Boswell

RMGDRI got a call late in the afternoon on Wednesday, October 12th about an older Dane that had been found wandering the streets and immediately made arrangements to get him picked up. We were told that this sweet old man had been hanging out near a local diner where he was being given leftovers like hamburgers by the staff who took pity on him. A nice woman named Dresden decided she simply could not look at him in his condition any longer and gave us a call.

We were astounded at the dog that was waiting for us in Wendy's parking lot. He slowly walked toward us, barely able to lift his rear end, but clearly excited to see us and loving all of the attention he was getting. He was completely emaciated and all of the bones in his body were protruding. He also was filthy and his coat was in terrible condition. We took one look at his mouth and were horrified at the condition of his teeth. He was clearly in a ton of pain and we were very grateful he came into our hands before it was too late. The woman who saved him told us she had been calling him Boswell, so we decided to keep the name.

Boswell's mouth is improving dramatically. Between the antibiotic and frequent rinsing, the smell is much better. He still has pain at night.

He is walking a little better but still falls on occasion. His back legs are very weak still and the muscles are so atrophied it will surely take a long time to get that back. He is occasionally incontinent of stool (e.g., if he starts to slip he loses bowel control) and he leaks urine pretty regularly. His foster family gets up at least three times a night because he really hates leaking and let's his mom know when it is time to go.

Nutrition wise he is eating but we have not been able to increase the amount. We are back to 6-7 cups a day (in divided meals) plus the ground meat. Any more than that and he is not interested. He takes his meds fine. Little by little we will get some weight on him.

This fellow does really well on the gentle leader. When he is walking on the right, if you tell him to heel, he will slowly walk behind you and get on the left side.

He spent the weekend meeting lots of new people and has done great with everyone, including kids. Everyone comments on his gentleness.

October 25,2005

Boswell's pain is better controlled and he is sleeping better at night. His foster parents still get up every 3 hours so he can pee and manually removing his stool has decreased indoor accidents to 1 x day. Maria bought him some booties so his toes don't bleed (rear L leg). He drags that leg when he walks and taping the toes was minimally helpful. Now he can walk without injuring himself and he tolerates the bootie very well.

He continues to eat well as long as the food is soft and he seems to be quite at peace right now: eating, sleeping, taking short walks, sniffing in the yard, annoying the cat. Nothing unexpected there.

Boswell is a very sweet guy who really wants to please his humans. He follows Maria and Pat everywhere, sleeps by their side, and loves getting petted. Emotionally he is a very sound Dane.

On Monday, October 24th, Boswell made another trip to the vet at Alameda East. Everyone who met him fell in love! Dr. Ruff was very encouraged by the progress he is making. She prescribed another round of pain meds, antibiotics, and added PPA to the mix to help control the incontinence problems. We are very optimistic that this will help reduce his accidents even further.

We also took an x-ray of his heart and an x-ray of his hips to see if there was any heart disease or hip displaysia. Much to our surprise, both x-rays were completely clean! The pain in his rear end is directly related to malnourishment and should improve as he continues to put on weight and gain strength. The fact that his heart looks good, means that he can handle being put under anesthesia.

The next step for Boswell is surgery. He will be getting neutered and a dental as soon as we can make an appointment. The dental should drastically reduce the pain from his teeth and should help him to continue to put on weight once eating is no longer as painful for him.

Oct 27, 2005

After a thorough check for neurological issues, Dr. Landry felt confident that there is not a lot of neurological concern. He decided to go ahead with surgery and Boswell was neutered and had his dental on Thursday, October 27th. The dental was not an easy procedure and he ended up with seven extractions. He did very well under anesthesia and he woke up and is ready to face the world. We expect he should start to feel much better soon! Dr. Landry did find that he has some degenerative mylopathy, which is a spinal disease and common in older dogs. It is not painful for him, but it just means lack of proper function.

He has been on the PPA for only a couple days now, but we haven't seen much improvement yet. Dr. Landry is going to re-examine the dosage and see if we can't try a higher dosage to help with that. The biggest problem is that Boswell is so weak right now, so as he continues to put on weight and gain some strength, that should also help with his incontinence problem. Boswell can't wait to get home and get back to work!

Although he whined a lot the night of his surgeries, the next day Boswell ate 3 cups of food and seemed interested in his surroundings again. His eating pattern has changed however. He nibbles in the am, eats a big lunch (4-5 cups) and one or two more cups at dinner time. Taking medicines is not a problem: stick them in a meatball and they are down the hatch really fast.

Yesterday afternoon he had his first “planned” bowel movement. He had gone for a walk and he suddenly got the urge to go. While this may not seem remarkable to many who don’t know him, Pat and Maria were overjoyed. Since yesterday afternoon he has had no stool accidents in the house at all and only one urine accident. He is now really able to pass urine. Before the surgery he would just squirt a bit of urine here and there and then when relaxed (asleep) he would pee on himself. Now he marks with large amounts of urine and by the end of the walk all he has is a few drops left. Dr. Landry told us his prostate would shrink once we neutered him and he would be able to pass urine more normally. He was right. As to the PPA: it may still take a few days to fully click in, but so far so good.

Boswell's personality change has been dramatic since his surgery. He is no longer as passive as he was and now requires attention to discipline. Before he must have been feeling so lousy he didn’t have the energy to counter surf, beg at the table, bark at other dogs, etc. Now he is ready to take on the world. While he remains an alpha male, he likes other dogs except for the Jack Russell terrier next door: Libby nibbled at his food five days ago and he still growls at her. He has a good memory.

For two weeks Maria had been tempting him with a stuffed toy she calls “Baby” and a bone filled with peanut butter. He didn’t show any interest. Last night she asked him where his “Baby” was and he went looking for it. He was listening all along but didn’t feel well enough to play. Today he licked out all the peanut butter from the bone. This guy is really starting to meet lots of milestones.

Oct 31, 2005

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we must report the end of a very inspirational journey for a special Dane named Boswell. Just as we were starting to be truly encouraged by his physical improvement following surgery, his attitude began to change. The sweet old man that we have all grown to love, started to show some very aggressive behavior. It began with the dog next door and then he charged a man at a neighbor's house and chased him back into his truck. Both were very concerning situations, however, tonight a 5 year old neighbor came by to say hello and when he popped his head in the door, Boswell bit him on the face. This was a child that had spent many hours with Boswell and one he had always loved and been fine with. We are happy to say that the little boy is okay and his injuries will heal. We will never truly understand what this poor dog has experienced during his life, but it is very clear that he has both physical and emotional scars that were beyond our ability to help.

Maria, Pat, Chelsey and Lindsay were all there with him when he crossed over the rainbow bridge. He went very peacefully and is no longer suffering. He was with his incredible foster parents who loved him more than you can imagine. We are so grateful for Maria and Pat and all they went through to try and rehabilitate this special boy and he has touched us all and will be remembered always for his strength and courage.