Sadie's Story
(anti-depressant treatment)
Tybee's Story
(ear ablation)
Daffney's Story
(severe GI
Track problem)
Tasha's Story
(ear
ablation)
Maggie's Story
(ear problems & raw diet)
Sadie's Story
By Kim
I adopted Sadie from a local rescue in Columbus, OH
in April of 2001. I had two cockers already and wanted to help a “rescue
cocker.”
Within minutes of bringing her home, we realized
Sadie had been physically abused in her previous home. She cowered when you
went to pet her, fell on the floor shaking and urinated herself if anyone
raised their voice. It didn’t even have to be directed at her. She was
also an aggressive “fear biter.” You could not brush up against her, touch
her from behind, pick her up…she instantly became frightened and would
bite. But the worst part was…..she was the same way with my other two
cockers. They couldn’t even approach her. If they accidentally brushed up
against her, they got into a scuffle.
We decided to try and keep her. We thought with
love and patience we could help her trust again. We made a conscious effort
not to ever yell at her or physically punish her (not that we do with any of
our dogs) or play rough with her. We don’t have any children, so that
wasn’t a concern. She was still nervous…nothing we tried worked.
We contacted an animal behaviorist. She gave us a
game plan. We followed it for 6 months…Sadie’s behavior worsened. I was at
the end of my rope….it had been my idea to adopt her and while I could take
her behavior toward me…I couldn’t put up with her biting my husband and
especially my other two dogs.
The behaviorist came for a follow-up visit,
expecting to hear good news. I told her she had three options: we could
return Sadie to the rescue, she could prescribe her Prozac (I had researched
the use of Prozac with dogs) or as a last resort, we could put her to
sleep. Sadie wasn’t a mean dog, but she couldn’t relax due to the abuse she
had sustained. She was leading a miserable existence.
The behaviorist said returning her to the rescue
wouldn’t solve the problem. Someone else would adopt her and the whole mess
would start over again. She felt we were the perfect family for Sadie…..we
had no children and I am very calm and easy going…what Sadie needed in an
owner. She prescribed Prozac AND ….life for Sadie as she had known for 3
miserable year’s ended……she’s now a wonderful, playful, relaxed
companion…enjoying life and her family. She hasn’t bitten, growled, picked
a fight with my other dogs or peed herself since.
Prozac can have adverse effects on the Liver and
Kidneys of dogs. We take Sadie for testing twice a year. She has been
taking the medicine regularly for over a year and so far, her Liver and
Kidneys are fine. In my opinion, leading a happier, shorter, life is much
better than leading a longer miserable life or being euthanized and having
no life at all. The Prozac is $25 a month…a small price to pay for the love
she gives.
Tybee's Story
By Gina
Tybee Savannah, a four-year old Cocker
Spaniel was plagued with chronic ear infections most of her life, the vets
called it "chronic otitis". Severe food allergies and other airborne
allergies greatly attributed to her ears inability to heal completely. I
spent thousands of dollars, went to four different vets and did everything I
was told, everything I could learn, spent countless hours researching and
cried so many tears over her. I watched her, feeling so helpless as she
would scratch her ears so hard the back of them had no fur and would bleed,
and she would constantly shake her head and hold it to one side. She was in
agony suffering, and nothing would give her relief. Her ears were
constantly red and swollen. She had a brown discharge from yeast and
bacteria, and they hurt her so much to touch. I would clean them, the
doctors would clean them and, by the next day, everything was the same
again. I tried every food I learned about, every ear cleaning solution on
the market that I could find. Her ears became so swollen inside that we
couldn't even get solution in the canal to try to relieve some of the pain.
So much scar tissue had formed that it was impossible to have hope of them
ever becoming normal or infection free. So, after two horrifically painful
years battling infections and yeast and scar tissue formation and the stress
and anxiety that were eating away at our family, I made a decision, the
hardest decision I ever had to make -- in January of 2003, Tybee, now three
years old, the most extreme ear surgery done, a Total Ear Ablation and I was
scared. And still feeling so helpless.
