Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.

Jada is a very special girl with a huge heart who came to us from a shelter in Wichita. She was picked up as a stray and remained at the shelter for her stray hold after which a very kind animal control officer contacted RMGDRI.

Some very nice volunteers transported her from Kansas to Colorado and she was vomiting and had diarrhea upon arrival. After a few days on a bland diet in her foster home she was doing much better.

Unfortunately, she took a turn for the worst last night and had to be rushed to the emergency hospital late due to a fever of 105!

She was extremely lethargic and vomited at some point while her foster mom was at work yesterday. Last night, she had no interest in food and just layed in the bedroom away from everyone. When she wasn't greeted at the door with a wagging tail upon her arrival home, Laura knew something wasn't right.

Jada stayed in ICU at Alameda East and, despite being on fluids and antibiotics all night, her fever remains at 104 this morning. Dr. Hillis is concerned that she may have pneumonia, so we are doing x-rays.

Dr. Hillis just informed us that the x-rays confirmed that Jada has a very serious case of pneumonia. It is affecting 80-90% of her lungs! Pneumonia is an inflammation in deep lung tissues where oxygen is absorbed into the body and waste gases are removed. It has potential to be life-threatening regardless of its cause, so we are extremely worried.

The plan for treatment at this point is a combination of intravenous fluid therapy, antibiotic therapy, nebulization and cupage. Nebulization involves a special piece of equipment called a “nebulizer,” which creates a mist of fine saline droplets. These droplets are far smaller than those produced by vaporizers which many people have in their homes. The droplet size determines how far into the respiratory tract the moisture can be inhaled. Vaporizer droplets are typically halted in the nasal passages and throat while nebulized droplets can travel all the way into the lung. The cupage creates a vibration which loosens the debris in the lungs and breaks everything up.

At this point, the doctor does not feel we need to do the oxygen cage, but that is certainly an option if things do not improve. Jada will need to remain in the hospital for at least a few days in ICU. She is in very critical condition, but we are happy that she is in such good hands with the staff at Alameda East!

April 14, 2006

AM Update

Dr. Hillis called with an update this morning and Jada is hanging in there. She said that Jada hasn't made as much progress as she would have liked, but her temperature has dropped to between 103-104 (normal is 100-102). Jada is oxygenating well and her respiratory rate is dropping gradually. She is so thin that she just doesn't have any body reserves, so she may need to stay in ICU a couple more days still. The plan is to retake x-rays tomorrow to see how her lungs look. She is eating well and progress is slow, but we have made small improvements at least. Please keep the healing thoughts coming her way!

Jada's medical care is costing the rescue thousands of dollars, so donations are very much appreciated!

PM Update

Jada still has a temperature of 103 this evening. Lindsay was able to visit her this afternoon and she really perked up and gave her some tail wags and kisses while she was there. Dr. Miller remains hopeful that she will get to return home to her foster family on Sunday.

As you can see from the photos, Jada is very emaciated. On a good and bad note, the doctor did discover that she has round worms, whip worms and tape worms, which obviously explains how thin she is! They dewormed her immediately, so hopefully that will help us get her back on the right track.

April 15, 2006

Overall, today has been a good day for Miss Jada! Her temperature has finally stabilized, she continues to eat and drink well, and we have seen quite a bit more tail wagging, which is always a good sign.

We did get some bad news as well unfortunately. Jada's heartworm test came back positive. The doctors do not believe that this condition is related to the pneumonia, however, and she is only a stage one. Since she is still young and clearly has a fighting spirit, Dr. Miller feels that she will have no problem with treatment once she is healthier.

Jada also had a pneumothorax today which is where the lung detaches from the rib cage creating the an air pocket. Her doctor had to tap the pocket to release the air and hopefully that is all that will need to be done.

Everyone at Alameda has fallen in love with her gentle spirit and is taking extra good care of her! At this point, all signs point to her getting to come home tomorrow, so our fingers are crossed. Dr. Barry will be taking over her care and will update us in the morning.

