Duke 10-215

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Sponsored by:Dennis & JoanneSweet Abbey 07-054, Mattie 07-403 & Jenny B


July 15, 2010

Meet Duke!

Duke was surrendered at our Emergency Vet Hospital this weekend. The owners were unable to pay for his treatment and the vet called RAGOM. Duke went home with the ER vet overnight and I went and got him Monday. Dr Gina was wonderful taking care of him, giving him his IV, picking off numerous ticks and then bathing him. Even after putting Frontline on this a.m. I continued to find ticks. They have made him so anemic.

Duke is one sick boy with the following: positive for heartworm, lymes disease and anaplasma. He is on Doxycycline for 30 days. He has muscle mass wasting, sypoalbuminemia and mild thrombocytopenia. Due to his poor condition he can not receive any of his shots to bring him up to date. His kidney numbers were very high and we will be rerunning that test and hoping for no kidney damage. Duke came in weighing 44 lbs and he should be at about 70 lbs. He was down to 8% hydration and we are just amazed that he is still with us. He will need at the very minimum 10+ lbs in hopes of being able to do his shots and start his heartworm treatment.

I was very excited on Monday evening when I got him to eat 1/4 cup of dry kibble mixed with moist. Then a little later just dry kibble. After that night it has been a struggle to get him to eat. We went to the vet yesterday and Dr Nancy tried AD moist. He liked it so I took a case home. He has finally managed to get down only one can. He should be eating at least 3 cans of the moist plus dry kibble a day!! No where near this amount. By the time we were done at the vet yesterday I had to carry him to the van as he was wore out and couldn't/wouldn't walk. He ate a little last night and this morning refused to eat. He managed to go out to do his business, came back in and drank a ton of water, then stood in the hallway and wouldn't/couldn't move. NO amount of talking or cajoling could get him to move. I finally picked him up and laid him down on a soft dog bed. A few hours later he still wouldn't eat, drink water or even try to stand up. At this point I contacted RAGOM as I felt he needed more than just water and small amounts of food. I had to work at getting his Doxy down him today, and it's very important he get his pills twice a day for 30 days.

It was decided Duke needed to be moved and an emergency transport request was put out. Many wonderful RAGOM folks offered to meet me in Albertville and take him to the U and stay with him til they could give us, hopefully, some answers. Thanks, Devon, for the fast trip to get Duke. Thanks to all who offered.

I don't have a lot of pictures of Duke just due to the fact that after Monday evening he was pretty much down and sleeping. I think he was feeling good Monday as he had an IV overnight and was more hydrated. The rest of his time with me was spent right by my side unless he pottied or I tried to feed him. He is very velcro, very loving, very sick. I am hoping that the sagging of the right side of his mouth is not more bad news.

If you have ever thought about sponsoring or even donating a couple dollars to RAGOM for a special dog, Duke could sure use the help now. Between the ER visit, the regular vet and now the U Vet, things are adding up. It's a tough economy for everyone, especially the rescue kids and their groups.

Meanwhile, keep your paws crossed for good news for this boy. Hopefully we'll find some answers as to why he's not eating, get him on track to gaining some weight and eventually getting the treatments he needs.

Foster Mom and the crew


Way too skinny
Even though sick, he had a smile

At a Glance #10-215

Golden Retriever Born: July 2003
Male 45 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

Sponsored by:Dennis & JoanneSweet Abbey 07-054, Mattie 07-403 & Jenny B


July 15, 2010

Meet Duke!

Duke was surrendered at our Emergency Vet Hospital this weekend. The owners were unable to pay for his treatment and the vet called RAGOM. Duke went home with the ER vet overnight and I went and got him Monday. Dr Gina was wonderful taking care of him, giving him his IV, picking off numerous ticks and then bathing him. Even after putting Frontline on this a.m. I continued to find ticks. They have made him so anemic.

