Drum Roll Please

Caya has probably recovered the best she will. Her kidneys have permanent damage, but it's something we can live with. Will it take time off her life? Probably. But, as we learned with Tika, it's not the time it's the quality and quality is really freaking awesome.

Because Caya has EPI, the kidney diet (Science Diet K/D) is not agreeing with her. We switched her back to her 'normal' food and she went back to normal. So, the Catch 22, eat the diet she can digest well, or eat the diet that will benefit her damaged kidneys. We are going with digested food is the best bet.

So...............now what. What do you give your spouse who never asks for anything? But however is lost with out his Monkey-mute? What do you do?

You search every rescue in the nation, have countless email conversations, denied opportunities, impossible situations, and sometimes insulting experiences.

Then....it all works out. You find the perfect situation, the perfect puppy, and you let spouse know....

The new little girl will never fill the hole in your heart, but she will create her own pawprints.

So, happy anniversary, honey, and everybody else.... Meet Sitka. This is a pic I got when she's four weeks old at this pic. Looks a little like a Guinea Pig, eh?

PS--I should mention that little miss doesn't come home until March. However, I love getting the baby pics!

Reason #4921 why Caya's breeder is evil

Because I have a fondness for annoying myself, I went to Caya's breeder website.  (Still it shall remain anonymous)

There was an article written by the breeder about her long-coated shepherds.  It states in the article that she has never had a long-coated shepherd without an undercoat.

Uhhhhh, whatever!  Caya TOTALLY doesn't have an undercoat, she hardly sheds (well, except when she gets a yeast infection)  I comb her with a fine tooth comb.  It's about as fine as my hair is.  When we went for a check up, I asked the vet, do you think she has a undercoat?  The vet said, what, NO WAY! I shared the story with her.

This person has been in total denial about ANY of Caya's medical conditions, the EPI, the weirdness when she was a puppy, the allergies.  What about responsible breeding, people? It applies to the dogs that don't always work about perfectly and you can get $12,000 for!

I comfort myself in knowing that there's a couple of very well reknown vet hospitals out there, TAMU canine gastro-intestinal and KSU Vet school that have Caya's DNA and complete medical and breeding history.  She's my beautiful baby, and I love her, but no doggie should go through what she goes through, and a lot of wonderful people are working hard to prevent it. 

I am glad I have her, because I can afford to pay for her care, and I am willing to sacrifice personally to make sure she gets it. 

All we need to add to that is some responsible breeding and ownership of genetic anomalies if they happen. Not the garbage we've been getting.

Off my soapbox now!

Secondary problems with EPI

Caya was starting to act a little funky and losing a bit of luster in her fur and not eating, so I took her to the vet.

I read that EPI dogs can have vitamin deficiencies, particulary cobalamin (B12).

Well, sure enough, Caya has that deficiency.

So what now? Well, after a long argument with the vet, I convinced them to let me do the shots at home.

It's a simple subcutaneous shot of cobalamin in a series for a month. We might have to do a maintenance shot monthly.

I was very annoyed with our vet, I had given my cat SubQ fluids for almost two years for her renal failure, I understand what to do.

This was a cake walk, that little needle into Caya's ruff, nothing like a big IV needle into my little jellicle cat.

So we are working on that now, last night Tika came to fuss with Caya just as I was giving her the shot and Caya jerked. The cobalamin itself is a pinkish red, so when hubby saw the fluid run all over my hand, he about passed out. It's not blood!

Caya just slightly twitches when I jab her, like, ew a bug bit me.

DNA dog and don't mess with us!

So, we inform our vet of what the breeder said. She's pissed also. We can form a club, let's make T-Shirts!

So, we find out that Texas A & M is doing a genetic marker test and gathering DNA to try to isolate the gene that causes EPI.

Oh, yeah, totally gather all of Caya's biographical/breeding history up and make a nice little packet for them. Hah. Try to get out of that Evildoer.

Also, I got a copy of all of Caya's lab results, etc and scanned them and emailed to Miss Bitch and her retarded vet.

Oh, Caya, DOING GREAT. Go, go speed racer!

Caya's evil breeder

OOOOOOO.

I'm pissed. Very pissed. Hubby is ballistic.

He called Caya's breeder, because we were told that we need to inform her of Caya's condition, that it's hereditary and she should not breed Caya's parents or siblings.

So, conversation ensues.

Mild mannered husband's voice gradually gets louder and louder and more irritated.

Then I hear, "EXCUSE ME, but Caya does NOT look like a thoroughbred, she looks more like a concentration camp victim."

WTH?

So he hangs up on her, and starts fuming. Evidently, the breeder is totally in denial that Caya could have EPI, that all of her dogs have that sleek, 'throroughbred' look and that our vet was too quick to diagnose EPI.

Now I am pissed. I have spent the last 3-4 weeks up with Caya during the night comforting her, asking her to hang in there, telling her to be strong.

We make a note to call the vet in the morning and crack open a wine and play with our babies.

EPI dog

One week into treatment/maintenance for EPI. Within 3 days she had her first regular bowel movement in about 3 months. Happy dance.

She's starting to be able to sleep and the horrible gurgling has stopped in her belly.

She celebrated with a long overdue mauling of her sister Tika. Tika is so nice, she takes it graciously.

An answer for Caya has been found

Caya is now down to around 43 pounds. You can see every bone in her face. She looks horrible, her fur is starchy and lank.

Texas A & M had the vet do a TLI test. (don't even get me started on what all it is, click the link here)

She has Exocrenic Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). The pancreas has two functions for both dogs and humans, one is the exocrenic which is when the pancreas provides an enzyme to the small intestine to aid in the digestion and absorption of nutrients. The other is the more commonly known endocrinic that provides insulin and blood sugar regularity.

The good news: We need to start providing her with the enzyme her poor little body can't make. She is not diabetic.

The bad news: It's a lifelong condition and the vet says that the Viokase to treat the EPI is $200/month. Yikes.

Because of the EPI, Caya has small intestine bacterial overload (SIBO), because when the body can't produce the digestive enzymes, the beneficial bacteria in the small intestine gets out of control. So we have to get that under control.

She also has some nutrient difficiencies that food and medication with regulate.

So what do we do know? We feed little girl as much as she wants.