Nookie

I'm having such a rough day. Early in the morning, the shelter manager told me she needed to talk to me before I left for the day. I asked her to tell me at that time but she said it really needed to be after the shelter was closed. So after we closed up, I went into her office and told her I didn't want to know what she had to tell me because my stomach was hurting and I was scared at what she was going to say. She then told me that Nookie, my boy who I've been taking special care of, is going to have to be put to sleep. She named a list of diseases they found out he had but I couldn't hear anything she was saying anymore. It really feels like my heart has been ripped from my chest. I ran out of work and got home as soon as possible because I couldn't even talk. I wish I had stayed because I want to know when they have to put him to sleep. I really want to be able to take him home for a few days and show him love and comfort before he leaves for Rainbow Bridge. I love this dog so much and everyone knew it. I guess thats why she had the consideration to tell me ahead of time. I hope to be able to take him home and show you guys pictures. I really really really hope they'll give him those extra days. He is so endearing. He's missing teeth and has a long tongue that is always hanging out of his mouth. He's my sweet boy.

I'm so devastated and there's no one here to talk to except cats and dogs so I guess I just had to tell someone about all this :(

I just read this post and most of it probably doesn't make sense but I'm having a hard time making sense right now.

Aly it does make sense and you have come to the right place. We are so sorry that you are going through this. As I have said many times, I admire people such as yourself who give themselves 100% to animals that have no homes. I think it was very thoughtful of the shelter manager to warn you ahead of time. I will be looking forward to seeing pictures of Nookie although it will be sad, knowing that he has such a short time left. I know that you and Reece and Lolly will make his remaining days as happy as possible.

Aly,

I'm so very sorry to hear about Nookie. His life, though not
long enough, has meaning . He is loved, he is cared for &
I'm sure he knows that.Time is not the same to a dog.These
days when you've cared for him are what he'll remember.
If you can talk about him, tell us what he looks like, age,
personality, etc. I'd love to see a picture.Please hang in
there Aly, there are so many pups & kitties who love and
need you too. :) Liz & Buddy.

Aly I am sorry for the pain you are feeling tonight. It sounds like you have been giving Nookie loving attention - so you have already helped make his days better. I hope you will be able to spend some more time with him. If anyone can show him he is loved you can Aly.

Aly, I'm so sorry to hear about this, it must be very devistating for you, seeing you loved him so much.
Like Pam said, you came to the right place. Not sure I have any inspirational words for you, but I do care and hope you get to spend some time with him before he leaves us for the rainbow bridge. If you do, I'd love to see some pictures of the sweetheart you care so much about.

Anna

Aly, the amount of attention and love you have already given Nookie is enough for him I am sure. I know it must hurt so much to see a bud put to rest, but if he is so sick, there is not much else to do. A picture of the pup would be good. Think of all the other sweet animals he will be joining when he does go. He will be at peace. Bless his soul and bless your heart.

((((((((((Aly))))))))).

{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}

I hope knowing we are here for you helps a little! I'm sorry you have to go through this. :(

Oh dear dear Aly....I'm so sorry.

Love, hugs and kisses from me to you...

I am sorry you have to go through this Aly. I am sire you have made his time with you the best of his life and he appreciates that. And at Rainbow Bridge, there are no diseases and he will feel no pain.

Oh our dear sweet Aly, I know how devastating this news must be. Are you sure you can handle bringing him home and won't make yourself sick in the process? It makes me sick just thinking about this sad sad circumstance and how much you care for this dear little creature whom you must let go. God bless you Aly and may He be with your Nookie on his journey to the Bridge.

Oh Aly. I'm so, so heartbroken for you and for Nookie. You hurt so deeply because you love so deeply. I too am amazed at those who have the courage to face the possibility of such loss and sadness, day after day. But then again, your precious charges, as well as yourself, are reward every day with all of the good that you do for so many. I understand you wanting to take Nookie home so that he may know the love and comfort of a real home. I only pray that should you decide to do this you will not make yourself sick. You are such a sensitive soul and we can't bear to see you hurting. When you see Nookie, please give him a kiss for me, ok. Oh, this is so heartbreaking, and I want to cry. God Bless you Nookie and Aly.

