MONTANA => Fern AGE: 8 weeks SEX: Female 11/8/06 - I never thought I'd be writing this message, at least not for a very long time, but here I am and my heart is breaking. We lost our sweet, happy Ferny-girl last night to a car accident. She always went out for a quick trot in the yard before going to bed, never strayed from the routine, which she would have preferred not to do at all, and for whatever reason last night zipped up onto the road. We heard her cry out minutes after she was out and after a minute or so came racing into the house and then just looked kind of weird. She went kind of shocky then and was breathing really hard. I checked her gums and they were white and she was kind of confused, not sure what to do, and just so focused on me. I got her bed right away and she was able to lay down but I noticed she was holding her hind leg funny and had a few cuts here and there and what I swear was a tire print rubbed in her fur. I thought she really was going to be fine, but as we were calling the vet my husband noticed some rectal blood and then I knew it wasn't going to be okay. I'd have to say that the emergency vet that helped us last night was wonderful. She couldn't have done a better job at what must be the worst job. I will send her a letter when I am able to deal with this. Anyway, throughout the whole evening Fern never complained, never took her eyes off of me, trusted me completely through it all. Never have I seen such devotion and love and that is what is killing me now. And I could tell she knew when we found out that she wasn't going to make it but she just kept willing herself to keep contact with me, still taking care of me even when I couldn't do it for her. I have never had a dog like her and I am devastated. She had no broken bones, hardly an external sign to show for it, but her diaphragm was completely herniated, so her breathing was very shallow. All of organs were displced because of the herniation, especially her liver. Unknowns were her bowels, kidneys, and the amount of damage to her lungs because of the displacement and lack of blood flow. She had little to no pulses in her hind legs and minimal reflexes. The vet said her only chance was to stabilize her first, then be shipped off to Boston (two hours from here), go through surgery for the diaphragm and whatever else might show up, hope for her to make it through the surgery, and pray that all the damage acruing in the meantime wasn't life threatening. She was already beginning to struggle with the breathing after such a short time, and she was in pain in spite of the meds, so we did the only thing that we could and let her go. We didn't even move her and we didn't take very long saying our goodbyes because we knew how much she was hurting and she was weakening. She was using all of her energy to breathe and keep her eyes on me and I wanted to give her the small victory of being able to do that. We are moving to a new house next month and were so excited to be giving her ten acres of woods, meadow and pond. We called the sellers and got permission to bury her there in the woods so she could be there when we get there. I couldn't stand the thought of her being down near this road, even though it was her home. My husband and one of my daughters and I went and buried her in her bed with her blanket and her toys and got back around midnight in the rain. Telling the five kids has been horrible. They are all reacting in different ways and I can hardly cope myself. Fern was so special to all of us, filled our lives with such joy EVERY SINGLE DAY. She pranced around teh hause every day from noon until the bus came waiting for her kids to come home and shared her crate with my son during naptime. I truly can say she and I had the bond that you can only hope for; we had an unspoken understanding of eachother that people commented on all of the time. God, I love that girl. We were planning on taking her for her second annual five day hiking trip into the Adirondack's tomorrow. I just bought her a new coat and had her all packed to go. I think that had been her favorite adventure so far. I just wanted to express my thanks again for everything that you all do. For all the pain that we are suffering with now, it is only a fraction of the joy that Fern gave to us all of the time. Her very short life was filled everyday with happiness, overexuberant happiness(!), caring, adventure, quiet cuddling, excessive snoring, absolutley ridiculous antics,and so much more, and throughout all of that we just plain loved her to pieces. I am especially thankful to Judy and her family and Dolly and her siblings who raised such a fine girl. You gave us a wonderful gift and I can prouldy say we gave it right back to her. She was always, always a happy and much loved dog. UPDATE 5/9/06 - Hi from Fern eveyone! Her updates don't ever seem to get posted but it is safe to say she is the most rediculously friendly and happy dog there ever was, my sixth "child." She adores the kids and my two daycare charges too. She knows just exactly who she can rough around with and who she should be commpletly submissvie and quiet for. She lives for the bus to come home every day and starts whining about an hour beforehand every day. She is really bummed on the rare occasion that the kids make their way home somehow else and the bus