She spent four days at the clinic
being monitored. Away from home, away from me, and all I could do was wait
and trust her care to others. The Total Ear Ablation removed her ear canals
and middle ears and the opening to her ear canal was sewed closed. I had to
sacrifice the hearing of a my baby, only a three-year old dog so she could
have a better quality of life -- if everything went right. I could have
lost her. I believe in my heart I did all I could to avoid this surgery; we
had no choices left and she was suffering -- so much scar tissue, eardrums
that were gone, infection that could have gone to her brain.
Looking back in hindsight the
surgery turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to us. Tybee
actually recovered quite quickly with all the well wishes of our friends and
was back to playing ball within weeks. To our surprise she can even hear
many things too. I had taught her hand signals since she was a puppy knowing
how many cocker end up going deaf. Tybee also has a wonderful temperament,
and she is as tough as nails. Her love for her ball is beyond words. She is
pain-free now living her comfortable and spoiled life. Her little shaved
head, leg and ears are growing back finally too. We owe her life to her
wonderful vet/surgeon and to our friends who helped us pay for this costly
surgery. Tybee probably had some of the worst ears I had ever seen on a
cocker spaniel. I know I did whatever I could to avoid this, but it wasn't
the end of the world. We hope that her experience will educate people about
good breeding practices (hoping to avoid things like this if it was genetic)
and stress how important it is to be vigilant cleaning and keeping an eye on
your dog’s ears. Tybee is my baby girl and I don't know what I'd do without
her. Tybee is so much better since the surgery and is acting like a little
puppy dog again, pain free and carefree. May she be an inspiration with her
will for life and a wonderful soul of a Cocker Spaniel. To read all of
Tybee's Story with pictures click here~
www.ourcockerclub.com/tybees_story.htm
Daffney's Story
By Cheryl
September
2001, when out of the blue I made a trip to Elmendorf, Texas to look at some
cocker puppies that I saw ad for in the newspaper. I finally found the
address park my car and went to knock at the front door as the door open 8
cocker pups greeted me along with the breeder. They all were so cute but one
stood out more then the others. As the puppies followed me around the
dinning/living area it was the one that tag along last that I had to have.
Well, that was Daffney the one that tag along. It did not take long before I was glued and attached to Daffney,
as she was very attached to me. We had Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
what great first holidays we had with our cocker around to get into the
wrapping paper and go tearing though the house with it as she left a trail
of paper behind her.
New Years Day January 1, 2002, I notice that Daffney, my puppy, was not
acting herself. Daffney was not acting like the normal puppy running around
the house getting into all kinds of trouble. Daffney wanted to do nothing
but lay around even though she would follow me from room to room she would
just tag along and lay down look up at me with those brown eyes. I knew that
Daffney was trying to tell me something and that she was not feeling well.
Daffney did not want to eat or even go out a potty.
By afternoon I was worried sick knowing that it was New Years Day and the
vet office was closed. I knew that I could not wait until morning. I placed
a call to Daffney vet office answer service to ask that the vet on call give
me a call. The vet on call (not Dr. Bell) called me back very quickly and
ask if we could meet him at the office. When we got the office Daffney was
examined and put on medication "amoxidrops" (sp) as the vet was sure she had
eaten something she should not have and once medication was in her system
she should start to feel better.
As the afternoon and evening came and went Daffney did not show any signs of
getting better or acting herself. All Daffney wanted to do was lay around
sleep and be very close to me. First thing the next morning Dr. Bell called
to check on Daffney - after finding out she was no better ask that I bring
her in right away.
Dr. Bell asks for us to leave Daffney in his care to do X-rays and upper G.I.
series. Dr. Bell discovered that Daffney had some kind of blockage in her
small intestine. The only way Dr. Bell would be able to see what was going
on was to do surgery. Daffney was one sick little puppy that is for sure and
we all knew that.
It was now January 3rd the day Dr. Bell performed surgery to fine that 13
inches of Daffney small intestine was dead. The 13 inches of the dead tissue
was removed during surgery. It was a long day waiting for my cell phone to
ring with Dr. Bell on the other end to tell me that my Daffney was going to
be okay.
I would have never ever thought it was something as this and asking what
caused this? Dr. Bell explained that he could not give me a reason why but
was sending the tissue to a history pathologist to be tested. All tests came
back okay - WOW what a freak think I thought to happen to Daffney.
