Hope

Hope is sweet, approximately 4 year old female Golden, possibly Golden mix. She was brought to RAGOM's attention by a shelter that was attempting to care for her. Although their compassion was great, their facilities and resources were not, so they asked us for help and received a resounding 'Yes!'. Hope began treatment for the canine equivalent of scabies, which is called Sarcoptic mange, her first day in RAGOM care. It's anticipated that her treatment and boarding will cost hundreds of dollars, and will last approximately six weeks. Hope will not be available for adoption until some time after being released from isolation. This is not a particularly comfortable or happy time for Hope, so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

If you would care to make a monetary contribution towards Hope's treatment, donations may be sent to:

5/24/05: Hope has a new family! John & Sarah K. and Samson, their 8 yr old Golden, have opened their hearts and home to Hope. For all who have been following her story, Hope continues to improve with her allergies. We have stopped her injections at a lower concentration than planned, because she started reacting. But, the reaction was minor and easily handled with Benadryl. So, she is being maintained on that level for awhile as we continue to reduce the prednisone. If all goes well there she will have reached her maintenance dosage and be ready to live happily ever after with the K's.

I have enclosed pictures of the happy family (sorry about the quality of my photos - it was dark outside) and the K's kindly sent along a few of the ones they shot when they got home. I believe the fairy princess is a visiting relative.

There is one shot, while possibly not Hope's best side, that gives a clear picture of exactly how fast she jumped into their back seat and was ready to go to her new home (ah yes, the ungrateful child....abandoning me in my moment of angst).

So, once again, another happy ending for a very lucky RAGOM dog. Many thanks to all of you who have volunteered your time and sent money and messages about our poor little darling. As you can see, she is flying high and is one happy puppy. For those that want to follow Hope's progress, join us at the RAGOM picnic in September, as the K's promised they would be there. And even Samson gets to come along as an honorary RAGOM dog.

Congratulations to the new family.

5/13/05: Another update on the fabulous progress of our darling Hope!

Hope is well on the road to recovery. She is a veritable furball now and on her last vial of immunizations with no adverse reactions so far. I have even started weaning her off the prednisone early to make sure we aren't masking any allergic reactions to the immunity build-up. If this success continues she will be one of the lucky ones that will only need a shot 1x every three weeks. Piece of cake!

She eats normal doggie food, has no special diet requirements and is the happiest little girl around. She loves to run and inspect all areas of the outdoors; and though those other smells are very enticing she always comes back when she is called. She is a major social butterfly, always greeting new people and dogs with a happy tail and eager to play. She is also a major lover. Wherever you go - she goes, perfectly content to lay down at your feet when you stop. She's just not interested in being left behind.

She knows the sound of the front door being opened up and when the doorbell rings (for real or even on the TV) she is down there in a flash to greet whoever might be showing up. While she adores playing with our 7 year old Lab, she would do fine as an only child as well. She is perfectly content to entertain herself with her chew toys and balls. She even tries to play with the cat. She is very well adjusted and just aims to please.

Hope is eagerly anticipating meeting her new family. She will fit into your life very quickly and steal your heart as well. Please consider adopting her. She's ready to go!

4/27/05: New pictures of Hope! She is such a sweet dog and has come along so nicely. I am happy to report that hair is slowly growing back over all of her underside, even the patches of darkened traumatized skin. Those areas seem to be lightening up as well.

Yesterday we had our last injection from Vial # 1 and are moving onto the higher concentration next. I will watch for signs of allergic reaction but so far she has not had any. She is such a trooper when I give her the shot. I just grab some skin over her shoulder, lift it off her back and pop it in. She never protests, just waits quietly. Of course, the real test will come around the 1st of July, when we take her off the prednisone and stay on the cycle of every 3 weeks for injections. She certainly tolerates it all well so far.

