Thursday, December 01, 2005

Sharing Stories of Kindness During Neptunes Passing

Below, I just wanted to share with you the kindness others haveshown during this difficult time, and some links on yet another dogdisease that you don't want to go through or even know is out there,but it is:Thank you all for your support during this most difficult time. Mydad just lost his sheepdog this month, Duffy, as well. I lovedDuffy too, and it seems in our travels, you always find others whoknow the loss of a beloved pet.Last night was a horrific night. First the diagnosis, then mytrusted vet told me that taking Neptune to Tufts was the bestoption, since they no longer have an all night staff. I am verytrusting of Neptune's cardiologist at Tufts, but not so much of theemergency staff. We had very little choice though, as he neededall night care. Any way, as I prepared to leave, I found that mycar was dead, and Abbott's closes at seven. So I finally get intouch with my husband, and he starts down. His car dies along theway!!!! Mind you we both have very good quality cars in fine condition.

So my 81 year old father in law, who shouldn't drive, gets in hiscar and comes to my house, and then we head out to Abbott together------very slowly-----as the same stubborn father in law won't let medrive. In the meantime, the cop who stops to help Robert, findsout where Robert was going and why, and puts the blue lights on hiscar, and rushes Robert to Tufts (blue lights sirens and all).Along the way, he shows Robert pictures of his pets, and his cat whojust passed away.Robert's brother meets us at Abbotts so we can switch cars, and hetakes my father in law home, and then we take his car to Tufts,where we are until about 9:30 or so.

Then this morning Tufts calls to inform us that Neptune has goneinto respiratory arrest, and we let them know we want them to lethim go. And so, we charge up my car, and start to return Robert'sparents car, as his mother needs to get to a chemo appointmenttoday. And someone hits their car with Robert in it. Ofcourse!!! Any way, in the course of going to the insurancecompany, car rental for the parents, and AAA for tow reimbursement,we meet all these people with similar stories, and one customer whoneeds to get her lab under control.

So beyond our own circle of friends, and our neighbors who adoreNeptune and Jazz, we seem to be getting plenty of support today, forwhich I am immensely grateful. Then there is Jazz who is always asource of much comfort, and I am not sure whether she knows herbrother is not coming back or not. She definitely knows that I am upset.

So what is ITP, I looked up these websites last night before thehorrors began. I don't think I will do it justice in my owninterpretation, but suffice it to say, your immune system shortcircuits and kills off your platelets so that your blood does notclot. This leads to all sorts of internal bleeding out. Yourplatelet count (or in a dog anyway) should be 200,000; Neptune's was10,000 when he was diagnosed. Neptune ended up bleeding into hisspinal cord which was the cause for all of the pain.http://www.cloudnet.com/~jdickson/imhaitphandout.htmhttp://www.bobmckee.com/Client%20Info/Cardiac/IMthrombocytopenia.htmlhttp://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dthrombo.htmlSome signs that we missed, red line in gums not related to pinknessof gums. Any sign of hemorrhage in whites of eyes. This may havebeen caused by a drug Amiodarone, which Neptune desperately needed to live. This is one of the side affects that can happen with thisdrug.

However, I must say that some of what I saw in Neptune theday before he went to the vet, I had seen before about a year afterI got him, and we had him for seven years. As I mentioned before,he was never healthy, and I have always been waiting for that shoeto drop. I thought when he got cardiomiopathy finally there itwas, but I think this was an underlying condition, based on hisalways sensitive stomach, the fact that he had been in pain beforewithout being able to pinpoint what was happening, and anotherincident before he was diagnosed with cardiomiopathy that almosttook his life but was never able to be diagnosed. I really thinkhe always had this, and finally it just got him.

It's a pretty horrific disease, but the vets also said they havebeen able to reverse it before. I think Neptune's body was justunable to withstand this additional trauma. They treat thisprimarily with steriods to increase the platelet count again,although I forget how this works. It was hard to concentrate onwhat the vet was saying last night. This also starts to reversethe internal bleeding out.

Thanks for your support and candles today. In addition to givingJazz all the love and attention I can, I will be visiting with WARLshelter dogs in Neptune's memory. He was once one of them (atClaire's house which used to be DRU) without a home to call his own,although I must say, the staff adored him there as well. Neptunehas always been a dog that could melt the heart of just about anyone.

Old Post of When Neptune Died

Sadly, our great friend, Neptune, passed on this morning. We werenot with him, as I would have preferred to be, as he was stable lastnight and this morning until about 6am.I can't believe I will not be receiving his soft kisses on the noseas I wake up, or be the recipient of his puppy like barking when hewants something, or no longer have my best cuddle buddy at night.He was never a healthy dog, but he was a great dog who loved us withall his heart. He was also the dog that taught me the most abouttraining, and what you can do with a dog aggressive and painintolerant dog.We were very lucky to have had him on this earth with us as long aswe did.