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I'm posting this, because I couldn't stop crying earlier and felt that writing it all out would let some of the burden go. Please bear with me.
Shai "Baby" Genevieve
Baby came to her forever home by chance, I had been looking for a dog that I could love as much as Shai the first for a long time. She was born January of 2007, and March 30th that year we went to fetch her. It was completely by accident that she was found for us, a close friend and family member had seen her and said "Do you want her? Go get her" So, to make this part of the story short we did. She seems so much older that what she is, many times I forget she's still a young "lady" because of the illness that has ravaged her body. As of this writing Baby is all of four years and 3 1/2 months old.
Baby is an Akita Inu, Pinto colored. Blessed with a heavy and soft coat of fur you just want to bury your hands into. It was love at first sight for me, and I held her the entire way home.
She bonded to me right from the first, even as small as she was if someone would approach me and she wasn't sure of them. Dog or person, she would give a warning growl and tell them in no certain terms "This is MY mama..back off"
As she grew, she became a firm member of the family. Laying and playing with our lab Waylon, getting belly rubs and scrubs from mama. Filling a hole in my heart I didn't realize was still there from when I lost Shai the first as a teenager.
In October of 2008, Baby developed what the vet thought was dermatitis. Her skin began sluffing off the back of her legs while under her front legs at the pits became raw and uncomfortable. Her belly was deeply sensitive to the touch and we began a treatment of deep conditioning, topical antibiotics and food changes due to the Vet believing that it was food allergies. Baby was only a year and a half old at this time.
I didn't know much about the genetic disorders Akita Inus were susceptible to, and the Vet sadly wasn't very familiar with the Akita breed. After changing her food, and working hard on her coat she began to get better. It took almost a month for the lesions to stop weeping, four more months for her hair to grow back.
March of 2009, everything seemed wonderful. She was healthy, happy. Loved her new food. Looking back through the pictures I now see a pattern that was moving so slowly we didn't notice. Baby's hair was turning grey and white on her face. By July 2009, looking at my picture folders she had lost a good amount of pigment. She had started getting sores on her nose and paws that I would treat.
It was between August and September that baby lost her vision for the first time. I didn't take pictures until after we had her on medication for a while, because I simply wasn't thinking of it. All I was thinking of was taking care of my little girls pain.
The Vet gave us devastating news that fall, Baby was diagnosed with something called VHK like syndrome in canines. Baby literally woke one morning and her eyes were swollen to where they were bulging. We took her to the Vet and the Dr told us what to expect. I was horrified, because of what this genetic disorder could do to a cherished pet.
After the Vet had treated her, and she went in for her followup in Nov of 2009 I was told to expect to have to let my girl go and wait for me in about 6 months time due to how aggressively it had attacked her eyes. I cried, I bargained and I coped but I never moved to acceptance.
I worked as hard as I could with her, she was placed on corticosteroids for her swelling. As symptoms would get better she would be reduced and would be ok for a short while but would have flare ups. The Vet wrote me a standing prescription so that I could treat flare ups immediately rather than waiting or taking the chance it would be a weekend when a flare up would occur.
Prednisone has a terrible effect on the body. Baby had multiple urinary tract infections, drank and ate constantly all the while dropping more than 25 percent of her body weight and started to become aggressive with people and animals. By the middle of 2010 she was completely blind with no chance of regaining her site so the prednisone was brought down the lowest dose possible for swelling/pain management.
Since the middle of 2010 Baby has been progressively getting worse, her recovery days fewer and farther in between. I have suffered two full bites, but I attribute them to human error rather than Baby herself. She wasn't adjusted to being blind, and was startled.
Due to VKH like syndrome being an autoimmune disorder, she can no longer get Vaccinations. Therefore if she bites another person it is an automatic death sentence for her.
By November of 2010, Baby was starting to have more bad days. Her eyes would become inflamed and painful, and I would devote myself to her for days to cool and soothe her eyes with damp cloths. Put in her eye drops and give her as much love as I could. Her coat was carefully cared for, and is no longer sluffing. But she's now experiencing other symptoms that made me feel I had to get a second opinion. I don't want to lose my little lady.
When you read the articles on VKH like syndrome in dogs most state that the attacks on the meninges and hearing centers don't happen. The symptoms of my girl are starting to tell a different story. Over the course of the last few weeks to get baby to acknowledge you the pitch has to be higher in your voice and louder. It takes multiple calls for her to respond. She is also losing her ability to use cognitive tracking, which is a way even blind dogs can navigate after one or two walkthroughs of a new place.
Even with no movement of items or furniture Baby has begun to run into things. She no longer cries out, or startles. She simply hangs her head and tries again.
She's starting to get sores between her toes, and licks at them off and on through the day. Baby has lost her drive to play, and rests most the time. She can still be motivated if you approach her in the right way, but it's getting more difficult.
For the last six months she has been laying in my room for bed, so that any time during the night I can reach out and touch her. She makes a noise and I'm there, she licks my hand, nuzzles my palm and then goes back to sleep.
This writing is on April 18th 2011, last night a close family friend came to visit. Someone that has known Baby since she came home to us. Held her as a puppy, played with her as a young girl dog. Took Baby in her lap as an adult dog, even at 80 lbs. Baby has licked all over her face, wagged her whole body and danced with this friend joyfully.
I had to take Baby by the collar, she let loose a deep chested growl and pulled her lips back when our friend approached.
Baby has had to be crated in the past when someone unfamiliar to her comes to visit, it's the nature of Akita's to be protective. They are loyal and dedicated, smart and loving. They are one person families, and it can break them to have to adjust to a new home. On the flip side, once they accept someone into their family- this behavior is not normal.
My heart is breaking.
It took me a very long time to find another dog I could love as much as Shai the first, one I could count on to protect me but be loving and sweet. One I could talk to, that might sound silly but she's always been my sweet ear. When my husband was working at night, or I was sad she would sit at my feet while I played with her ears and talked to her. Paying solid attention the entire time with head bobs and ear flicks.
I have a Vets appointment Friday, for a second opinion before I accept she has to be Slept away. On the off chance that maybe, just maybe there's something we missed.
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