Man Are We a Drag...

It seems like we only blog when we've got bad news to share. I'm really sorry guys - it's been one seriously lousy summer.

We took a bunch of time off to just be Newfs with our Mama, taking care of her after she lost the puppy, (like Pooka in the picture here demonstrating the proper way to perform the Yoga position "Downward Facing Dog"!), but now it's all gone topsy turvy and she has to take care of us!

And she's going to fill you in because frankly, we can't spell all the words.

Hey y'all - The Mama here, with a report on the State of the Newf in New Jersey:

Pooka's brother, Marcus, (you might remember Marcus from the post about Nanook's trip to Canada), was recently diagnosed with a neurological disorder called Laryngeal Paralysis. The vets call it LarPar for short, which is a very cutesy name for a Not Cute At All disease. Marcus had a history of coughing, gagging, and making a sound that his mother refers to as "roaring" occasionally. Immediately I felt concerned. Pooka occasionally gags on his kibble, and sometimes he coughs when he's thirsty. He's also slowed down over the past six months. A LOT. No more marathon runs/walks - no more long swims. He'll only fetch for 15 minutes, then he takes a break. I thought maybe his hips were starting to bother him - but one of the symptoms of LarPar is exercise self-restriction.

At the same time, Pooka has had an ear infection that we just haven't been able to get rid of. So the allergist/dermatologist at our veterinarian's office recommend that he be sedated, and have an ear flush and deep cleaning performed. While he was under, we would have him tested for Laryngeal Paralysis, and also take new xrays of his hips, since the only views we've ever taken were when he was 8 months old.

All of that happened on July 23rd.

The ear cleaning went well. CT scans were taken of his middle ear to rule out middle ear disease as a factor in the Infection That Will Not Die, and those came back pretty normal looking. The doc removed a lot of impacted horrible black stuff from his ear canals, and sent us home with clotrimazole solution that will hopefully let us finally kick this infection.

The hip radiographs were taken, and according to all the vets that saw them, there is minimal osteo-arthritic bone growth. The xrays look similar to the ones taken when he was 8 months old - very little change. Which is AWESOME news - as it means that at least where his hips are concerned, my baby bear won't be having trouble getting around any time soon.

Unfortunately, we don't know which will last longer, his hips, or his ability to swallow and breathe. The Laryngeal Paralysis test was positive for LarPar on the left side of his larynx. The left arytenoid cartilage flap was, in fact, completely paralyzed. The disease is progressive - he will continue to lose function in his larynx until eventually both sides are completely paralyzed. He is also now 21 times more likely to develop Megaesophagus than a normal dog, because both conditions stem from damage to the vagus nerve. In short, it's a pretty poor outlook for our beloved Pooka Bear.

But we're NOT giving up! I've got to set up an appointment for Pooka to visit a neurological specialist - sometimes LarPar is a symptom of a larger underlying neurological condition, and finding and treating that condition can help prevent the LarPar from progressing too quickly. Hypothyroid is usually indicated, and so that will be the first thing we look for. I'm also switching Pooka to a home cooked or raw diet - (still doing research) - as I find it's much easier for him to eat solid foods than it is for him to eat kibble - which are basically tic-tac sized for him! Since overheating is a huge concern for dogs with LarPar, because they cannot pant like normal dogs to cool themselves down, we've really scaled back our summer exercise regimen (which was never particularly strenuous in the first place) - and we've added fans all over the house. The house has always been kept very cool for the dogs' comfort, and now there are floor fans in addition to the air conditioning! Pook really seems to appreciate them, especially after some exercise.

In the meantime, Nanook has developed hotspots all along the length of his tail, and one of the lymph nodes in his left hind leg is swollen. I'm hoping it's just his immune and lymphatic system doing their jobs, but just in case, we had it aspirated and sent out for cytology, and we're waiting for the results of that test now.

And that's pretty much everything that's been going on here. Hope all of you are well - if you've got some extra loving to spare, please send special prayers out for Marcus, Pooka, Nanook, and our friend Mango who has been having seizures!