May 28, 1999
Little did I know how much my life would change
when I first picked up Yani.
From the moment I first saw this little bundle of fur there was a connection.
She was the only one out of all the seven in the litter that made a beeline
for me each time. I could have selected any one of those seven puppies but
Yani was for me.
We bought her home and she quickly accepted by my
other two dogs, Kassie and Kayla and became firm friends with a friend’s 4
year old male shepherd.
Our first five weeks were magic. This little puppy and I bonded so quickly. At the age of 11 weeks, she became very ill. A gastro bug was diagnosed. We treated and hope for improvement. It was not forthcoming quickly; she ended up on an IV drip because of severe dehydration caused by her diarrhea. Things improved as far as her diarrhea was concerned but she became very fussy with her food. I tried her with all sorts’ of tasty morsels; she would either turn her nose up at it completely or eat the food and then throw up. We finally found a food that she liked and one that didn’t cause her to throw up. This was over quite a few months.
She was spayed at the age of 7 months and things
greatly improved. I thought perhaps the antibiotics given following her
surgery had finally taken care of an underlying gastro bug.
She then had her annual vaccinations, a little over
a week later she became very ill again.
Another gastro bug, antibiotics and treatment and she came right
again except she became extremely dog anxious. She would scream when she saw
another dog, bark and lunge and things that she had not been previously
worried about now were a great source of worry to her. Shapes and shadows
terrified her. She began vomiting and having diarrhea again with the food
she was on. We changed the food again, things improved.
Life at home was good for a few months;
Yani was a perfect picture of
health, happy and energetic. In just a few weeks she would be old enough to
commence agility training, I was really looking forward to that.
A week following an outing with the family and all
three dogs, all of them came down with kennel cough even though they had
regularly been vaccinated, Kayla and Kassie got the symptoms first followed
a few days by Yani. A call to the vet gave us the necessary medication to
treat this. Kayla and Kassie bounced back really quickly. Yani took longer.
She stopped coughing and to everyone else she looked good.
To me she didn’t. She started to eat as if there
was no tomorrow. She ate anything, seat belts, tracking harness, whatever
was within her reach. She became extremely anxious again. She even attacked
Kassie whom she just loved to pieces because she happened to be passing
about 10ft from her food bowl. She would get up on her hind legs to try and
get the bowl out of my hand.
I took her to the vet and said, there is something
wrong with Yani. Don’t know what it is, she is happy in every other
respects, her appetite is extremely good but her personality is changing. I
could no longer take her among other dogs. She would literally kill for
food. Preliminary blood screens
all came back normal. What is wrong? This dog is not right. I would not
believe that she was normal. I
insisted on seeing another partner at the vet clinic. He ran more tests,
Yani was getting thinner.
He did fecal tests. I got a call. Please provide another sample. I got another call.
She has over 85% fat in her feces and starch.
She is not absorbing I want to do more tests. They are expensive I
was warned. “Do them” was my reply. Yani by this time had lost nearly
5kg in 2 weeks. My vet said one of the tests he was doing was to determine
her pancreatic function, it was called a TLI. We took this and waited.
The lab only did these tests on a Friday. Friday came, I was anxious,
no results, the vet phoned the lab. They had lost the specimen. It was now
just a week before Christmas. Yani had lost another 4kg. Another sample was
sent to the lab. The result was 0.03, normal range was 5-35. Yani had
PANCREATIC INSUFFICIENCY.
I had never heard of it. What does it mean? It was explained that her body is not
manufacturing the enzymes required to digest her food. Without these enzymes
she is not getting nourishment to the body and was literally starving to
death. She would have to be on
pancreatic enzyme replacement for the rest of her life. So she needs daily
medication. I can cope with that, no problem. This was my Christmas present.
We changed her diet to a food specifically for digestive problems. We
started on Viokase as an enzyme replacement.
All through Christmas Yani deteriorated she
continually vomited, her diarrhea had become green, her fur was looking
like a brillo pad. My beautiful long coat German Shepherd was fading away
before my eyes despite my doing everything I could.
We were referred to a specialist. There is only one
internal medicine specialist in Auckland and getting an appointment with him
is like winning the lottery I was told. However, a phone call from my vet to
him on the Friday, got an appointment for the Monday. Could not believe my
luck, must have had a cancellation. Yani by this time had lost 11kg in about
4 weeks.
The specialist, Mark Robson, was an amazing man with a true affinity towards animals. Yani, even though she has a problem with other dogs, is an absolute gem with people, including children. Our consultation was lengthy, the prognosis was not good. My dog was dying, she did not have long.
What did I want to do? I want to find out what is
wrong. She may be dying, but she may be able to be helped. He suggested
gastroscopy and endoscopy. Had she eaten today? No, I had not fed her
thinking she might require some sort of procedure. I spent the day with her
having enemas after enemas to clear out her bowel. Leave her at the clinic
and we will do the procedure in the morning. No. I wasn’t prepared to do
that. I will bring her back in the morning. No food. My god, this dog will
not be happy. We survived the night with me feeling like the worse person in
the world depriving her of food, knowing how hungry her disease made her.