God bless you for all you do Aly. (((((HUUUGGSS))))

I'm on my way now to go pick Nookie up from work. I'm planning on talking to them and seeing if there's any way he can live with his conditions. If so, I'll adopt him. If not, he'll have 3 days to rest in a home where he is loved before he has to leave.

Tight Hugs!
Aly you are such a strong loving person. I wouldn't be able to handle doing the work that you do. I have lost animals that i have saved and i just can't do it anymore. You are such a sweet loving person. I do hope you get nookie. He will be in great hands with you.. Huge Hugs!

I have him here with me. I talked more with the shelter manager about his health issues and its all still a big blur in my head. The good news is that his heart, lungs, and kidneys are fine. It sounds like he has possible Addison's disease, possible liver shunt, liver too small, crystals in urine, stones, and neurological damage. I am going to call the vet who saw him tomorrow and see what options I have. I will definately need to put him on a special diet and he'll need surgery to get rid of the stones (they are small still). She mentioned it'd be best to prolong the surgery until I can get him stronger. I can feel all of his bones when I pet him, he's so skinny. This is going to cost a lot so I think going to New York for that internship is going to have to be put off for awhile.

He went after Reece a couple minutes after I brought him home. I knew it was coming because he randomly attacks the dogs at work when I have him with another dog. Its weird. The shelter manager thinks it has to do with his neurological damage. Who knows. I'll post pictures and the story of how he and I became so attached later.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. No matter what happens, I always know I can come here for comfort. Please keep Nookie in your prayers. I hope when he does go to Rainbow Bridge, that it will be due to natural causes.

Bless you dear Aly. All my prayers and best wishes are with you and little Nookie. We will be hoping for the best. {{{Hugs}}}

We might have different opinion's on somethings, but one thing we all agree on is our love of animals. I hope it all works out. I want to hear the rest of the story......

Ugh, Nookie went after one of my kittens earlier. I am going to call a dog behaviorist tomorrow to try to get an understanding of this. He's perfectly fine with the dogs and cats except for those random attacks which happen for absolutely no reason.

I'm too tired to type out the whole Nookie story right now - its almost 3am :eek: Its not that interesting anyway. I will show you guys a picture of him though. He's the cutest little thing. His pics actually turned out good. He doesn't look quite so pathetic in the pictures as he does in real life.

Aly,

So sorry to hear about Nookie. Any news on his condition?

He is a sweet heart.

He's a cutie Aly. I'm sorry to hear he is going after the kittens and poor Reese.
I hope and pray that everything will work out.

Love - Jennifer-

So far we've just had those two incidents. He slept on a pillow by my bed because I didn't want to risk him sleeping so close to my dogs and cat on the bed. They move around a lot and thought they might spook him in his sleep.

I'm taking them all to the dog park today if its not too hot. Nookie will stay on a leash even though he follows me around everywhere. I can just see him attacking some huge dog :rolleyes: He did attack a Pit Bull at work but she's so sweet, she just stood there.

I haven't called the vet or the behaviorist yet. I will update you guys when I do.

Oh Aly, you don't know how much my heart goes out to you. With all those medical problems, it will be difficult and expensive, but maybe not impossible. In the area of the liver disease, that's an up and down fight and the kidney stones are treatable, so in those cases, you might be able to help him. The possible liver shunts and small liver are what Killian is plagued with. So in that area, you know Nookie would have his ups and downs. The neurological problems can be related to liver disease. The toxins poison his system so as soon as you can, you'd have to get him on that special diet. What an uphill battle you would be taking on, but it is something that a lot of us here on the BB would do. Do they have an idea as to what is causing his neuro problems, such as injury, or no clue? Then look to the liver. I pray that you will have the strength to make the right decision. I know that you will. The random attacks worry me. Try the diet, get the toxins out of his system. He can live with liver disease, but eventually it will do him in, but that may be a long, long time in the future. This will be a challenge to you, dear Aly. Only take it on after much consideration. If you should decide to fight these diseases, I will be here for you all the way in the liver department. There is a wonderful liver BB that will give you all the best advice every step of the way because we have been there and done that. Some have won, some have lost and some are still fighting. My heart goes out to you. We need a BIG miracle here.

Thinking of you and Nookie constantly.
Sue

Oh Aly! He's a cutie!

Good luck with him!!

{{hugs}}
Tonya

Thank you so much Sue. Your words have given me some much needed strength. I'm still sitting here with the vet's name and number in my hand. I need to call ASAP.