Daffney still had long road to go - they had to work very slow to bring her
back to eating and drinking. By January 6th I finally was able to bring her
home. Daffney was so very skinny with her tummy and leg shaved. I felt so
bad for her but at the same time was so Happy she was alive and getting to
come home. Daffney came home with special food and several kinds of
medications to take. I could only give her a tablespoon of water every 2
hours and slowly adding a little more each time. We had medication time
every couple of hours she was such a good puppy about it all.
It was wonderful to have my Daffney, my wiggly butt, and my shadow back to
herself. Daffney has been going 100% full speed ahead ever since and I love
it.
Princess Daffney Gann
My Texas Bluebonnet - I love you so....
Tasha's Story
By Gordon
In
early March of 1998 our apartment complex notified everyone that
the new
management was allowing small dogs, the next morning I happened
to check the papers to see what dogs may be available. That's
when I saw the ad for Cocker Spaniels. Remembering my first
dog, Rex, a beautiful buff cocker, I immediately set up an
appointment with the breeder to see his puppies.
That night we arrived on time to find 7 wonderful little cockers
spaniels all trying to get our attention. I'm not sure what it
was about Tasha that attracted us to her, she was not the most
aggressive, nor was she the runt of the litter. She stood back
most of the time checking us out. She was careful in selecting
us for her new parents and it wasn't long before we were on our
way to Pet Smart to pick up all of the things a young puppy
needs.
We quickly learned she loved shopping, she sat in the shopping
cart, her tail never stopped wiggling, enjoying all of the
attention a new puppy gets from everyone who meets her. On the
way home we went to pass a truck, maybe it was the noise, or the
size but Tasha was scared and made her way under my coat for
protection. I knew then that she was going to need me for
protection and that I was in love with her.
Everything went fine until August, Tasha was under the weather
and we began taking her to the vets, on the 3rd visit in three
days, and $600 later the vet assistant said they lost Tasha's
file and she would need all of her shots again. We left without
knowing why Tasha was ill, it was the hardest night of our
lives, not know what was wrong or how to make her feel better.
By morning Tasha was not any better, we called our groomer for a
vet recommendation and headed over to meet them, within a few
minutes we knew what was wrong. Tasha was pregnant and due any
day. This couldn't be, she never left my side, the only place
this could have happened was at the groomers. The vet was sure
of his diagnosis, he showed us that Tasha was even expressing
milk, again we protested, this couldn't be. He further examined
her and said we were right, Tasha was experiencing a false
pregnancy!
We learned that although Tasha would not be having any puppies
she would soon be experiencing a sense of loss. We were told to
buy her a stuffed animal that could work as a replacement. We
found that a couple of cocker Beanie Babies would work just
fine. She carried them around the house for weeks, sleeping
with them, even carrying one outside when she had to go potty.
It was the cutest thing you ever saw!
As fall approached Tasha began scratching all the time, her ears
especially. With grooming every 4 weeks and vet visits to
determine why the itching went on we again became frustrated. We
tried everything we heard of, even many home remedies, all kinds
of meds, different types of foods, even a raw diet didn't help.
It was so hard, cleaning her ears everyday. She was not a happy
puppy!
By the third year we were told that Tasha would need surgery,
since her vet owned an animal hospital we were skeptical to say
the least. Her groomer felt here ears were fine, we got several
different opinions all with various suggestions. We did this for
4 more years. By then you couldn't even touch Tasha's head
without her winching in pain. Finally in September of 2004 we
came across a web site that made us realize we needed to get
Tasha some real help.
Tybee's
story convinced us that there was
hope of getting our healthy puppy back!
As we read Tybee's story we realized that we were really reading
Tasha's story! We found a vet who understood we wanted surgery
as a last result only. He took an MRI and soon had us looking
over a plastic model of a dogs ear, explaining to us what was
wrong with Tasha at this point. She needed a total ear ablation
right away. We agreed to have the surgery preformed on only her
left ear. Our vet used the latest equipment, laser surgery and
a pain patch, little relief when you see your dog with 18 hours
of surgery, What had we done? Was this the biggest mistake,
Tasha couldn't
look at us, her eyes shifted back and forth, her ear looked just
awful. For the first time in years I actually cried!