dosn't stop. And if there was ever a Momma's girl, she is it. Her rump is never away from me, and she does know that I will let her crawl into my lap and Dad will not. He does, however, let her jump off the stairs into his arms to swing her around like all of the other kids when he gets home evey night. Her eyeballs take a few extra turns around in her head before she is all back together, and she loves it!!! 100% goofy she is and the best thing we ever did for ourselves! Now for the little concern that I have: Ever since her spaying last fall, she gets an initially pink rash with a few pimples that pop and scab over right around her scar area. This eventially gets beefy red, dry, raised - almost leathery, with a little liver colered film on it, almost waxy. If it gets bad enough she licks at it a bit. She has been treated several times with the otic drops (antifungal/antibacterial/steroid) and it goes away completly, but returns a week or two later. Our vet was at death's door for quite awhile and is thankfully doing well now, but we let this rash thing ride for quite awhile as it would get better every time. He stopped by yesterday to check on her and thought it could be a plastic/latex allergy or an allergy to the stitches still in her, or even to the surgical wash done at the time of the surgery. Or it could be an infection somehow embedded in the skin that only gets marginally better from the topical steriod. He put her on augmentin for a week and will try one more antibiotic after that if it doesn't clear up before trying anything else. He felt it might be on her chin a little too as she is licking it and ordered her off all plastic as whatever it is could be in her toys, bowls, etc. He doesn't think it is a contact dermatitis to something in her environemnt or a food allergy because it only happens at the suture site. Thanks goodness for that anyway. The OTHER thing is that about a month or two ago, her skin started gettin darker. We thought this was just a maturation thing, but the inner thighs of her back legs, much of her stomach, her upper armpits are all really quite black now. You can see the folds in her armpits are still pink. He noticed it right away and thought maybe she has hypothyroidism. Can anybody tell me what they know about increasing black skin in dogs? Her hair in these areas is definitley very thin, nearly balding and she has days when her hair sheds and sheds like she was an angora rabbit or something. I brush out solid handfuls and handfuls and then it stops and she might do it a month later or so. It doesn't seem like the flank alopecia though. We are going to TN in a few weeks and she will get thyroid testing and whatever else while she is at the vets, but I was just wondering if anyone could give me some good questions to ask based on your experinces. UPDATE 7/11/05 - Wow, two months now! It seems as if we've had Fern forever. She will go to her fourth obedience class this evening. She is very smart, but soooo social, so she has a tough time listening with all of those furry friends sitting in the circle. We had a difficult time finding a treat that was enticing enough to get Fern to work for us, but we've finally figured out the lamb sausage cut into little pieces and frozen works pretty well. I'm thinking she's not going to have a very successful training night tonight as some little 2 year old brother dumped her entire bag of treats into her crate when we weren't looking... She is finally eating a decent amount now too, still the Chicken Soup. I never actually see her eat, but she is definitely getting bigger. She gained 8 pounds in 9 days! That puts her at 28 pounds now, so I'm going to the vet to get each heartworm treatment as we can't even guess what her weight will be the next month! We have had no more chin/infection issues, are losing our teeth and getting new ones (just as crooked as the baby ones), and still have the vaginitis, but not nearly as much as before. She just had her rabies shot, so she is all set except for the spaying, which we'll do in October. It will be a little late, but she has a big hiking date in the Adirondacks, which will include some challenging climbing, so I don't want to do any surgery before that adventure. Meanwhile, she has been to the lake in MA, has spent LOTS of time completely wearing out the dog cousins, and has even been spotted sailing and canoing, with doggie preserver on of course! She was not too fond of falling off of the dock. Next weekend, we'll try some camping in NH! We haven't met a dog yet that couldn't be worn out by her... Actually, this is where we're having difficulty with obedience, because she absolutely refuses to pay attention with other dogs around. We are starting to see a bit of the selective hearing trait. We even have trouble in the evening, because the fireflies distract her, and moths too. She wants to chase everything. She had a dead mole the other day, but I think it may have been that way already. Yuck. Last night, she fell asleep on the steps to our foyer (six of them). I didn't relize it until we heard a thunderous noise, her rolling down them in her sleep of course. She was really surprised. I'm still cracking up! We've spent a few weekends on long car rides, and Fern loves to sit on the floor of the passenger's side wth her head stuffed as far as possible