'Quita
Chiquita
Juanita
Longhair Cobby Chihuahua
Born: February 1996
Illness: Protein-losing Enteropathy
First serious onset: May 2006
Second Onset: September 2006
Third Onset: late October 2006
Click on the thumbnails for a closer look.
Summer
2004 / Fall 2005
Oct
2006
Late May 2006 'Quita began to "blow" her hair and show signs of not being quite up to speed. She slid downhill by inches and we watched for a couple weeks with concern and confusion, not knowing what was going on. Symptoms in sequence: Severe dandruff, hair got dull, blew her coat, began "reverse sneezing," eventually stopped eating, began vomiting, shivered in her sleep, drank lots of water, became lethargic and couldn't climb up or down stairs or hold up her head and then shivered almost non-stop. Although she had stopped eating, she continued to get "fatter." As she got to the stage where she was "reverse sneezing," we took her in to see Dr. Dean Wilson of Companion Pets in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He was mystified and thought she might have some kind of dog flu. In June, she was hanging onto Life by just a thread and he had no clue of what was going on. He drew blood, took x-rays and gave her generic antibiotics, keeping her for several days at his clinic to keep her under observation. X-rays showed a mass in her chest that had pushed her heart all the way over to the other side of her chest. Her abdomen was filled with a clear liquid, some of which he pulled out of her with a syringe on her first night at the clinic. He ventured a guess the mass could be an abcess or a tumor, but it was beyond his diagnostic skill level and he referred us to a doctor in the Ashland, Oregon area who was an animal oncologist. We never did meet with that doctor. Events conspired to change that.
I had done a "laying on of hands" on the Tuesday we took her in to see Doc Dean. Along with his and his staff's diligent care and consideration, 'Quita began to rally. The "abcess" disappeared sometime between Tuesday and Saturday when he took a follow up X-ray. The liquid in her abdomen also mysteriously vanished. So we brought 'Quita home thinking she would recover. She did not. We managed to get her to eat a small amount of food, but we were not doing anything new to help her improve other than the pill form antibiotics Doc Dean sent home with us. By Monday 'Quita was once again seriously failing and we rushed her back to Doc Dean. He put her on intraveinous drip and tried over the next week to tempt her to eat with a wide variety of foods, none of which she would do more than nibble at occasionally. That Thursday we all figured 'Quita was leaving us, so we brought her home. She was showing clinical signs of depression because she was feeling abandoned which seemed to be contributing to her continued failure.
We called the breeder who raised 'Quita and bred her - who is also a friend of ours - to let her know we were probably going to lose 'Quita soon and invited her to come over to see her. She was there within an hour with an armload of goodies to see if they could help her rally. Jan Machado of Tuckaway Kennels gave us a tube of Tomlyn brand Nutri-Cal, a high-calorie dietary supplement, and introduced us to pumpkin, both of which 'Quita liked. We put her on Chicken Soup For A Dog Lovers Soul as well. It is high protein and gluten free. Lo, she not only rallied, she thrived. She got back to normal in just a couple weeks.
Meanwhile, we turned her world upside down. We had sold the house, packed up and moved from Klamath Falls, Oregon to Oak Harbor, Washington. The stress was considerable for her, but she adjusted in good time. Eventually she got back to her old self and we went back to her original diet. In hindsight, that was a fatal decision. She maintained her health for a couple of months.
In September, she began to fail seriously again, displaying all the same symptoms as May/June. She had reached the point where she was lethargic and weak again when we took her to see Dr Eric Patrin at Best Friends Animal Hospital in Oak Harbor, Washington. After coordinating with Doc Dean, running a series of tests, researching and consulting with other physicians, Dr Patrin was able to identify 'Quita's ailment as the incurable Protein-losing Enteropathy (PLE), citing it as an hereditary trait. He gave us protein in liquid form which 'Quita adamantly refused after just one week and had us give her a high protein dogfood. She liked the food at first, but soon associated it with the liquid protein and then refused to touch it. So we switched back to boiled hamburger and rice. She refused that after three days and we tempted her with boiled chicken and rice with success for a short while.
She rallied once again from almost death's door, but now we knew what we were looking at. While life threatening, the ailment could likely be managed with some success. We tried, once again, to get her back to our original food and, as expected, she began to lose protein, gain liquid in her lower body, her fur lost its gloss again and became rough. She had the habit of knoshing on feces, but she accelerated from a "casual snacker" to "persistent muncher." This insistence indicated to us she was missing something in her diet. (DuuUUuuh. Can you say protein?) We returned to Dr Patrin who had continued his research into PLE.