We learned that the infection in Tasha's ear burst her ear drum,
and although in constant pain she never cried or whimpered. Had
we waited, even a couple more days the infection would have
entered her brain and we could have lost our little girl.
Over the next couple of weeks Tasha improved greatly, we talked
to the vet about Tasha's right ear and what could be done, she
was given only a 10% chance of the ear healing completely so we
went ahead and had the second ablation done, this time she was
up and about by the next morning. It has been 2 months now
since the second surgery, we thought we would now have a dog who
was completely deaf, well the good news is she can still hear
many things, what we call "selective hearing." She is like a
little puppy again, jumping, running and barking at all the
little things she enjoys,
she's even chasing squirrels again.
Like
Tybee, Tasha was a victim of poor breeding. We also called our
breeder, no surprise he hung up on us when he didn't like
hearing what we were telling him and he refused to return any of
our calls. Tasha has a long way to go before she is completely
healthy. She still has skin allergies that seem to keep changing
as does the weather. Most days she is a happy cocker, wiggling
her butt for everyone. We are content to let her chase her
balls, pick on her new feline sister Ariel, and to bark at our
parrot Kito, who likes to call out her name and whistles to make
her come to him. She hears him ok.
Tasha is part of our family and is in our hearts to stay.
Gordon & Gary - Tasha's Dads
Maggie's Story
By Jennifer
When
Maggie was around 2 years old, she started getting an ear
infection in her right ear. So, I brought her to the vet, she
prescribed some drops for her and told me to give them to her
for 2 weeks, well the drops were not working and in my opinion,
keeping her ear moist because I was having to put them in 2-3
times a day. So, back to the vet we go!! Her vet decides maybe
the prescription we were giving her was not fighting what was in
her ear. So, a swab test and a follow-up were in order. In the
meantime, her vet put her on steroids to try and open up the
canal to allow the infection to come out. I was having a hard
time getting the infection out with the q-tips. Maggie's ear
was sore as well, very red and gooping and the canal was slowly
closing day by day.
Back to the vet to see what
the swab results were, she had yeast growing in her ear, and the
canal was still not opening even after the round of steroids. So
another round of steroids, some different drops and back home we
went. After finishing that medication back to the vet's we go
because still no improvement and now I can barely get any of the
medication in at all, things were really not looking good. When
we went back, her vet had to use a cat scope on Maggie because
her ear was almost swollen shut and of course she would cry
whenever the vet tried looking into it. My heart was
breaking.....
Karen (her vet) gave me EDTA
(I think that is the name, my apologies it has been awhile)
basically it was a flush for her ear. Well that was a total
waste of time and money, the canal was closed, I couldn't even
get the solution in there. I cried and cried, I didn't know
what else to do to help her.
So back to the vet we go (at
this point it had been around 8-9 months since the infection
first appeared and around $1200 spent on meds that were not
helping). Karen tried looking at her ear one more time and said
she had some bad news, she couldn't even get the cat scope in
anymore and that she thought it was best that Maggie be
recommended to a specialist at another office, who performed the
total ear ablation surgery and see if she was a candidate for
it. I must admit that I cried right in her office and took
Maggie home, with an appt to see the surgeon in a couple of
days, it was a very sad day.
We go see the surgeon, he
asks me a bunch of questions about Maggie, what she ate, her
coat condition, chewing her paws, etc..... At the end of the
appt he confirmed what Karen had said that Maggie would need the
surgery, no other options were left. But the surgery costs
around $2000 per ear and I just did not have that kind of
money. I started thinking about selling my car, anything to
raise the money for Maggie, as they would not perform the
surgery until I had it but if I waited too long the infection
could go to her brain. In a last ditch effort; I went onto the
Internet to see what I could find out about the total ear
ablation surgery (aside from what the vet's told me). I must
admit that I did not like what I read; very invasive surgery and
she would be deaf in that ear. Now her vet said to me, "She is
probably deaf anyways because of the infection."
I then fell upon "Our Cocker
Club" and read about Gina's Tybee having had the ear surgery and
began chatting with her about what to expect. She showed me
pictures of how the ear looks afterwards. But Gina insisted
that I join this club first and speaking with GinaNY*
before booking the surgery. So I did and it is from this point
on that Maggie's life was changed forever, gosh I am getting
glossy eyed at work just typing this.