April 17, 2006

AM Update

Jada remains in ICU today and we aren't sure if she will be able to return home tonight, but we are hoping for some good news later in the day.

Yesterday, Jada's respiratory rate had increased and she developed another pneumothorax. Dr. Barry did a chest tap and was surprised with the large amount of air that was removed. They don't understand the underlying cause yet, so they want to be safe rather than sending her home and risking it reoccurring out of the hospital.

This morning Jada was taken off of the Oxygen and they are watching her closely. The x-rays over the weekend revealed that the pneumonia had cleared up quite significantly, so that was definitely good news. Her spirits remain much improved and she ate a good breakfast. She is hanging in there, that is for sure!

PM Update

Jada's respiratory effort and respiratory rate were still elevated this afternoon, so Dr. Barry had to do another chest tap procedure. They removed an additional 3.5 liters of air from the left side of her chest. He said the air has been gradually accumulating like a slow leak. Unfortunately, this means that Jada will not be able to return to her foster home tonight as we had hoped.

April 18, 2006

Dr. Hillis is taking great care of Jada, but she is still on the fence. Spontaneous pneumothorax can often require surgery to fix, so we are hoping this will not be the case with Jada! They took some more x-rays today to see how things were progressing. Some things have definitely improved like the pneumonia, but the air accumulation remains the same, which is discouraging. Her effort and respiratory rate are down, so they are weaning her off the supplemental oxygen this afternoon and will eventually pull the nasal oxygen tube as well. She is resting and eating well. We are taking things hour by hour at this point and sending all the good thoughts we can her way!

April 19th, 2006

Jada is doing much better today. Her respiratory rate continues to drop, she is eating well, and her temperature is normal. Dr. Hillis feels that she is safe to return home this afternoon, which is wonderful news! She will of course be sent home with lots of medications and will need to be watched closely for labored breathing and increased rate, but we are very optimistic that she has finally turned the corner now.

April 20, 2006

AM Update

Jada was released from Alameda East Animal Hospital yesterday afternoon around 4:00pm. She was very happy to be leaving and wagged her tail and greeted Lindsay with lots of kisses. She also jumped right in the car and was clearly ready to say adios to ICU!

When we got her home she appeared to be quite playful and wanted to run and play, so we had to baby gate her into a room to keep her as calm and quiet as possible. She is still breathing hard and coughing some, so we have to be careful not to let her over-exert herself quite yet. Luckily, Jada did relax and ended up sleeping for the rest of the evening and through the night.

Jada ate a small meal last night and a small meal this morning. She was sent home with an arsenal of medications, which she is taking, but she was very lethargic and almost didn't want to get out of bed this morning so we have been a little worried.

We were instructed to closely monitor her breathing. Her respiratory rate has been between 20-40 breaths per minute, so as long as she stays at that and her temperature remains normal, she should be okay. Please keep the healing thoughts coming her way and pray for continued progress!

PM Update

Around noon today, Bree and Lindsay decided they had better take Jada back for a check-up at Alameda because she just wasn't doing as well as we had hoped. She was still very lethargic, barely wanted to get up, and she wouldn't eat her midday meal.

Dr. Hillis discovered that her temperature had gone back up to 103.5, so she kept her for the afternoon to do some diagnostic tests. Her white blood cell count was normal and her x-rays showed that her chest had not gotten any worse, which was all good news.

Nevertheless, they still felt that it would be best to keep her overnight to give her IV fluids because she was clearly not feeling well at all. Her doctor also decided to give her one more antibiotic, to add to the 6 medications she was already taking, which will make sure that we kill off every single bad bacteria in her body and don't take any chances. She is so thin that we really need to get her back on track as quickly as possible!

04/21/06

Dr. Barry has been watching over Jada girl and had a fairly positive report today. Her temperature has normalized and she was moved out of ICU at noon today. She will be released from the hospital this evening and can return to her foster home.

