12/12/17- Crushed to report that we lost Paddy… He declined extremely quickly and the only thing we could do was to put him down.. He lived such a great life since coming into DDBR……. We are all crushed, especially his foster families.
7/3/17 UPDATE: Thank you all so much! Patrick’s surgery was a HUGE success and the specialist was even able to neuter him while he was under!! We are thrilled that this boy is doing so well. He is back in his foster home and healing wonderfully and he is now ready to be adopted if the perfect home would be willing to open their heart and home to him! Without your continued support, DDBR would not be able to help the dogs we help. THANK YOU for your continuous generosity! Paddy thanks you too and send smooches!
6/18/17 Update: Patrick update from Kristina, our Regional Coordinator who has Paddy!!
The wonderful Dr. Jim Bridge DVM repaired his cantaloupe sized hernia and also neutered our foster boy 🙂 It was a bigger surgery than imagined, as Dr. Bridge said that the defect was large enough for him to put his entire fist through comfortably. His intestines were irritated and so was his liver. Paddy has a pretty bad skin infection as well. He is on antibiotics and pain meds as well as the regular 5 medications he gets twice daily. My kitchen counter …looks like a small pharmacy. He HATES the Elizabethan collar but we can take no chances. If we aren’t right next to him it is on at all times he must wear it. Leash walks only and crate rest, as he is not allowed to jump or get up on the sofa for 2 weeks. He is on diuretics and needs frequent potty breaks. We cancelled our father’s day trip to stay home with him. He is well worth our time, but is an around the clock patient right now because he needs to be kept separate from our pack. We have triple digit heat this week to add to the circumstances of juggling dogues in the yard. Paddy thinks I’m a big party pooper because he can’t play in the pool. And then the “cone of shame”… I hope he knows how much I love him. Thank you to all of our DDB rescue supporters!! We couldn’t have helped him without your continued support!!!
Update 3/22/16- Mr. Patrick was a very good boy for the cardiologist and vet staff today (3/22/2016)!
What we now know…
He a congenital heart defect termed tricuspid valve dysplasia. As a result, the right side of his heart is VERY enlarged and he is in congestive heart failure. It is causing a fast and irregular heart rate and for fluid to build up in his abdomen.
The good news! This may be manageable for a couple of years or more with the correct meds and routine follow-up care. He is now on 5 medications. He is not in any distress or pain. The fluid will not need to be drained if the meds do their job. He has a great appetite and likes the pill pockets.
My biggest concern is for his comfort. He is happy and playful and wants to just hang out. If and when that changes we will consider letting him go. But I now have conformation that he is NOT near ready for that! Due to the high cost of seeing a specialist and getting the additional meds, I opted to wait on the Halter monitor. Paddy will have another appointment with Dr. Hsu in a few weeks. If he improves or maintains we will keep the course. If the meds make him tired or if any new issues come up we will consider doing the monitor testing. I was happy to find out that he is allowed short leash walks and whatever quality food he wants.
I will fill his new medications at Costco. This is where I also buy his pill pockets.
If you would like to donate a Costco gift card to help pay for his necessary medications please let us know. Any donations made for this boy and towards his vet bill are tax deductible through our 501c3 rescue. To find out more about Dogue de Bordeaux Rescue, Inc. Please visit our website at ddbrescue.org
Thanks for reading and please keep Patrick in your thoughts
Paddy is a 2 year old male ddb located in Palm Desert California. He is in hospice care with our regional rep. Patrick was surrendered to his vet when his owner could not deal with his health issues. Paddy has an enlarged heart and possibly other heart issues going on as well, we will get him to a specialist to see what else is going on. What we know at this time is that he fills up with fluid and has to be tapped. He was loaded with fleas and ticks when we brought him in and was in desperate need of a bath (doubt he had ever had one before as he seems to have been an outside only dog). Paddy is learning what it’s like to live in a home and be spoilt, he is learning how to play. We will post more about Paddy once we know more. We do not think Paddy will be adoptable, not sure yet, but we do need funds to help with his care and to figure out what is going on with him.