Over to the specialist the following morning. She
was allowed to stay with me right up until the time the anesthetic took
effect. Her premed was given and she dozed in my arms. By this stage she was
very weak and looked a wreck. She looked like she was dying. They took her
through and did the procedures. When they had finished they brought her back
to me, she was still asleep and they gave her the anesthetic reversal so
that when she woke I would be the first person she saw. I took her home and
waited until the biopsies returned.
We had a meeting in the specialist rooms when the
results came to hand and viewed the video of the gastroscopy and endoscopy.
The report was not good. In addition to the pancreatic insufficiency she
also had moderate/severe gastritis, eosinophilic duodenitis, moderate/severe
colitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, eosinophilic in nature.
The specialist said there were two types of IBD and
the eosinophilic variety that Yani has was the hardest to control. He said
that he did not hold much hope for her survival but he also was positive in
that we could make her remaining time comfortable and if I was willing to
fight her problems he would be right there with me. I was ready to fight. My
dog was only 18 months old. She
deserved a chance. We were issued with all sorts of medications. I have
never seen so many pills just for one dog.
Despite all the pills and potions we didn’t seem
to be getting anywhere except she was not losing any more weight. She really
didn’t have anymore to lose anyway. Yani consumed my life. She was the
most important thing to me. I
worried the other two might be feeling neglected. I still catered to their
needs, but they had lost that one on one time, I was feeling guilty. I had
to get that back to them, which I did and that helped.
I could not understand why she was not putting on
any weight. She was still
eating like there was no tomorrow; she was throwing up something awful,
great tubes of food. Through a list I was on I came across Sue, she had a
dog Tonk, also a GSD, who had the combination EPI/IBD.
She sent me a bottle of Prozyme – a plant enzyme.
Within a couple of days, Yani was showing signs of life. I had
finally found something that worked for her. This product however was not
available in NZ. I ordered some from the States. Please send one bottle ASAP
and the rest regular post. I
waited and waited nothing arrived, Yani ran out of the bottle I had. I then
got a letter from border control saying that they had detained my shipment;
it contravened the agricultural import laws. I would have to get a license and a permit before they could release it, it would take 15 days.
However, if I did not collect it within 7 days they would destroy it.
How can you collect something in 7 days when you won’t get the permit for
15. I was beside myself. Yani was deteriorating rapidly. The Viokase was not
only not working but making her sicker. I begged, I pleaded, Photos of
before and now were sent with captions, “only you can save me now” “please help me, let me have my medicine” I finally got a
compassionate person who put his job on the line. He said on the Friday, two
days after the letter arrived, if you can be here by 6 o’clock I will
release it to you. Wellington won’t know what is on my self. The time was
5 o’clock. I had one hour to travel to the airport, a journey that takes
45-50 mins on a good run. This was rush hour traffic, through central
Auckland and the motorway. I’ll never do it but I was going to have a damn
good try at least. It was an unbelievable journey, every traffic light was
green, there were cars behind me for miles, but none in front to hold me up.
Any lane changes were instant, nothing to wait for. I made it at 5.55pm and
got my parcel. It took me 3
hours to get home because of the traffic.
Yani
was started back on the Prozyme by Monday morning she was starting to pick
up again. By the time the paper work came through and they rushed it,
Yani’s journey to better health was on its way. In order to have all the
paper work improved Yani has now been declared a biochemical hazard. All her
details including pedigree, microchip number and tattoo number are now held
by border control. I am not allowed to relocate my family without their
permission. She is not to be sold or otherwise disposed of without there
permission. Each time I need to reorder we have to go through all the same
red tape.
My second shipment created more problems. I was
told that I could have a license valid for a year, but for only for a single
shipment. So I forwarded the application to the appropriate Government
Department requesting a 12-month supply. They turned me down for that amount
because, they said, she would not survive longer than six months so I could
only have 6 months supply. They were concerned as to what I would do with
any of the product that was no longer necessary.
Despite what I said they would not budge in what
they would allow me to bring in. Because of the quantity I had to be GST
Registered. This was overcome by proving that it was my vet, not myself who
had applied for the import license. Nevertheless I still was required to pay
Goods & Services Tax on the price of the produce plus the price of the
postage. My six bottles of Prozyme have now cost $1,580.00. Not too bad for
a product that sells for $80.00 a bottle.
The road back to health has been a long one. She
will never be “healthy” the best we can hope for is stable. Along the
way we have also discovered she is Vitamin B12 deficient which not only
makes her anemic but also gives her malabsorption syndrome. We have also
discovered she has an animal protein allergy that is why she did not
respond to the Viokase which is manufactured from pigs. She is totally fat
intolerant and cannot have animal fats. She currently is managed on a hydrolyzed
soy product call Purina CNM-HA, Prozyme, Imuran, Prednisone,
Tylosin and Zantac. With the addition of Pepto Bismol, another life saving
gift from a lister, Jane & Eric, in the States as that also is not
available in New Zealand. Yani has not only survived an 8-month journey to
hell and back, though probably longer looking at her early gastro
problems, she is now thriving. Being on the Imuran makes her susceptible
to infections and we have had respiratory infections and bladder
infections all of which have responded to treatment.
Our road is not an easy one, it is one that we take
one day at a time, but it is a road we will take together until Yani tells
me it is time.
Yani, August 2001-
She has come a long way but still has a way to go.
Together we will make that journey.
(updated
December 28, 2001)
(the final chapter May 6, 2002)