decided that “Chuzoo” (pronounced like “chew zoo”, with no space, say it really fast) was a cute play on those breeds.

He wrapped himself up like this.

Fortunately, in spite of having a ridiculous name, Chuzoo is a very sweet and happy little guy.  He absolutely adored Emma, and he loves Duke, which works out well since he came to live with us in August.

My parents were getting ready to move into an apartment, and decided that Chuzoo would be happier living with us, since we have a fenced in back yard, and he would have Duke to play with.  He had stayed with us before, whenever my parents went out of town, and always seemed perfectly happy at our house.


Chuzoo quite happily moved in with us at the end of August.  He seems to love living here, and Duke is thrilled to have a dog buddy again.  The more the merrier, right?

Meet Duke

Well, I promised that my next post would be a happier one, and I don’t think it gets much happier than fur kids.  So, as promised, here’s my happier post, and your introduction to Duke.

Nick and I finally took the leap into long term fostering.  We’ve done short term fostering before; when puppies weren’t old enough for the shelter, when a cat needed to gain weight (our house is a great place to come if you need to gain weight), and short term fostering when a friend who fosters regularly was on vacation.  But we’d always held back on long term, open ended, they might be here for months or longer fostering. 

Saturday that changed.  A friend who regularly fosters through the no kill shelter forwarded me an email about fostering Duke, a Boxer Dalmation mix.  Duke is heartworm positive, and has a broken leg that didn’t heal properly, so he hops along, not using the leg.  He was in a kill shelter, and could be saved by the no kill shelter if a foster home could be found in time.  We decided to make the leap.

We picked Duke up on Saturday afternoon and brought him home.  He and Emma were instant friends, and he has done well with the quirky quartet of cats.  He has settled into the rhythm of our home without any issues.  It almost seems like he has always been there.

Duke is finishing up some medication for kennel cough, and tomorrow we go for a booster shot and to get the first round of heartworm medication.  At this point we’re told that likely nothing will/can/should be done about his leg until after he’s finished with the heartworm treatment.  We’ll probably know more after his first vet’s appointment. 

In the meantime, we’re just enjoying having him.  Emma seems happy to have a dog friend, and Duke seems happy to be staying with us.  He seems to crave attention.  He follows us through the house, and stays in the same room with us pretty much all of the time.   He’s a very happy guy; always excited about treats and toys, and happily greeting us when we come home.  I think he knows he has been given a second chance for a better life. 

India

India is a foster dog staying with us temporarily until an adopter or more permanent foster home can be arranged.  She’s an eleven year old golden retriever who was taken to the shelter by her former owners because they got a new puppy and India ate the puppy’s food.  She was very stressed in the shelter, so my friend/co-worker Beth asked if she could spend a few days with us. 

I cannot think of many worse “reasons” for giving up a lifelong pet.  I know I shouldn’t judge, but I have them pegged as the villains (at least in my book) who view pets as possessions; India is registered and has papers, and they’ve had her since she was a puppy.  It sounds a lot like trading her in for a new model to me.

I just can’t begin to comprehend abandoning your dog after a decade of their companionship.  I’ve had Emma for over nine years, and I think about all of the life changes she has been though with me.  I couldn’t abandon her. 

India is proving to be a mostly agreeable houseguest; she’s house trained, doesn’t get on the furniture (even though we’ve invited her to) and is beyond patient with the quirky quartet of cats, even though Milo seems determined to find her breaking point.  Fortunately, she just walks away from him when he does things that would make more than a few dogs turn him into a snack!  Emma and India have a somewhat uneasy truce; they are both older dogs, set in their ways.  Their ways just happen to be different, but for the most part they seem to have agreed to live and let live. 

We have yet to make the leap into becoming full fledged foster parents.  We toss the idea around semi-regularly, though we just don’t seem to quite be there yet.  We have done some temporary fostering that has worked out well.  We are comfortable with that, and like to think it helps in some small way.  So India has been with us since Tuesday evening and will remain with us through the weekend. 

I have shared her story with nearly all of my rescue friends, many of whom have shared with their rescue friends, so we are very hopeful that the right person will hear about her soon.  I am truly amazed by the devotion and energy that some of these people have for helping pets (I keep saying I want to be like some of them when I grow up), so I am sure that her story will have a happy ending.  

Driving Gino

Gino - such a great little passenger.

Saturday was another transport day for me.  I have a special place in my heart for the dogs classified as “bully breeds”, so I was very happy to be able to participate in Gino’s transport.  He was pulled from a shelter in the lower part of South Carolina, where his prospects were very dismal, by a rescue group and is now in a foster home in Wisconsin.

A lot of people worked extremely hard to make Gino’s transport come together successfully.  There was a lot of networking going on to get all of the legs filled, and someone kind enough to let him stay at their house overnight.  This was one of those transports that really restored my faith in humanity; dozens of people, most of whom will never meet, working together to save a dog who’d been dealt a very bad hand.    It was a great feeling to be a very small part of that, even if only for an hour “leg”. 

Gino was an excellent passenger and one of the most loving dogs I’ve driven.  He isn’t in the best shape physically, but he has a wonderful personality, and seems to crave human affection.  He just wanted to constantly be petted and touched, and by all reports was always happy to meet his next chauffer.

This was also the first time my mom has ever come with me on a transport.  She came along for the transport, and then we had an afternoon together at the local tearoom and did some shopping.  It was nice for us to have a mother and daughter afternoon, and I think it was a good experience for my mom to see how the volunteer transports work.  I think now she understands why it’s something that is so important to me.