Brogan:  Hospice

On Saturday, October 30, 2004, we got that dreaded phone call - the shelter had just received a paralyzed doxie from his family, and they were requesting euthanization. Could we help? This guy is only 3, and it seemed like such a waste to let him go. On Sunday I picked him up and reviewed his paperwork. It seems his family took him to the EC after his injury, and when they found out he needed surgery they decided to euthanize instead. But, they were unable to pay to have him euthanized, so instead took him to the shelter. That decision saved his life. You see, this shelter doesn't kill dachshunds - instead they call CTDR. When we took him in, not only was he paralyzed, but he had no bladder or bowel control. But he sure was sweet and we hoped that surgery would help him live a normal doxie life again.

Monday morning we got him in right away to our wonderful surgeon of choice, Elaine Caplan (Capital Area Veterinary Specialists). He had his surgery that day. They found that he had 2 ruptured disks at T11/12 and T12/13, his spinal cord had pulled through and he had significant bruising. The doctor didn't expect him to walk for a couple of weeks, but his prognosis was good. By the next day he was already walking! They were so pleased and shocked with his progress. He had also already regained his bladder and bowel control. He was doing so well that he could be released on Thursday. By then he just wanted to run, run, run, but of course crate rest is the order of the day.

Since his surgery, one of the first things we felt obligated to do was to give this little guy a more suitable name — his family had named him 'Mouse' but we felt it didn't fit with his fighter personality so we re-named him 'Brogan', which means strong and sturdy. We had confidence that Brogan will live up to his name. This boy is an extremely loving dog and shows his affection with abundant kisses. He also gets along well with other dogs.

Throughout the next month we noticed that he was drinking significant amounts of water, so we began running several tests. Urinalysis and blood tests were all normal, so finally an ultrasound was done. We were shocked to find that his liver was half the normal size! No major shunts were seen, so minor shunts were suspected. Bile acid tests were elevated, so a biopsy was done, and confirmed that he had Micro vascular Dysplasia, or micro shunts of the liver. The condition cannot be cured, it can only be managed with a low protein diet, antibiotics, and special supplements to reduce and absorb the ammonia in the digestive tract that is normally processed by the liver. His foster mom cooks special homemade food developed by a vet who specializes in liver diseases. One of the outward signs of his condition is that he thinks he needs to drink alot of water (PU/PD), which can be managed by controlling his access to water bowls so that he doesn't throw off his electrolytes, which can then cause seizures. Because of this condition we chose to made Brogan a Hospice Care dog.

With his new diet and medications we have already seen a new Brogan.We now have a very active, very playful dog - almost like a puppy! He just loves to race around the yard with the other dogs, chase the squirrels, and his favorite activity is chewing on a Nylabone. Well, actually, is FAVORITE activity is to be wherever his foster mommy is, because he is truly a Momma's Boy. In fact, he stands at the gate to the garage and screams when she comes home from work! Brogan is a very sensitive, loving dog who gets along with any other dog andgreets any guest who comes to his home. We are so happy that we made that decision to take him from the shelter.