Dr Patrin coordinated a new medical regime that was, as of this writing (October 31), still considered experimental. With guarded optimism, we embarked on some trail blazing, hoping this would help 'Quita improve. Seven injections over seven weeks and a daily dose of chicken flavored C-Azathioprine (6mg/ml) for two weeks, then every other day of C-Azathioprine for another two weeks. After that, we'll play it by ear.
Only four hours after her first injection, she became more perky. As the evening wore into night, she ceased her shivering while sleeping. Her hair is also softer already. Not like it used to be, but noticeably better. Tomorrow is a new day and this is where our daily journal begins.
Nov 1: During
the wee hours 'Quita displayed signs of discomfort. Around 8.30a she laid
an impressive stool and then dark brown squirts about every hour after that
until about noon. She also started vomiting around the same time and regurgitated
a yellowish bile on three separate occasions. We were not sure if it was the
food we gave her last the night before (boiled chicken, 3 day old rice and
peas) or if this is a reaction to the medications. For breakfast, around noon,
she was offered just dry Purina One kibbles. She nosed it around a bit but
ate nothing. Later in the evening she vomited two more times. We gave her
barium to settle her stomach with mild success. She was offered freshly cooked
chicken for dinner and refused it. We offered her a scrap of ham and she ate
only one small bite and refused anything further. During her sleep, her breathing
was a little different than normal. Visualize hitting your finger with a hammer
and after the expletives and first round of hyperventilation, you begin breathing
by inhaling then "puffing" the exhale to manage the pain. This is similar
to how she breathed, only her breathing was shallow and the puffs were very
quiet. This is a dog who is usually a noisy sleeper. She is not sleeping on
her back, either, which she dearly loves to do.
Nov
2: 'Quita
vomited throughout the day about every four hours starting around 6.am. She
was still refusing to eat and she become very still. She still had loose bowels
and they were uncommonly smelly. She was given a 3ml dosage of barium around
1.p. Her hair was coarse again and her backbone was becoming more noticeable.
She wais not drinking much so we gave her a milliliter of water every hour
or two. We had no idea what to do so we discontinued her Azathioprine
and gave her an inch of Nutri-Cal from the tube we had left over from the
breeder. She began to run a low fever around 6pm.
When we took her outside around midnite for potty call, she squatted and shot a stream of yellow green liquid feces instead of the runny dark brown puddles she'd been leaving over the last couple days. We gave her 3ml of barium, 1ml of the nasty protein she hates and 1ml of water. She went to bed with my partner and stayed quiet for about 4 hours.
Nov
3: Around
4am Quita vomited then went to the door to go outside. I wasn't fast enough
and she squirted a sizeable puddle of yellowish liquid onto the floor. I could
see what could be barium and small spots I fear may have been blood.
I coaxed her into drinking a couple mouthsful of water. I picked her up and kept her in my arms.
Quita started "buzzing" shortly after the last squirt and seemed to be in considerable discomfort. She tried to stay very still but could not find a comfortable position. She was sleeping in short fits and starts only when her head finally dropped from exhaustion. By 6.30am she was still hotter than normal.
This was not good. At 7a Quita was very distressed. I took her outside and she just went back in. I picked her back up and held her for awhile until she became distressed again. I put her on the floor and she hobbled across the room to vomit. She could barely keep her back legs under her. She vomited a sizeable puddle on the first series of heaves, a small puddle on the second and nothing on the third. Her vomit looked just the same as the feces she spewed earlier. This is also the hardest she heaved since all this began. I was at a total loss. She was exhausted and weak. At 7.40am and she was in my lap again and is finally sleeping fitfully.
I took a video of her right after her session. It's almost 2 minutes long, size is 15,656Kb. You can see she's wobbly. Click below to view. If you have dial up, it will take forever to run.
Quita managed to get about an hour of sleep. Between 8-10.30a she vomited three more times. She was able to walk again, but with no bounce at all.
We called Best Friends and told them we were on our way in again with 'Quita. When we arrived we spoke with Dr Patrin. The only options left were exploratory surgery or euthanasia. 'Quita was too fragile to survive any surgery so we opted to put her down.
November 3 was a really bad day for us, but 'Quita was more than ready to go. As soon as her heart stopped beating, I "saw" her zoom out of her tired and pain-wracked body. She paused for an instant next to the window and yipped a bright and cheery "THANK you!!" and was gone. My heart broke, but I was glad to know we had made the right decision. Gods. I miss her SO MUCH.
Dr
Dean Wilson
Companion Pet Clinic Inc
2343 Gettle Street, Klamath Falls, OR 97603
(541) 882-7674
Dr Eric Patrin
Best Friends Animal Hospital