Duke is one sick boy with the following: positive for heartworm, lymes disease and anaplasma. He is on Doxycycline for 30 days. He has muscle mass wasting, sypoalbuminemia and mild thrombocytopenia. Due to his poor condition he can not receive any of his shots to bring him up to date. His kidney numbers were very high and we will be rerunning that test and hoping for no kidney damage. Duke came in weighing 44 lbs and he should be at about 70 lbs. He was down to 8% hydration and we are just amazed that he is still with us. He will need at the very minimum 10+ lbs in hopes of being able to do his shots and start his heartworm treatment.

I was very excited on Monday evening when I got him to eat 1/4 cup of dry kibble mixed with moist. Then a little later just dry kibble. After that night it has been a struggle to get him to eat. We went to the vet yesterday and Dr Nancy tried AD moist. He liked it so I took a case home. He has finally managed to get down only one can. He should be eating at least 3 cans of the moist plus dry kibble a day!! No where near this amount. By the time we were done at the vet yesterday I had to carry him to the van as he was wore out and couldn't/wouldn't walk. He ate a little last night and this morning refused to eat. He managed to go out to do his business, came back in and drank a ton of water, then stood in the hallway and wouldn't/couldn't move. NO amount of talking or cajoling could get him to move. I finally picked him up and laid him down on a soft dog bed. A few hours later he still wouldn't eat, drink water or even try to stand up. At this point I contacted RAGOM as I felt he needed more than just water and small amounts of food. I had to work at getting his Doxy down him today, and it's very important he get his pills twice a day for 30 days.

It was decided Duke needed to be moved and an emergency transport request was put out. Many wonderful RAGOM folks offered to meet me in Albertville and take him to the U and stay with him til they could give us, hopefully, some answers. Thanks, Devon, for the fast trip to get Duke. Thanks to all who offered.

I don't have a lot of pictures of Duke just due to the fact that after Monday evening he was pretty much down and sleeping. I think he was feeling good Monday as he had an IV overnight and was more hydrated. The rest of his time with me was spent right by my side unless he pottied or I tried to feed him. He is very velcro, very loving, very sick. I am hoping that the sagging of the right side of his mouth is not more bad news.

If you have ever thought about sponsoring or even donating a couple dollars to RAGOM for a special dog, Duke could sure use the help now. Between the ER visit, the regular vet and now the U Vet, things are adding up. It's a tough economy for everyone, especially the rescue kids and their groups.

Meanwhile, keep your paws crossed for good news for this boy. Hopefully we'll find some answers as to why he's not eating, get him on track to gaining some weight and eventually getting the treatments he needs.

Foster Mom and the crew


Way too skinny
Even though sick, he had a smile

Updates

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

 

Duke is at peace. He is running free and healthy with all of the other RAGOM dogs waiting at the Rainbow Bridge.

It was a rollercoaster day. This morning, Duke's doctors said he was as bright as they have seen him and had been eating. He'd eat one meal with some gusto and then skip a meal. But he was clearly feeling better. Duke was cleared to go home and that joyous message went out to RAGOMland. Before sending him home this afternoon, the doctors wanted to do the abdominal ultrasound because his platelets continued to be low. That could've been explained by the tick borne diseases but they wanted to be sure before he left.

The ultrasound showed some swollen lymph nodes and the doctor looked at them under the microscope and didn't think they looked cancerous. She wanted the pathologist to confirm this. An hour later she called back, choked up and said that Duke had Lymphoma. With RAGOM volunteer Devon giving him final kisses, Duke's suffering was over.

We know his story touched many people who heard it or met Duke. We know that some folks donated for his care and even sent in sponsorships. We are not sure of the names of those people yet, but cannot express our thanks enough for thinking of Duke and wanting to help. Thank you to Joyce, his foster for getting him into RAGOM's care. Thank you to Devon for transporting him urgently to the U of MN. Thank you to the vets and staff at the U of MN for taking such good care of him and giving him the love he deserved in his final days.

Rest in peace, Duke. We hardly knew you, but what we knew, we loved.