The shelter manager did tell me that the vet said the neurological damange was related to the liver. She explained a lot and it took like 15-20 minutes for her to tell me everything that is wrong. That is why its sort of blurry to me. The random attacks scare me too. He corrected Lolly today but didn't go after her like he did to Reece and Moby. I'm just using the "Back off" command to my dogs when they get too close to him and I'm keeping CLOSE watch on the kittens while they are near Nookie, but mainly keeping them seperated for now. Shiloh did bop Nookie on the head when he kept sniffing her butt and then he ran away.

I think I am going to call my internship and tell them to fill my position. I am almost positive I am going to choose to fight for Nookie's life... and that means spending the money I had saved up for New York. Thank goodness I had all that saved. The internship was going to be expensive so I hope I will be able to cover most of these bills. My parents sometimes help me out financially if I'm in need but I know they are going to be mad at me for this one so it looks like I'm on my own.

I'm going to want to talk to you about the diet Sue. I've been doing some research but need to do more.

Oh my gosh, this is so overwhelming.

Yes, it is. Be strong, Aly. You are fighting for a life. I know. I fight for Killian daily. On the good days (which seem to be quite often for us right now) it's wonderful on the bad days, it's scary.

OK, so the neuro signs are probably from the liver. That should be able to be remedied. You'll have to get those toxins out of the system. When you ask the vet about the diet, ask about a high fat, low protein diet. Many of the liver disease board members' dogs are not on Killian's diet. It is controversial over at the board. Ask which way the vet would like you to go. I can get you their recipes, too. Killian's works so well for him. Let me know if you want it. Maybe over the time you have Nookie for now, you could try it. I'll pm it to you. It is very simple!! If he'll eat it, then he will gain weight. Killian is at 98, which is a whole lot better than he was before, but not at his top weight before L-D. Hang in there. It IS hard, but it is a fight well worth fighting. You must act quickly to get those toxins out.

On a side note, I hope this recipe doesn't interfere with the kidney stone problem. I don't think it will.


On the money note, last year's trip to Disney World was postponed till this year so I could save up enough money to go being that I used it all up on Killian's diagnosis and detox. I couldn't leave Killi last year anyway because he was so deathly ill. So I know what you are going through. :(

Sue

Nookie is worth it I'm sure Aly. I would have done the same thing for any of our dogs. If Mike and I can do anything, please let us know...I don't know what it would be, but we might be able to come up with something.

DOH!!!!! One of my fosters just erased my post when I was almost done writing it. He is walking on the keyboard trying to eat my fingers, hehe.

Anyway, I talked to Nookie's vet today and he was very encouraging. It is a very nice vet office and they are going to do some extensive tests at half price for me. Great news is that he won't have to have surgery for the stones. They are small enough that it can be fixed by diet. He said there is a slight possibility in the future that he'd need surgery if the stones blocked his something-or-other (sorry... talked a LOT to the vet and all the terminology is still new to me). 44444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 4444444444444444444444444e

Haha, Moby is still walking on the keyboard. EEk! And he stepped on the remote and just turned on the vcr and played a movie.

Ok back to Nookie.. We are going to do the more extensive tests to find out exactly what he has. Right now there's just a lot of possibilities of what he has. The stones are the only thing thats for sure.

Nookie came to work with me today in his 4th of July bandana. He was very cute. At exactly 8:00 he knew it was time to leave and he got up from his nap and ran to me and kept saying "Woof wooooooof Woof woooooooof!!"l

I am very happy and filled with hope after talking to the vet!!

Great news!! I've been too scared to ask how he was doing! Now I'm relieved. Whew! Do they know his liver enzyme levels? Did they do an ultrasound to know that he has a small liver and a shunt?? That was soooo nice of the vet to cut his price for you. Good luck and keep us posted!!

Moby is doing a wonderful job learning all the electronic components! LOL

Sounds like Nookie had a great day today; all because of you, Aly! Wonderful!

He has an appointment for an ultrasound and some more blood tests on Wednesday. He'll have to stay there the whole day :(

He went after Lolly for the first time today. I was sitting up against the couch and he was laying by my side. Lolly was approaching so she could jump on the couch and he jumped up and charged at her growling. She sort of backed up then tried to jump on the couch again and he did it again. She was an angel and just walked away. I'm hoping Nookie will cut this out. I'm going to work on getting the toxins out of his system and hope he acts better.
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Yes, Moby had to talk again :rolleyes: This kitty is ALWAYS underfoot and won't let me eat or sleep in peace either, hehe.

