We
are honored to present Fred and Meaty Cowne as Companions Animals of the Month
for January 2008. Fred is a 4 year old Labrador Mix and Meaty is a 2 year
old Pitbull Mix, and this dynamic duo are the spunky and lovable companions to
Julie Cowne. Fred was adopted from Halifax Humane Society as a puppy with
an unknown history, while Meaty was adopted from Flagler Humane Society when he
was about one year old. Meaty was put up for adoption after being pulled
from an abusive home. For Julie it was love at first sight when she found them
at the local humane societies and since the day they were brought home the three
of them have bonded and now have a strong mutual love for one another.
Fred is the more serious of the two. He thinks about everything and tends to analyze every situation. But behind the serious exterior, he has a soft and loveable side. He enjoys playing with his toys, in particular a stuffed squirrel that he loves to carry around. His other favorite thing is spending time with Julie. Fred is also Julie's rock, he has remained devoted and by her side through all of her difficult times. He also can't stand to see her cry. He will give kisses and gentle nudges until she stops crying. Meaty is also very special to Julie, he came into her life after the loss of Rocker a 2 year old Pitbull Mix that died of cancer.
Meaty proved to be amazingly
affectionate despite the abuse he had received from previous owners. He is
certainly not the stereotypical Pitbull. At home, Meaty loves to curl up
and sleep beside Julie. He thinks he is a lap dog and will try to sleep
next to your head as if he were a cat. Meaty also enjoys some interesting
treats, carrots and French Vanilla yogurt are at the top of the list. He
also enjoys taking long walks, especially on the
beach while chasing birds with his buddy Fred. Despite the free spirit and
the love for the beach, both avoid the surf at
all costs.
Some of the best people have to experience the worse things
in life. Unfortunately, Julie is one of these people. We first met
her in July 2006 on an emergency basis with her beloved companion Rocker.
Despite aggressive diagnostics and treatment in the hospital, Rocker passed away
due to a Lymphoid Leukemia. He was just 2
years old at that time.
Fourteen months later, in October 2007, Fred presented for a urinary problem and
severe weight loss. Dr. Sukhija immediately discovered a suspicious mass
in the area of the kidney's and did further work-up that included radiographs,
blood work and urinalysis. A left kidney mass or enlargement was
diagnosed and Fred was sent to Affiliated Veterinary Specialist for an
ultrasound guided fine needle aspirate and cytology for definitive diagnosis.
Unfortunately, the cytology showed that Fred's left kidney has a Renal Carcinoma
that was probably malignant. Fred was only about 4.5 years old at the time
of this diagnosis. Due to a poor to grave prognosis Julie made the
decision to keep Fred comfortable and not to pursue aggressive radiation or
chemo-therapies. Dr. Sukhija agreed with Julie's decision and put Fred on
two different types of pain medications and periodic antibiotics to control
secondary urinary tract infections. Julie's love for Fred is truly
indescribable. She is willing to do anything for him, even if it means
letting him go humanely when the time comes. So far, Fred has done well
and continues to enjoy a comfortable quality of life. There are some bad
days but the good have outweighed these significantly.
After having an abusive puppy-hood, Meaty has had a great
life since being rescued by Flagler Humane Society and then by Julie.
Unfortunately, even Meaty presents a health challenge for his human mom.
He tested negative for Heartworm Antigen just after adoption last year and has
not shown any evidence of health problems since then. During his wellness visit
in
November
2007, all of his baseline lab work and physical examination appeared okay except
the fact that the Heartworm Antigen now tested positive. The test was
verified by re-testing by the reference laboratory and then again at our
in-hospital laboratory. This was extremely odd since Julie had kept Meaty
on the prevention once monthly since adoption and also since he was negative one
year ago. We consulted the veterinarians at the manufacturer headquarters
of the heartworm preventative and confirmed that Meaty is a rare instant where
the test was negative one year ago due to a early heartworm infestation with
male worms only. This infestation progressed slowly to a mixed sex
population of the worms. This is important because the Heartworm Antigen
tests for a chemical secreted only by the female worms. This turns out to
be an extremely rare case of a false negative test one year ago. Majority
of dogs will have both male and female Heartworms and false negatives are not an
issue. This is one of the many reasons why annual testing for Heartworms is
recommended by veterinarians, even if the dog is on Heartworm prevention.
A full work-up including chest radiographs was performed to classify Meaty's
disease. Fortunately, he appeared to have an early stage of Heartworm
disease and was treated in early December 2007. This treatment will
require follow-up treatments and Meaty will be re-tested and will most likely be
negative for Heartworms in 4-5 months. The manufacturer of the Heartworm
preventative is helping Julie by providing some financial support for Meaty's
treatments.
Both Meaty and Fred's fun loving attitude and their drive to stay next to Julie's side have helped them to endure their treatments with a wagging tail. The bond that these three share is truly amazing, and it is this bond that makes Atlantic Animal Hospital proud to be able to care for and treat both Meaty and Fred. These two outgoing companion animals have won over the hearts of our staff and we look forward to progressing with their treatments and to see their wagging tails and happy faces for some time to come. No words can truly describe the unconditional love Julie provides for all animals and especially Fred and Meaty. She provided the same for Rocker until the very end and he continues to be cherished in all of our memories. The past and current relationships between Julie, Rocker, Fred, and Meaty are a wonderful example of the human-animal bond and the veterinary-patient-client relationship.
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In memory of Rocker Cowne (photograph as a puppy)