| I would like to take this opportunity to introduce ya'll
to Joannie from the Longview, TX area. Joannie’s owner
called SPIN and asked if we could take her and her sister
in to our program, as they could no longer keep them. We agreed
to take them and on April 4, 2007, another volunteer and myself
set out to pick up what we had been told were 2 healthy, fully
vetted 2 yr old Great Pyrs females. When we arrived to pick
them up, we were greatly disappointed to see that one of
the females was healthy and the other, well; words cannot
describe the condition of this dog. I have been doing canine
rescue for a long time and have seen a great many sick and
disabled dogs of all breeds, but, I can honestly tell you
that I have ever seen a dog (alive, that is) in Joannie’s
condition. |
| On April 5 Joannie had to be rushed to SPIN’s preferred
Veterinarian, Dr. Bowe, as she had been unable to keep any
foods or liquids down. The original owner was contacted and
she indicated that Joannie had been hit by a truck previously
and again in January 2007. The most recent time they found
that Joannie had a hole in her diaphragm. The original owner
said she had been eating and drinking fine before she gave
her to us. The Vet in Longview was also contacted and her
11 page medical record showed only that Joannie had been in
his office on January 09, 2007; she weighed 81 lbs. and had
the pancreas and liver removed from the diaphragmatic hernia
and the hernia was "repaired".
When Dr. Bowe assumed care of Joannie on April 5, Joannie
only weighed 65.2 lbs (a Pyr of her size and age should
weigh around 100 lbs). Dr. Bowe immediately started IV nutrition
and fluids and did X-rays that showed the previous hernia
repair had not held, but a barium X-ray study would be necessary
to diagnose the exact nature and extent of her problems.
The study was done and showed that Joannie indeed still
had a diaphragmatic hernia and that her small intestines
had made their way into her chest cavity. This in turn led
to compressing her right lung and it being non-functioning,
resulting in a serious decrease of breathing capacity.
Dr. Bowe agreed to do surgery to see if Joannie’s
intestines and diaphragmatic hernia could be repaired. We
all agreed that if he found that the operation would not
improve her quality of life, they would just not wake her
up and let Joannie go to the Rainbow Bridge. So, on April
11 with lots of prayers and well wishes from her newly acquired
fan club, Joannie underwent the surgery that would determine
if she lived or died. Dr. Bowe was able to put all of her
small intestines in their proper place and suture the hernia
closed. He also found a cyst on her gall bladder that was
full of bile, so that was drained. The cyst immediately
filled back up with bile and Dr. Bowe felt that it should
be left as is, to see if Joannie’s body would take
care of it on its own. April 12 found Joannie doing great,
considering all this precious girl had been through and
eating good size meals.
On April 14, we were able to pick Joannie up and were blessed
to be greeted by a Joannie that was completely different
than the Joannie that 9 days prior had been rushed to
the vet on the verge of death. We took Joannie to Dr.
Bowe’s, ‘broken’ and knocking on deaths
door and picked up a Joannie that was bright-eyed and
tail-wagging sweet. She had gained 1.5 lbs in the 3 short
days since her surgery. We took Joannie to her new foster
home where she would be loved and kept quiet for at least
2 ½ weeks to allow for true healing to take place.
As I am sure you know, rescue organizations are at the
mercy of animal lovers and private citizens for the dietary,
monetary and other operational items that keep their organizations
afloat and SPIN is blessed with donations of numerous kinds
of dog foods at any given time and for that we are thankful.
But, there in lies the problem for Joannie. Due to her GI
trauma and precariously unstable recovery, the GI problems
associated with changing foods constantly, could result
in her undoing. For a healthy dog, these food changes would
cause minimal upset, but for Joannie it could result in
her inability to heal.
Thanks to Duane & Jeff at Metro
Pet Services, they
are sponsoring her food so we are able to feed her the same
thing continuously throughout the long process of healing.
In the 2 weeks she has been out of the hospital she has
gained roughly 12 lbs and her collar has had to be loosened
2 notchs.
watch slide show
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