Moby's typing is improving!! :)

Does Nookie have those attacks after eating? Maybe it's not liver related. Maybe it has something to do with his past or disposition. Do you have any knowledge of his past history? Was Lolly going to jump up behind Nookie and over his head or behind him? Are they just warning growls? Sometimes you can't tell the difference, though. I'm so glad you decided to work with him.

The ultrasound took Killian all day. We dropped him off at the specialist and had to come back for him in the late afternoon. He was fine after that. Sometimes they want to go ahead and do an ultrasound guided needle biopsy at that time, too. Good luck and please keep us updated. He is such a cutie!

Sue

You guys would not believe how bad today was. I am still shaking.

Some of you might remember last year when my shelter had its annual telethon and I worked myself ragged that weekend. Well this weekend was the telethon and it was high, high, high stress between cleaning the shelter during the past couple weeks, getting all of the tv spots planned out, worrying about all the problems that go along with live tv, etc etc. Anyway I was supervising the phone banks again this year (meaning I was on the actual tv set). Yesterday went pretty smoothly and then today happened......

I had Nookie at work with me both days in a crate behind the desk (he couldn't run loose behind there because we were SO busy, I didn't want him to get stepped on or anything). When I was at the phone banks, I would swap out puppies and kittens for the phone volunteers to hold while answering calls because it looked really cute. I got the (really stupid) idea to go get Nookie and let them hold him so he could be on tv. I cleared it with the shelter manager and my supervisor. I thought it might cause some problems if a lot of people thought he was up for adoption and started calling in for him (that happened with Reece last year). But they both said it would be fine. Then after he'd been at the phone bank for a little bit, a volunteer raised her hand and flagged me over. She told me a woman just called and said that Nookie was her dog and she was on her way over.

I freaked. F-R-E-A-K-E-D!!!!!!!

I slipped off the set and ran and told some of the adoption counselors that if that woman came in to play dumb and say they didn't know where the dog was. Then I went back to the tv set but I was stressing so bad, I went to go find the shelter manager. I told her the situation and she kept telling me not to freak out and when the woman got there to just try to appease her until tomorrow because we didn't want some big commotion on our busiest day of the year. She told me we weren't going to hand her over the dog today and I didn't need to worry and it'd be okay. So then I go back on set (I'm not really supposed to be leaving at all) and a short while later I see someone behind the camera flagging me down. They told me that the woman was there.

So I go up front and she shows me their missing poster. The picture had to be from a loooooong time ago because he looked really young and a lot different. I knew pretty much right away that it was him, especially after reading "LOST DOG WITH LONG TONGUE". She didn't know at this point that I'd been fostering him. I told her the dog was not available to be seen and we were really busy with our telethon, but that she could bring back vet records on Monday to prove the dog has been taken care of. Then it comes out that he's not really her dog, he belongs to a man who's in Japan right now and they were watching the house and dog. Later in the conversation she said the owner was in Florida though. Well where is he, Florida or Japan!?!?!?!?!! I asked her if she was aware of all of his health problems (she said no but later on said yes to somebody else). Granted its not her dog, but his medical conditions are painfully obvious to me after just a week. She's taking care of him for 4 months. Then the woman starts to go psycho yelling and accusing us of lying. My superviser came over and told her to lower her voice or she would be asked to leave. At this point I had to run back to the phone banks. About 10 minutes later, someone came to me and said they were filling in for me because 2 members of the Board and the operations director wanted to talk to me. They pulled me into an empty office and started right away telling me not to freak out. Well that made me start freaking out and crying. They told me that the woman refused to leave and to avoid a scene we needed to show her the dog to confirm that it is him.

(this is getting long so I'm going to continue it in another post...)