I have moved her off the prescription dog food, as the vet indicated it probably wasn't necessary, and switched her to a "sensitive" dog food that will continue to help her skin and joints. She loves it and is an excellent eater. My Lab, on the other hand, has gained at least 5 pounds sneaking Hope's food, although her coat has never looked better!

Last weekend we went visiting our friends out in the boonies where there are no cars or people for miles. They adopted another RAGOM dog a few years back and he is a pretty tough customer. So, I wanted to see how Hope would do with an aggressive dog on his own turf. She was fabulous. She ignored him and avoided him when necessary and read his signals well. By the end of the visit they were romping in the fields like long lost litter mates. While she investigated every inch of their property, she never wandered out of eyesight and always came back when she was called. I am so pleased that she is learning to come when she is called.

As you can see from the pictures, she does have a favorite spot in the house, although she doesn't care that much about sleeping with me if I don't want her to. But whenever anyone is getting dressed or undressed, she must be on top of the bed supervising and assisting - never one to be left out of things. She loves to ride in the car and settles down in the back end of my station wagon immediately to snooze while we go. Once in awhile she gets up to take a peek out the back window, but she is very content to just ride until we get there. No car sickness for her!

Technically, Hope is probably available to be adopted. The only issue would be that the adopting family be committed to finishing up her injection routine and agree to take her to her follow-up appointment with the dermatologist at Mid-West Specialists Clinic in Blaine.

She is an easy dog to live with - very affectionate and playful, but settles down quickly and comfortably. There will a big hole in our household when she finally does leave.

4/15/05: Hi Everyone,

Here is the latest scoop on our gal, Hope. We are freshly back from the dermatological specialist at Midwest Veterinary Specialists in Blaine, MN. Hope was seen by the kindly Dr. Strauss and there is much to tell about her condition.

Her skin continues to blacken in certain areas due to derm trauma because of allergies. Unless we treat this her hair will not grow back and the condition of her skin will continue to deteriorate.

Hope is one highly allergic puppy. They did skin panels tests (to the tune of about $500 so please help out if you can) and these are the things that Hope is allergic to: Corn pollen, wheat pollen, mugwort, nettles, Box Elder tree pollen, Cedar tree pollen, Pine tree pollen, Rhizopus mold, dust, mites and cats! (Poor Hope, my cat, Sydney loves to sleep with her!)

The good news is that she doesn't appear to have food allergies or if she does they are very low on the irritation scale. She also has only selective reactivity. Meaning that her ears don't get red and infected and she doesn't have weepy eyes or the sneezes. She just itches, a lot.

So, we have embarked on the very long journey of trying to build up Hope's immunity to each of these irritants (this could take anywhere from 6-12 months) so she can live freely amongst them all and not be bothered. We start the process by following a carefully laid out plan for a series of injections of the irritants themselves, gradually building up the concentration levels and her immunity as we go along.

Right now, every 3 days I put on my nurse's cap and give Hope an injection. (I didn't even faint the first time I stuck her! - She, of course, was oblivious.) Each day the concentration dosage increases and she gradually moves up the scale of exposure and immunity build-up. It has to be gradual or her whole immune system will shut down and she would turn into one big collection of hives.

We will continue to do this, gradually lengthening the time in between injections, until the beginning of July. At that time she will need to return to Dr. Strauss for a re-evaluation and possible adjustment to her medications. In the meantime we have started her on a very low dose of a steroid to help relieve all of her itching and allow the condition of her skin to improve. That will be discontinued as soon as possible.

I am also treating her for some staph infection between her tootsies with gentle cloth wipes 2x/day. In July, we will then look at the condition of her skin and overall allergy state to see what the regiment needs to be. The goal is that by July she will be able to follow the schedule of just 1 injection every 3 weeks for the rest of her life and be off the Prednisone.

Through all of this Hope remains one happy, happy little puppy. So glad to be alive and wagging her tail. If possible, she would love to spend all day in the middle of your lap or outside harassing another dog or any squirrel that dared enter the yard. She still only weighs 52 lbs., but, much of her hair on the underside of her belly and chest has already started to grow back.

