Happy Birthday Dasa

 Today is our Sweet Dasa’s 15^th birthday. 

What a joy and privilege it has been to be Dasa’s family. 

     

                         From the first days we were together in 2004,

 

Through the happy years,

                           

            

 

 

And now every treasured day,                                           

We are so very blessed to have Dasa with us.

Happy Birthday little girl.

Conversations with Dog

She rides shotgun on all my errands and doesn't complain if I drive a few miles out of the way for the best deal on Marie Callender's pot pies. She doesn't mind if my mood is good or bad.  My snoring doesn't keep her awake. She will dance around the house with me....if I put on Earth, Wind, and Fire. Or she will just as soon find the most comfortable towel in the pile to lie on while I fold the laundry. She loves the same music, the same tv shows, and she thinks my breath smells wonderful in the morning.

She also talks to me.

My Basenji, that is. She and I have conversations. And I don't mean "conversations", with rabbit ears and wiggly eyebrows.  I mean that I actually talk to her about things like work, people who make me mad, people we love and hope to see soon, and the weather. Oh, yes, we regularly discuss the weather. And she responds. We understand each other.

Okay, yeah. So her responses are baroos, short huffs, head spins, and the occasional eye roll (that was for scratching the Earth, Wind, and Fire cd). But there's a definite connection - we know where each other is coming from. I don't know how she knows. I don't know how I know she knows. She just....gets me. And she instinctively knows when I'm about to get up and go to the fridge.

Anthropomorphism. That's the nice word people who think I'm crazy like to use. But I just figure those people never had a dog. Or maybe they just live with a really mean hamster.

Having little chats with my dog isn't going to improve my IQ or change the world. But I get something out of bending down, scratching an ear, and asking, "What's up with you today? How's the weather down there?" And I believe that when she stares back and cocks her head to the side, she's saying, "Seriously....is that what you're wearing?"

Time Flies Like an Arrow

September, 2013
       Dr. Jennifer was concerned because Dasa’s liver levels were fluctuating. Would I consider an ultrasound? I said the first two things that came to mind.
     “Does she have to be anesthetized?” No.
     “Can I be with her?”  Yes. 
     “OK,” I replied. “OK.”
      Dasa has had 8 or more ultrasounds since then. I lose count. At each one I gently lower her onto her back in a padded trough, hold her feet and cradle her head against me while I croon soothing nothings, repeatedly telling her that she, Dasa, is a very good girl. Ultrasounds have become nearly routine. The first one, however, the first one was different, as firsts usually are.

     After the first ultrasound, the technician wiped all the gel off Dasa’s tummy, and I held her against my shoulder like a baby. Dasa leaned in, trying to keep as much contact with me as possible. We were taken not to a regular exam room but rather to the quiet room with its couch and comfy chair, its pillows and boxes of tissues, and I knew this would not be good.
     Dr. Jennifer explained that Dasa had masses on her adrenal glands, both of them, so surgery wasn’t possible and in any event, this was tricky dangerous surgery. She said the masses could grow, and since there was a major blood vessel close to the masses, there was a possibility they could grow into the blood vessel and Dasa would bleed out into her tummy.
     “Would she be in pain?” I asked. No, and this would happen very quickly.
      I was not in shock really, just holding myself very carefully together, trying to collect data and yet not examine it too closely. Not to breath too deeply or allow too much oxygen to my brain. Not until I took my baby safely home.

     I have always awakened at night to watch Dasa breathe, to hold quiet joy at having her snuggled near me. After this however, I wake several times each night, place my hand on her tiny ribs and wait for them to softly move beneath my touch. Not yet, I pray, not yet.

     When I come home and only Ivan comes down the stairs to see me, I greet my boy then dash up the stairs and down the hall, the internal chant—not yet, not yet, not yet—echoing like the rhythm of a train—not yet, not yet, not yet. As I enter the bedroom, I call her name, cheerily, not too loud, and my heart stumbles with relief and gladness when I see her ear twitch and her eyelids flicker, sleep still enfolding her. I sigh thankfully; not yet, not yet, not yet.

     Since that first diagnosis a little over a year ago, Dasa has been on an inexorable slide downward. Time, an elusive foe, slowly steals her away. The masses continue to grow. Her back legs are very wobbly and she no longer wants to go on walks, not even if I carry her. This illness causes her to drink a lot of water and to eat her three meals a day with manic eagerness.

     My exquisitely fastidious dainty girl will occasionally pee outside, but almost all elimination occurs inside. This distresses Ivan. We close off the piano room and living room during the day so we can all gather there together in the evening without having to shampoo that carpet on a daily basis.
     The kitchen and entryway have multiple rugs and piddle pads, which are changed several times a day. Upstairs, Dasa carefully, slowly climbs the doggy steps to reach her kitty cuddle bed on the big bed. We have waterproof  mattress covers and waterproof crib pads on sofas and ottomans. We’ve become very proficient at scrubbing spots on the carpet and changing sheets in the wee hours. We do lots of laundry, and I am continually thankful for our washer, dryer, & carpet shampooer that make it possible to keep Dasa’s surroundings clean and dry, not only for her but also for Ivan, who knows this is not supposed to happen and seems worried by it. 

