Our Saturday started out like every other weekend day, with a walk out in the green belt that winds its way through our neighborhood (part of a wildlife freeway network from the high Sierra down to San Francisco Bay and throughout California, populated by everything from migratory birds to mountain lions). 

Casey the Pound Dog was a little less frisky than most days, she usually ends those mile or so walks with a dead run from the cliffs around the goose pond back to the house, dragging daddy and mommy along.  Today she just kind of reluctantly trotted the last block.

Late this afternoon she tried to stand after a typical Casey nap and collapsed.

For those not clued in, Casey is a Caviler King Charles Spaniel we rescued from the most inhumane dog pound in America - the Sacramento (CA) County Bradshaw Pound - in early 2001.  She was a discarded puppy mill breeding bitch, thrown into the streets when a congenital and terminal liver defect manifested itself (animal-based protein can kill her so she must be a vegetarian, with a prescription ultra-low protein supplemental dog food).   Many thousands of dollars and seven years later, and with the amazing efforts of doctors from UC Davis, Tufts New England, Cornell University and Boston’s Angell Memorial Hospital - all coordinated by the wonderful people at the Sacramento Animal Medical Group in Carmichael (CA) she is our baby.

Casey is a trained medical service animal and emotional support animal who travels everywhere with us.  She has been to a dozen states in the US and several in Mexico.  She travels some 30,000 miles per year by air with us and airline personnel at Sacramento International Airport and even at O’Hare in Chicago greet her by name.

She has been suffering the effects of a calcification of her lower spine, which has been pinching a nerve in her back end.  Being in toxic Upstate New York recently for six weeks had a devastating effect on her health and accelerated the condition.  It also caused a Bells Palsy kind of paralysis of one side of her face. 

Today she collapsed and could not get up. 

She is alert, tail wagging, wanting to chase her favorite laser light and wanting to play… she just cannot.

As I post this, Holly is on her way to Casey’s primary physician’s office for special anti-inflammatory medications that we know to help,  we have ordered a rush supply of an experimental arthritis medication designed for horses but recently reformulated for dogs.  Her liver can barely tolerate sedation for dental work.  Putting her under for the operation that could alleviate her problem would most likely kill or paralyze her, so we are avoiding it as long as possible.

Our best guess is that Casey is 8 1/2 years old, this is way too soon and we have been in tears all afternoon. 

 Casey & Holy (left)     chilling by the fireplace with her sister, Chinook the Black Cat  (also a rescue)

  Casey enjoying her favorite chair   

   With mommy (left), aunt Melanie Morgan (center) and daddy supporting our troops at a Sacramento rally

Update, Sunday March 16:  The medication given last night has kicked in and Casey is able to get about and wanting to chase her laser light, she is a little stiff  but not in any pain.  The experimental medication we ordered is arriving via UPS tomorrow and will hopefully provide some long term relief with less risk to her liver. We want her to be with us for a long time.

The experimental medication we ordered is branded “Ceytal M“,  research on this treatment with regard to effectiveness is promising but anecdotal.  Missing from the available literature is how it may affect liver function and MarkTalk is desperate for information.  If there are any informed medical professionals reading this PLEASE send me your evaluation!

 

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 7:23 pm and is filed under MarkTalk.com News & Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.