up the AC vent. It is very funy since it makes her ears fly. Speaking of ears, hers are really changing. At first just one of them started to stick up funny, then they both did. Now the one that started changing first is progressively moving up and forward. The vet said it was just her muscles growing. It makes her look ridiculous. Anybody know when they will stop changing? We had given Fern a sheepskin when she first got here and I think it acted as a surrogate mother and it really seemed to calm her down. I guess she's hit the teenage years, because she went bonkers last week and attacked it and tore it into a million little tufts of wool, right before company arrived of course. It looked like a real sheep shearing had occured right in the house. Who knows what was going on in her silly little head? We have no more poty training issues. She ate poop a few times when she didn't make it outside so we got DETER, tablets that make the smell REALLY BAD. No more problems! I was so impressed a few weeks ago when she tore off into the woods while we were at a friend's house. I was worried because she wasn't on a leash and she'd never been there before. I went tearing after her just to find her doing her business in the woods like she's supposed to. She's been doing it on her own ever since. That's about it. We feel very fortuante to have such a wonderful, smart, family-loving, silly girl with us. She is always making us laugh and the kids all adore her. She is quite the spoiled girl! UPDATE 6/13/05 - Well, we must be doing fine as I can't remember when we didn't have our little fur face! Fern is completly incorporated into our family life. She loves being the center of attention at all ball games, insists on co-piloting in the car, and has overtaken the deck as her domain. She loves her crate, especially since we put her sheepskin in there. She will also lie quietly on the sheepskin while we're eating if we put it in the kitchen for her. We have set up a long cable for her which allows her to come indoors as well and she really likes to go out in the mid morning and quietly observe the world go by. She will easily do this in the morning for an hour or more and seems to enjoy being alone during these times. And then there are the times when she tears around the yard at full speed in huge circles for no apparent reason. Then she dives into the woods and lays in wait among the ferns. Then, look out! We are not eating as many dandelions these days, mostly because they have gone to seed, but all insects are fair game... The pig hoof continues to be her favorite chewy toy, although newspaper has its merits too! We have no issues with the crate or sleeping and she usually falls asleep around 8 or 9 and gets up around 6:30 or later. We've learned that she isn't trustworthy with the potty thing until after she's gone at least twice right away in the morning. Then she pretty much is OK. We do need to get her to give us a signal to go out though as when she has an accident it always occurs right in front of the door. As least she has figured that out. In the last few days she decided the deck is fair game so that is our next challenge. Eating~ What is that? We can't get this girl interested in anything. She seems to thrive on water alone. We mix cottage cheese, yogurt, etc., have used canned mixed with kibble, have tried several different brands. There isn't an ounce of fat on this girl and we are currently making fair progress with Chicken Soup kibble. I give her 1 and 1/4 cups twice a day laced with yogurt usually, but she rarely finishes it. We even have a hard time getting her to drink in this hot weather. Any suggestions are appreciated. Medically, we are doing much better. Only one more week of worming and then I'll get that checked again. I'll get her next shots at that time. The vagintis is a little better; it came right back after she finished the second dose of antibiotics. The vet says it'll go away at six months when she gets spayed. Her chin infection is gone although it still seems a little hard to me and the little erosions foro her teeth biting into her gum are still there. So things are not 100% yet but you couldn't tell by the way she acts now. She's a much different puppy from that sick little thing she was a few weeks ago. Poor thing is tormented by black flies too, but again, she doesn't seem to care. We are having some issues with biting/chewing small people, but she absolutely knows to stop it when an older person tells her to. We'll be working on this for awhile I think, but for the most part, she is the best behaved puppy. She drops everything if you tell her to, doesn't get on the furniture, doesn't beg at the table, goes potty in the woods, and doesn't bark (much). She settles right down in her crate if we need to go out for a bit, and either climbs in my lap or sits at my feet when I'm working on the computer. Basically, a wonderful girl!!! She ahs met several other dogs adn has played with all of them; we haven't had any porblems and our snaggle tooth resident geriatric garage cat has given a hiss or tow but seems somewhat interested in another being to intimidate. (It hasn't worked yet.) She is getting signed up for obediaence classes today, which should be fun. At this very moment she is hiding in my daughter's lap because the scary oil truck is here. Best