     At our last exam a few weeks ago, Dr. Jennifer said the masses are growing around the blood vessels. Dasa could bleed out; she could have a stroke; she could die of old age.

     My heart cries not yet, while a quiet voice whispers, but soon. Soon, and you cannot stop it.

     If fate has a scale that must be balanced, then the great nearly inexpressible joy they bring us comes with the price of ineffable heartbreak when we lose them. And yet, to never have lived with their magic would be to exist without enough oxygen or light, like plants that are yellow and sickly because they don’t get enough sun.

     Dasa’s 15th birthday is November 22. I pray we reach it together. I pray she does not die when we aren’t home, as we should be with our baby when the angels take her away, and also because Ivan would be very distressed. I pray she continues to be pain free and love food; we’ve talked to our vet hospital about their house call service, should we need to make that decision. I pray she will leave us quietly in her sleep as she is snuggled between Eric and me on the big bed, her favorite place to be.

We are powerless. We were given this precious gift for just so long and no more. And, aware of our very powerlessness, our very tentative existence and happiness, we are profoundly grateful for every second.

Dogs and Ebola

Being a nurse I have been very interested in all reports and studies regarding Ebola.  I hope our followers find these articles both interesting and educational.

http://www.akcchf.org/news-events/news/akc-chf-statement-ebola.html

Dogs + Ebola: What Every Owner Needs to Know From the American Kennel Club and the AKC Canine Health Foundation

10/14/2014

In recent weeks, dog owners, supporters and donors have looked to the AKC Canine Health Foundation (CHF) and the American Kennel Club for credible information regarding Ebola virus in dogs.

At issue is whether humans can get Ebola from dogs, and whether dogs can even get Ebola in a form that is transmittable. Due to the complexities of the virus, only time and research will answer these questions.

“In humans, Ebola virus is detected using a diagnostic test for Ebola RNA.  In dogs, scientists will have to establish the presence of Ebola virus RNA along with whether the virus is replication competent and infectious,” said Shila Nordone, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer for the AKC Canine Health Foundation. “Only then will we have evidence that canine infection is a public health threat. All told, this will take many months.”

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http://www.akcchf.org/news-events/news/ebola-understanding-why-the-dog-is-in-the-conversation.html

Ebola: Understanding Viral Transmission, Pathogenesis and Why the Dog is Part of the Conversation

10/16/2014

In the news recently there have been reports of three health care workers, one in Spain and two in the United States, who have been diagnosed with Ebola virus. Two of these women are also dog owners.  The dog in Spain was euthanized in the interest of public health. The dog in the United States is currently quarantined. 

To better understand why dogs are part of the conversation and why these two countries reacted differently, a better understanding of Ebola virus is necessary.

Viruses are ranked on a biosafety level (BSL) scale from 1 – 4, with 4 being the most severe. Ebola is a BSL4 pathogen, for which there are no approved therapeutics or vaccines. The virus is transmitted from one individual to another through the exchange of bodily fluids and enters the body through exposed cuts or mucous membranes, such as an individual’s mouth or nose.

Public health officials are concerned about the role of dogs in Ebola virus transmission because there is scientific evidence that another mammal, the bat, is a reservoir for the disease. A reservoir host is one that carries the virus, is asymptomatic (displaying no symptoms of infectious virus), and that transmits the disease to humans or to other animals.

Based upon a research study in 2005 we know that feral dogs in African villages where there have been large scale epidemics seroconvert to Ebola. Seroconversion means the dogs have been exposed to virus and have produced antibodies specific for Ebola virus. Seroconversion does not imply production of infectious virus that can be transmitted to people or other animals. In other words, this study indicates that Ebola virus breached the dog’s mucosal barrier, was recognized by the canine immune system as being foreign and the body responded by producing anti-Ebola antibodies. In this study, dogs were described as being asymptomatic, and there was no evidence that virus was transmitted between dogs or from dogs to any other host.

In summary, there is currently no evidence that exposed dogs become productively infected and shed Ebola virus. So while there have been documented cases in Africa where dogs are exposed and respond to this exposure by producing anti-Ebola antibodies, there has been no evidence that the dogs infect people or other animals. Because there are unknowns in the Ebola chain of transmission, public health officials in Spain erred on the side of caution and chose to humanely euthanize the dog. In the United States, public officials have quarantined the dog in order to monitor him and perhaps arrive at a better understanding of what role, if any, the dog may have in the chain of transmission.

Help make strides in canine immunology and infectious disease research by supporting the work of the AKC Canine Health Foundation. Your donation will help researchers find better treatments and more accurate diagnoses that not only impact our dogs, but impact humans as well.

Are dogs part of the chain of transmission of virus?

Infectious virus must be produced in a sufficient quantity and be provided a method of transport in order to be spread from host to host. Based on other better established viral transmission models, we know that viral amplification in an intermediate host is a prerequisite for transmission. As mentioned above, we do not know if the dog’s intracellular machinery can support viral replication, packaging and formation of infectious viral particles, nor do we know how the dog might shed virus for transmission to another host if it is asymptomatic. Extensive research is necessary to answer this question. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is currently working on recommendations for handling, testing and treatment of companion animals associated with human cases, and that information will be forthcoming.