Anyways, GinaNY had me go out
and get the ingredients to make the Blue Powder treatment and
get some gosh, I forgot the name, Panalog it comes in a tube.
Maggie's vet did not keep it in stock, so I asked her to order
it; she insisted it had very similar ingredients to other meds
she had already tried. Basically I had to tell her, it is my
money and my dog, so please order me the meds, and she did. Jane*
introduced me to raw feeding (I will admit that I was very weary
about this) but would try anything at least once. I found a
store that carried it and began feeding it to her, at first she
would only eat the beef because she was a little unsure of it,
having eating kibble for so many years.
I followed the Blue Powder
Treatment religiously and putting in the Panalog on even just
the outside of her ear. Now, I must say that I got a 2ml
syringe from the pharmacist and had to very, very, very slowly
get the blue treatment into her ear canal, if I went too fast
then it would just run down the side of her face. I did this for
about 4-6 months (I think) and just kept at it. Seeing very,
very gradual improvement in the ear. It wasn't as red anymore
and the amt of "goop" I was taking out of the ear was getting
less and less. Then one day, I am cleaning her ear with a q-tip
and I am thinking to myself, I think I am getting the q-tip in
further than I have ever been able to before...or am I imagining
things? So I made an appt for her with the vet, to see what
Karen’s opinion is. We get into the examination room and Karen’s
checks Maggie out and then takes a look at her ears. She is
using the cat scope; she gets down there and is actually looking
around for at least a minute. I am standing there thinking, I
have never seen her be able to look into Maggie's ear for so
long. She pops her head up and says, Oh my goodness I can
actually get the scope into her canal, let me try the dog scope.
She was able to get that in
as well and could only see a tiny little bit of infection left
at the very bottom. She stood up and began crying telling
me that I had done it and that she absolutely did not need the
surgery anymore. I started crying too and it was just the best
day of my life. I believe Karen cried because she did not
believe in what I was trying to do for Maggie and we ended up
prevailing the winners in the end. Nothing personal against her
vet, she is a great lady and still go to her to this day, it is
just not what she was taught or learnt about in school. Maggie's
ear is still doing great to this day. No sugar, no grains and
it is fine. She does still have some scar tissue, her right ear
stands out from her head a bit more than the left, but it
certainly causes her no pain and we have not been to the vet
about her ear in over a year.
And just when you think this
story can't get any better, she has lost a significant amt of
weight and her coat is magnificent looking. She is back to be a
healthy happy dog.
This is my Maggie's story and
one I hope we can all learn from.
September
2001, when out of the blue I made a trip to Elmendorf, Texas to look at some
cocker puppies that I saw ad for in the newspaper. I finally found the
address park my car and went to knock at the front door as the door open 8
cocker pups greeted me along with the breeder. They all were so cute but one
stood out more then the others. As the puppies followed me around the
dinning/living area it was the one that tag along last that I had to have.
Well, that was Daffney the one that tag along. It did not take long before I was glued and attached to Daffney,
as she was very attached to me. We had Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
what great first holidays we had with our cocker around to get into the
wrapping paper and go tearing though the house with it as she left a trail
of paper behind her. 
In
early March of 1998 our apartment complex notified everyone that
the new
management was allowing small dogs, the next morning I happened
to check the papers to see what dogs may be available. That's
when I saw the ad for Cocker Spaniels. Remembering my first
dog, Rex, a beautiful buff cocker, I immediately set up an
appointment with the breeder to see his puppies.
When
Maggie was around 2 years old, she started getting an ear
infection in her right ear. So, I brought her to the vet, she
prescribed some drops for her and told me to give them to her
for 2 weeks, well the drops were not working and in my opinion,
keeping her ear moist because I was having to put them in 2-3
times a day. So, back to the vet we go!! Her vet decides maybe
the prescription we were giving her was not fighting what was in
her ear. So, a swab test and a follow-up were in order. In the
meantime, her vet put her on steroids to try and open up the
canal to allow the infection to come out. I was having a hard
time getting the infection out with the q-tips. Maggie's ear
was sore as well, very red and gooping and the canal was slowly
closing day by day.