moment of the week was watching her gallop back and forth through the muddy, swampy ditch back and forth for a good hour. All you could hear were wart-hog type snorts and splatting as she trodded through the mud. She was completely covered with mud and had a ball. She's intrigued by the deluge of caterpillars we are experiencing too. That's pretty much it. Fern already looks like a miniature adult because she has lost the fat and her puppy hair is going too. I don't think she has any intention of giving up crawling in my lap to be cradled though! Grandma and Poppa came for a visit from California (both not dog people). We have videos and pictures of Grandma rocking 'the baby' to sleep. And for some odd reason, Grandma got selected as having the best tasting toes, much to our delight. Sorry for the lack of spell check. We have a 'baby' to take care of you know. Beth and Fern the Finicky UPDATE 6/1/05 - Well, for anyone following the saga of Fern, she has managed to bite off every one of my tulips, dig up two bushes, and roll in yucky swamp water today; she smells to high heaven of foul mud and is as happy as a lark! She absolutely loved going to our vet's office and got lots of attention from all before we even made it into the door... BTW, I felt so much better after everyone wrote yesterday about the emergency vet visit we had. It kind of gave me permission to not like a lot of what she said. She was pretty extreme. So today our vet also considered the bug bite possibility, but wasn't convinced as Fern really had a pretty poor appetite for about a week, had been getting gradually less active, and had such a high fever with such acute swelling, etc. Anyway, the mouth is almost down, although still pink and hard, the lymph nodes are almost gone, and the mouth lesions are all but healed over. Her appetite is really improving and my calm, quiet, little gal has turned into pshycho puppy! She has been tearing around here all day, just thrilled with life, sunshine, digging, all the good stuff... As for the vaginitis, the vet said it ought to stop by six months; he won't treat it further, and thought the probiotics were a good choice. No eye goop today either. We also started Heartguard today. And I noticed her first black fly bite the other day. Bright bulls-eye red, no swelling. It doesn't seem to bother her. Thanks again for the input. UPDATE 5/31/05 - A little update on Fern (Montana), who is delightfully precious and full of medical issues! She had a questionsable UTI/vaginitis to start with requiring antibiotics. Fecal sample had round worms so four weeks of antibioitics for that. Her appetitie started to slow up a little about a week ago and she went from three to two meals a day; I thought she was just growing up a little, although she was looking a little thinner... So Saturday she seemed a little quiteter (not a surprise wtih 26 people at our house this weekend,18 overnight!) and then a little warm Satrday night. Sunday morning she was about the same, and by noon she had a HUGE swollen lower jaw. Nothing like trying to get to a vet on a three day weekend while hosting a birthday & confirmation party for four of your five kids! As of Sunday, Fern weighed 14 pounds (she was 12 the week before) but the vet thought she was pretty thin. The vaginitis is back and the vet said it can be chronic in puppies and will return everytime you finish antibioitics, so she is now on probioitics for that. She recommended it for at least six months; we'll go to our vet today and see what he says. She was not sure about the jaw. It was so swollen that all of her upper teeth cut through the tissue and made lesions inside of her lower teeth, and because there is swelling on both sides of the jaw and it occured so quickly, she was worried that there could be something wrong with the bone as a cyst wouldn't be on both sides of the bone most likely. Or it could be a bite problem and an infection came through the wounds from the teeth eroding the tissue. (She said surgery or braces for these problems). She also has several enlarged lymph nodes, one as large as a golf ball, and a fever. Needlesss to say, a long, long weekend. The fever is down, the lymph nodes are a little smaller and softer, the vagintis discharge is the same but seems to be bothering her more; the jaw is a little less swollen on the inside and the teeth marks are getting better but the outside is still huge and hard as a rock, although not as tender. Her appetitie is better and she is loving canned food right now. Unfortunately, she is now having green disharge from her eye on the opposite side for the past two days now too. She's had a little bloody discharge from her mouth on her bed for the last two days too, but I'm not able to see where it's coming from. We have seen bouts of spunkiness yesterday and today, so she seems to be feeling better, but is definitely not herself. We'll see our vet today and see what he says. I'm thinking x-rays, but maybe not. Of course all of this happened because we had pretty much made up our mind not to get the insurance, right? We haven't even had her three weeks! I'll keep you updated, and if you have any thoughts on probioitics, I'd appreciate it. 5/12/05 - Montana has been adopted! 5/9/05 - Montana is one of Dolly's boxer puppies. She is pending adoption & is going home this week! |