So Judy from the Board of Directors comes with me to get Nookie while the Operations Director takes the people to her office. Judy let me watch from the hall while she carried Nookie in. The three kids that were with the woman said "yup, that's him" and the woman was nodding. Nookie kept turning his head to try to see me and he had no reaction towards them. Then all of a sudden the woman bursts out crying like a lunatic and Judy takes him out of the office. I talked to Judy further and she said we need to find out the exact day we took him in. They lost him on May 25th and we got him in NASTY condition. She said that if it was less than a week that he was lost before we got him, then there was no way in hell that they would get the dog back because that wouldn't be enough time for him to get in such sorry shape. We found his paperwork and we received him on June 1st, exactly one week after he had gotten lost. I honestly don't think he got in that bad condition from just a week. We had to cut this nasty bandana off him that was almost getting embedded into his neck. And we were pulling out hundreds and hundreds of weeds that looked like they'd been in his fur forever. We also had to cut off a good portion of hair.

So Judy told me we'd have to meet tomorrow (Monday) and figure out if its an abuse or neglect case and take it from there. I started crying again because I have his appointment on Wednesday that I was scared to death of him missing. She kept reassuring me. So I go back to the phone banks looking like crap. My eyes were filled with tears and a lot of the telephone volunteers were over consoling me and got in trouble because they got a live camera shot of the phone banks with a lot of empty seats.

So we were finally off air for good at 2:30 and I just walked around in a daze. We were so busy that I had to get back to work but I couldn't concentrate. All the volunteers and staff and people who I had no clue who they were kept pulling me aside and asking me if I was okay because they'd heard what happened. Then I heard they told the President of the Board the situation (he's a real .... I can't think of any word that describes him that wouldn't have to be censored). At first he said that I needed to give the dog back right away, but thank GOD the shelter manager talked sense into him.

So then at like 6:00, the shelter manager grabs me and asks if I have a minute. She told me as far as she's concerned, its BS that we'd have to meet tomorrow to discuss what to do. She said that he's my dog and its my choice and my choice only. She said he would be dead if it wasn't for me and I could tell the "owner" that. I got instant relief. I don't know why no one told me this earlier!!!! But I was so emotionally drained by then that all I could do was tell her thank you about 10000 times.

So this woman is coming into work tomrorow with her "proof" and I'm going to tell her my honest opinion which is that I've invested a lot mentally, phsically, and financially into this dog. I feel like I can give him much better care and I can't release him to someone who I feel won't give him the medical and emotional attention he needs. Besides that, he is legally mine. We followed the law and kept him 3 days and filed a found animal report. If you have an animal for more than 3 days here, it becomes legally yours.

also, his name is Bubba but he doesn't really answer to it. He answers right away to Nookie. This just tells me that he was probably not given any attention.

Also, I have a STRONG feeling that the owner left him in the backyard and the woman who is watching him just came over to the house and put food and water in his dishes. I just KNOW that this is what happened although its not confirmed. I don't think he's lived in a house for a looooong time... maybe not even his whole life. He sure likes to poop and pee everywhere in my house and I know those people wouldn't let him in.

I do think that they need to figure out if it was abuse or neglect anyway, so that if the person whom she said "owns" Nookie comes back and tries to take legal action, you have proof, and legal ownership.

If that person is real, and really away and left his dog in the care of this person, he needs to know what happened, so it could never happen again. If that person really exists, this would be horrible for him, too. Is there any way of contacting him? (If he really exists, that is.)

Well he is supposedly up to date on his vet visits and has records. If she shows me these and I feel like the real guardian will take care of the medical conditions, I'll give him back. But I am very doubtful they will be able to produce vet records.

Well, do keep us up-to-date.

If the actual owner can resume custody, that might be best - that and he never trusts this woman with another animal ever - can you imagine going away, thinking you are doing the right thing by leaving your dog with a pperson, and having all this happen? Every dog owner's nightmare!

If that can't happen, of course, then I think it's obvious (to everyone) that Nookie belongs to you far more than that woman.

I have a gut feeling though that this owner is quite aware of the minimal care the woman is giving Nookie and I think the owner gave him minimum care also. Nookie's personality is that of an outside dog with little socialzation and training. There's a lot of subtle things in his personality that remind me of previous backyard dogs we've gotten in the shelter.

Could someone help me find a website that would outline the 3 day law regarding strays in my area (Austin, TX)? I want to print it out and take it to work tomorrow to give the woman.

Here's a link I found. I haven't found anything re: the law yet but I'm not familiar with it and there's a bunch of info to wade through.

Still looking....
http://ark4pets.com/thln/links.htm