She has been pretty finicky about food, so we are probably going to have to get fairly creative in that department in order to entice her to eat. She has to have food to take her medications, so Dr. Barry recommended trying just about anything including boiled chicken. We will be going grocery shopping to stock up on yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken broth, chicken thighs, etc.

Hopefully being back in a home environment will help boost Jada's spirits and we can get her back on the right track to recovery.

On another note, Jada's medical bills are now close to $4000, so we really need donations to help us cover the costs! You can donate online by credit card from our website or send checks to: RMGDRI, PO BOX 460773, Aurora, CO 80046-0773. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

04/22/06

Jada had a rough, sleepless night last night where she struggled to breath and gave us quite a scare. Luckily, despite our concern, the vets at Alameda examined her and said her respiratory rate and effort were good and she did not have to be re-admitted to the hospital.

This morning Jada ate about a 1/2 cup of dry food mixed with wet food, but unfortunately she then threw it up. We were unable to entice her to eat for the rest of the day. We tried boiled chicken, chicken broth, hamburger and rice, yogurt, various wet foods, and she simply had no interest in food. She would literally turn her head away from anything you would present her with. We were told that Jada might be nauseous from the combination of medications she was on, so we have tried not to worry, but it is hard to see a dog so skinny and so sick refusing meals.

Dr. Barry offered to come over tonight when he gets off work to give her some fluids in hopes that that will help. He is also going to examine her and determine if we need to adjust her medications or eliminate some of them to help get her back to eating. We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Barry and the rest of the staff at Alameda for their sincere care and dedication to Jada's case!

4/27/06

Jada continues to improve more and more everyday. She is bouncing around the property like a puppy, running after the other dogs and the horses in her foster home. You would never know that she is sick except for her physical appearance and when she is done playing, she sacks out and doesn't move for hours. Her appetite continues to improve and she is up to eating about 4 cups of dry food mixed with various "tasty" additions two to three times per day, depending on her appetite. Her deep cough also seems to be subsiding along with her gunky nose. She is extremely treat motivated and has learned to sit and lay down. Jada seems very happy, wagging her tail in approval all the time. She is a joy to have and we are so happy to finally see her making so much progress.

5/18/06

Jada has been making amazing progress since our last update! She weighed in at 107 lbs today, which means that she has put on 22 lbs in the last month. She still could use another 10-15 lbs more, but she is looking much better now.

Jada is a very happy dog and gives great kisses! She is very sweet and loving and her foster family absolutely adores her. She has had no problems with the other dogs, other than she doesn't always realize her size when she is playing. Jada is 100% house trained and has not been destructive when left with free roam of the basement. She goes in and out of the dog door as she pleases and romps around the property.

Now that Jada is at a healthy weight, she is now ready for her heartworm treatment. Her first injection is scheduled for Monday with Dr. Landry at TLC Animal Hospital in Lafayette. After this procedure, Jada will have to be kept crated when left alone and there will be no more playing for her, but we are anxious to tackle this last challenge and get her one step closer to going to her forever home!

June 6, 2006

Jada received her heartworm treatment on May 25th & 26th (2 injections) and she is now recovering and doing great! Her foster family has been doing their best to keep her as calm and quiet as possible and she will need to remain so for approximately 2 months with no running, jumping, or playing allowed. Jada will need to begin taking monthly heartworm preventative on June 25th and she will need to be retested September 25th.

Keeping her quiet has proven to be quite challenging for her foster family, however, we can tell she is feeling better because she is bouncing off the walls not being able to play. She hates being restricted but she is also very happy sacking out on the floor with her people. She has relapsed slightly in her potting training, but her foster family started crating her after she arrived home from the hospital, so that problem is basically under control again.

Jada has a long road ahead of her still, but she is a very special girl with a fighting spirit and she will be back to being a puppy again before she knows it! She is now available for adoption when the right family comes along who is willing to continue her aftercare and help her to fully recover.