Magic Max - daily bulletin

Felt foolishly disappointed yesterday because I coudn't see a specific improvement in Max, but for heaven's sake, he'll be doing backward somersaults if he makes a leap forward in improvement EVERY day. However, today, he's really walking around whenever he wants, wobbly, falls over occasionally, but OK. And he managed to get outdoors on his own, so I followed him and just steadied him from time to time for a minute or two, before using the towel sling again. He's definitely not going to be confined to the sitting room today - wants to have the freedom of the house, and I'm letting him. I'm letting the other dogs do their own thing too. I was worried about Satchmo being too boisterous and knocking him over, but he's being very respectful so far. Now that Nina's around agaain, Max is silently sending Satchmo out of the room again. Wish I could get Satch to do my bidding so easily!

Very trying week

It's been an incredibly difficult week, but thank God things are looking up now. Last Wednesday Max collapsed while out walking. He lost the use of his back end completely - didn't know where it was. I managed to get him to a neighbour's, and they (bless them) helped me get him back home and then take him to the vet. They sent us home for the night and said they would arrange an MRI for first thing in the morning. It's when you're on your own all night with 33kg of helpless dog that being on your own feels especially hard. I stayed up all night with him. I tried to get him out for a pee at 3.30, but just couldn't. At 5 am, I managed to get him out with a makeshift sling under his waist, but he was too stressed and unstable to do anything. I spent the night convinced he was in his last day. At 7.30 my neighbour helped me get him out and he peed. He lifted Max into the car and I set off to Bristol. They had to carry him in and I hated leaving him there for his MRI.

They didn't find anything on the MRI (eg slipped disc) and the assumed diagnosis was therefore a spinal stroke. Never heard of it before and was amazed to hear that most dogs recover well from this. Of course, Max is 14, so tougher. He came home Saturday with a sling. I was worried whether I would be able to look after him, esp peeing and pooping, but I managed OK with the sling. I put him in the sitting room so he had the carpet for grip and could get outdoors through the patio doors. We sat out in the garden for a while as the weather was lovely. I slept on the settee Saturday night.

On Sunday, he was dashing round the garden with me supporting him. He still couldn't stand up unaided, but when I let Nina in to see him, he leapt up and ran round the room after her! He wobbled a lot and fell over a bit, but nonetheless... The physio came and took me through the exercises I need to do. He did pretty well though.

By Monday he could get up unaided and walk about the room a bit. This was much faster progress than I expected, and I was thrilled. He even got up 8 stairs to try and find me ... and then got back down with minimal aid from me when the cleaner arrived and was greeted by the other two.

More of the same today. Expecting the physio again tomorrow. Can't rightly say how relieved I am. Long may it continue. God is definitely in my good books!

And Satchmo follows up Darlington...

with another BOB at Stafford open, plus Working Group 2. My boy! Thanks to judges Colin Gillanders and Alan Brown.

Satch gets BOB at Darlington

Satchmo (Grafmax Louis Armstrong) has just won his first Championship show Best of Breed at Darlington Show. V proud! Thanks to judge Nigel Morgan. Have been meaning for several years to make the 600 mile round trip to see friends near Newcastle and take in Darlington and NECDS. Finally did it. Great but emotional to see Gerry's best friends after so many years - very conscious of the empty seat at the dining table, but good to see them nonetheless.

Came back via Peterlee for NECDS dobe champ show. As expected, Amazon Russian Ice won limit and a Supeta was 2nd, but Satch came 3rd, so fairly content with that, what with so many professionals there. Lovely atmosphere, lovely people and so many came up to compliment me on Satchmo and tell me they were rooting for us. Long 4.5 hours back from there in heavy traffic and rain.

As these are Satch's first two shows in Limit Dog, I was pretty pleased.

New heart tests for Dobermanns

The Dobermann Breed Council (1) has announced new tests for early detection of heart disease in dobermanns. Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) can occur at any age, but is more common in older dogs. One of the challenges, therefore, is to identify young dogs that are at risk of developing the disease before they are used as breeding stock.

Troponin I is a protein that is present in cardiac muscle tissue. Increased levels of Troponin I can indicate heart muscle cell injury, as researched by Gerhard Wess and colleagues (2). This could be caused by a number of problems, not just by DCM, but a raised level of Troponin I indicates that echo and Holter testing are needed to test more specifically for the presence of DCM. As the tests only identify whether there is any heart damage at that time, it is important to retest regularly throughout the dog’s life. The Troponin I test is a simple blood test, so it is clearly more feasible to start young and repeat regularly than with echo and Holter testing.

Another possible marker, but with less clear evidence at present, is lactate levels. Lactate is a form of lactic acid, which is produced naturally by animals and increases during exercise or severe illness. If lactate is produced at a faster rate than it is being cleared from the dog’s body, even when it is not being exercised, there is some evidence from Bitten Jönsson’s work in Denmark that this may be a very early marker indeed of the dog’s potential to develop DCM later in life. At present, this assay is for research more than for diagnosis.

The Dobermann Breed Council (DBC) is working with Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan at Liverpool University to carry out Troponin I and lactate assays and the DBC will pay up to £50 towards costs for breeders who are member of a breed club affiliated to the DBC.

© Sue Thorn 2011

(with thanks to Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan and Rebecca Barber)

References

1. Dobermann Breed Council announcement, http://dobermannbreedcouncil.co.uk/troponin.html

2. Wess, Gerhard et al, 20I0, Cardiac Troponin I in Doberman Pinschers with Cardiomyopathy, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, vol 24, pp 843-849 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/204I2436

Pippi gone

Pippi went to her new home with Natasha and Julian and their 2 children last Saturday. Last thing I saw she was sitting on Natasha's lap licking her chin. My dogs don't appear to have noticed, but I like to assume there's been a bit of doggy grief in there somewhere. I took Nina to see her other daughter, Ella, yesterday, which she was very excited about.

Shame Pippi fell in the pond just before she left! I was indoors and heard Nina barking - that's nothing unusual as she barks at every passer-by, but this sounded panicky. I then heard a little squeak from Pippi (don't call her Pipsqueak for nothing) and knew exactly what had happened. Dashed out to find her doggy-paddling madly in the deep end - a few feet from the shallow end and beach but at 7.5 weeks that's clearly not obvious. Yoiked the poor girl out, wrapped her in towels and cuddled her till she warmed up and the adrenalin rush died down (in both of us!).

Update - better late than never

Well, just as it was getting interesting I got sidetracked and didn't make any entries. Sorry about that. Nina was confirmed pregnant at about 4.5 weeks, but it wasn't clear how many - looked small. At 7 weeks she was rescanned and ... just one pup. What a bugger. Rather worrying as you really can't afford to lose one when it's a singleton. However, all went well and she whelped at 6.15 on Weds 6 July.

Little Grafmax Solitaire (Pippi) weighed a healthy 460g. Here she is as a newborn. More like a little rodent than a dog! All has gone fantastically well. She's been given very active interaction and exposure to lots of things to compensate for not having sibling pups and she's extraordinarily confident at 5 weeks. She now weighs 3.5kg.

Satchmo adores her and plays with her very gently. Max hates her and doesn't want her near him. They are all jealous and seeking lots of attention. I started her on solid food at 3.5 weeks and will start weaning her away from Nina today. She's already sold and her new owners have been to see her twice and are coming again this weekend. Have alook at www.grafmax.org for more photos and video.