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| Margaret is now home, and slowly adjusting to a new, normal. She is no longer the fast, vibrant dog that she was two weeks ago, but she is showing signs of being herself again. As you can see, she still has a feeding tube in her neck, as she is not yet back on solid food, but she has improved markedly in just two days. Today, she spent a nice day relaxing outside for an hour, on a nice sunny day in May with brilliant blue skies. singing birds and with three new baby White Chinese Geese that she could not help but be a mommy to ( so very ‘Margaret’). She jumped to action as soon as she heard their peeps. It got her off of the sofa, an out into the spring sunshine. |
Margaret returned home (twice) this week from the amazing doctors and staff at the Tuft’s
New England Veterinary Medical Center where she was admitted in an emergency two weeks ago. Not to bore all of you with ‘puppy love’ tales, but briefly, Margaret, our oldest Irish Terrier, has laryngeal paralysis four years ago, where her larynx had to be pinned open so that she could breath. This rare neurological issue is unheard of in this breed, which is a breed that is rather free from inherited diseases. The ‘pinned’ open larynx was bad enough, it typically affects older dogs ( 14+, and usually large breeds, particularly over bred breeds such as Golden Retrievers), but Muggy’s case was rare, and we were grateful that the surgery went well. The only thing we were aware of was the danger of her getting asphyxiation pneumonia, which she did, two weeks ago after an ‘incident’ of vomiting.
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| Margaret, on Wednesday was a sadder case, just after she arrived home. Lydia, left, and Fergus look on as she lays on the sofa, unreactive to anything. She later became ill and we rushed her back in until she arrived back home yesterday after some drugs were replaced. |
After rushing her to the Tuft’s Medical Center, which, luckily is near to us, the doctors informed us that although they could treat her pneumonia with antibiotics, that it stresses her kidneys which activated another disease much more serious, and sadly, one which is terminal – along with an alarming list of medical problems which have surfaced over the past week, like a hypercoagulable blood condition which they informed us was the highest they have ever seen in a dog ( blood clots).
Sadly, our Muggle Bunny has been diagnosed with Glomerulonephritis, a serious protein wasting renal disease more commonly called
Protein Losing Nephropathy (PLN). The disease causes high blood pressure, blood clots and severe protein loss, and, it is fatal. He outlook is a little unpredictable, but with specific parameters, we’ve been told that she has anywhere from one month to eight months to remain with us.
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| Margaret herd her Goslings, she is a natural mother, and these new baby geese are helping her take her mind off of the hospital. She is was just happy to be out in the grass and acting normal. |
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| One, two three, those naughty geese need some discipline. Muggy can’t help herself, a mommy’s job is never done. |
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| Exhaustion comes quickly these days, but a sunny day in May, laying in the cool grass of springtime, with baby geese under a flowering Wisteria tree is a little bit like heaven. ( All we were missing was a rainbow and a unicorn). |
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Poor Margaret. At least she is home with you for now. Love the pictures of her with the little geese. So cute.
We've been waiting for this post, welcome home Margaret!
Margaret is fortunate to be in such a loving home. Thanks for the photos and update.
So glad she is home with you! Although the situation is not perfect I bet it feels so good to her to be home. 🙂
I'm sorry for what is happening with Margaret. It's so hard to deal with when our companion animals become ill!
The pictures of her with the goslings are so precious!
So glad Margaret is back home. Fingers crossed she stays strong a little longer to enjoy another spring.
I know you do not need to be told to give a little extra love, maybe when the others are not looking. Enjoy what time you have with her.