She's not much of a watch dog as she is the first one racing up to any newcomer to knock them over and lick them to death. Proper manners and some obedience training is definitely going to be needed with this gal.

Technically, Hope can probably be considered available for adoption. But, whoever is thinking of bringing this darling doggie into their home to love and cherish, must be committed to continuing the allergy shots and any required treatments for the rest of her life. These allergies cannot be cured and do not get better. The best that we can do is offer some resistance and comfort. It also should be made clear that this form of treatment is effective for approximately 80% of dogs. Those are very good odds, but there is no sure guarantee that Hope will be one of those dogs. If this treatment plan does not help her then the next step would be to talk about the use of long term steroids and the quality of her life, etc.

When we talk about the commitment required to help Hope with this, we also have to talk about the financial cost. Ragom has covered the cost of all of her medication through July. Once she is on that 21 day schedule it estimated that her injections will cost approximately $25/month. While it seems like a pretty fair trade-off to me for all the undying gratitude and love she has to offer, it still is no small amount to pay out on a continual basis.

So, if you are an active family with a willingness to make some allowances for something this little doggie has no control over and would like a loving, energetic furball then please let your placement people know you would like to meet Hope.

4/5/05: Hope is finally out of the hospital! And boy, is she happy about it. She has been at my house for 2 weeks now and is settling in nicely. Vet thinks she is about 4 years old. She is a lightweight, weighing in at only 49 pounds. She has been spayed and is UTD on all shots and disease free. The good news is that her hair on her underside appears to be slowly starting to re-grow. Her upper body coat is smooth and sleek. Lots of pretty flags on her tail and legs.

3/17/05: What a Happy St. Paddy's Day for Hope! She received a beautiful flower arrangement her last night at ACH, and is now lounging with her new canine friends at a temporary foster home until this weekend. Hope is finally starting to feel like a Golden girl :)

3/9/05: Hope is no longer contagious, can have visitors, and after her spay and dental will be more than ready to start living the Golden life with her foster family. She's scheduled for two more Ivermectin treatments, will take daily Derm Capsules for awhile, and needs weekly epi soothe and rea soothe baths. Sounds like she's checked into a doggie spa! Hope also has an ear infection, but after all she's been through, that's the least of her worries!

I just wanted you to know that I talked with the good people at ACH in Richfield about Hope today. They said she is coming along fine. She is still contagious so we will hold off on our planned visits. She is due for her third treatment this week. We plan to go visit her during her stay once she is not contagious just so she gets to know us before she comes back to our house to stay.

2/25/05: Hope has been receiving hospital care for several weeks now. This includes a specialized diet of I/D dog food, which she quite likes, a daily exercise and social regime to keep her spirits up, as well as medication and special baths to treat and soothe the irritations that have resulted from the mites.

The mange condition Hope has been dealing with is the result of an over abundance of mites that traveled across the skin and into the hair follicle. Once in the hair follicle the irritation results in the creation of sebaceous build up, and a resulting hair loss. This would, of course, have been uncomfortable for Hope prior to treatment, the extent of which can be imagined in viewing the photographs sent by the volunteers at the Humane Society which initially opened their doors to her.

Hope is no longer experiencing this discomfort, and is successfully fighting off the effects of having been untreated for so long. Currently Hope's skin tone is pink vs. black. Her tail is wagging, she prefers company to solitude, and her own spirit of Hope is shining through.

There are still at least three weeks that must pass prior to Hope being non-contagious before she's able to go to the foster home that awaits her, but she's content and comfortable in the interim. The Veterinary Clinics of America, Animal Care Hospital that is caring for Hope, has built her a full sized indoor kennel run to accommodate her during her stay. She has a fresh doggy bed each day, and lots of personal attention. RAGOM's special thanks go out to the DVM's and supporting staff at the Animal Care Hospital in Richfield, MN for the extra effort they have extended to Hope's comfort as well as medical care.