On December 20th 2013 we were blessed with a litter of puppies. One was extra special as he was our little miracle pup. His name is Dash but in our home he is know by “happy puppy”. He was one of 6 surviving puppies from Mikana and Aussie’s litter. He is our little miracle puppy because he was stuck behind a still born for 14 hours. Despite my failed efforts to resuscitate the other little pup, I immediately attempted resuscitation on Dash as soon as we found him and I was determined to save this one. I was successful then. I am just as determined now.
Out of all the dogs I have ever owned, Dash is hands down the one with the most personality. He really is too smart for his own good. Every morning I literally get out of bed for this boy. He will come to the room door and call out “momma… moooom” in a combination of high pitched barks and low growls…. and continues to do so to wake me up.
Every Pawrent can be a little bias when it comes to their fur child. My husband and I are no different. Dash is our WORLD. He is such an amazing soul. He is incredibly intelligent and intuitive. He definitely understands EVERYTHING and is very good at communicating vocally. Some nay sayers will say that it is just our imagination… but this boy ENUNCIATES by way of barking/growling.
February 2014 – Dash had his First seizure. That was one of the scariest days of our lives. My husband ran into the bedroom frantically and woke me up yelling “help! he’s choking” I ran out and administered the heimlich. Dash comes to as if nothing happened. Two days later, it happened again, this time, I saw that it he was NOT choking, he was having a seizure. We took him to our (then) family Vet and he was placed on Phenobarbital for 3 months and then weened off because at the time his Vet was not convinced it was true epilepsy. 6 months after he was weened off, he had another seizure. He was diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy which for the most part was very well controlled for the first two years.
March 2014 – due to the stress of just losing my Grandmother and Dash having his seizures it triggered a relapse for me and I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Eventually, I ended up losing my job because my symptoms were too severe and not yet controlled. My husband also lost his job due to missing too many hours having to care for me.
October 2016 – The most the day that changed our lives. Dash was hospitalized because he went status epilepticus. Dash had 11 seizures in an hour. We rushed him to our Vet at the time and after $500+ and being there for 4 hours he was released because they were closing for the day and could do no more for him. We brought him back home and though he was stabilized. We monitored him all day but later that evening he started up again with more clusters. We rushed him to the veterinary referral center where they immediately admitted him. At first he was only expected to be there overnight however because of how many seizures he was having, he ended up being there much longer. He had over 20 by the end of that day. He was in the ICU for nearly a week as they attempted to gain control of his seizures.
It was then that we found out that he needed an MRI and Spinal Tap to see what was going on. Unfortunately, this was way beyond our reach. We barely had enough to cover the cost of his current stay. No pet insurance and no credit cards.. We only had what little was left of our savings and what was generously donated to us by our friends and family. The total cost of his hospital stay alone was just shy of $4000. There was no way for us to afford the additional $5500 for his MRI.
The wonderful doctors at that hospital really tried to work with us because they said that we were the most dedicated pet parents they have met. We literally have someone home watching Dash 24/7. Before this, my husband and I have not been out of the house together since his first seizure.
Since that day we had never been able to recover emotionally and financially. Part of the symptoms of MS already include anxiety but being away from Dash causes me extreme anxiety. Not being able to help Dash because of financial hardship is the worst feeling in the world.
Fast forward to May 2017 – Dash loses his ability to walk. The cause for this is unknown. Again, every Vet and his neurologist’s answer is “He needs an MRI”.
Through all of life’s struggles, Dash has never let it get him down. He has quickly learned to adapt to these obstacles and still remains the Happy Puppy with so much personality that he has always been.
On November 14th 2017 Dash was taken to the Hospital and was diagnosed with Aspiration Pneumonia and his left lung had collapsed. After all of the necessary physical diagnostic testing and $800 later, He was prescribed antibiotics (which cost an additional $300 even as generics)
Two weeks later, after finishing one of his antibiotics, he now has to be taken back to the vet.
Last night (12-28-17) at 7:00pm we noticed that he had blood in his urine. We have tried to bring him into his vets but his primary vets are both out of the office and the one on staff is completely booked into the new year. We were again referred to the veterinary referral center which will bring us beyond our means. We already know what could happen if we cannot pay upon his release.
I cannot even type about it without tears rolling down my face.