Important Info For Aussie and Herding Dog Owners

Kara

Posted : 7/17/2006 12:26:39 PM


I received this email and thought I should post it here.
 

[font=georgia][size=3]VERY IMPORTANT FOR ALL AUSSIE AND HERDING DOG OWNERS - PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHER OWNERS
 

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Dear fellow dog lovers,

I'm writing to tell you about a terrible tragedy we just had with one of our
Mini Aussie Rescue & Support (MARS) foster dogs. Buster was a 3 year old
beautiful red merle Miniature Australian Shepherd. He came into rescue from a
shelter in the midwest. We had him neutered and moved into a foster home to be
cared for while he healed. Buster was one of the sweetest dogs we ever met. He


had such a great temperament that we had approved his adoption into a home with
a one-year old child, which is something we are extremely cautious about ever
doing.

Buster arrived at his foster home with a wet, very productive cough. It was
definitely not kennel cough and the vet felt it needed to be treated
aggressively, partly fearing it was canine flu. He prescribed two antibiotics
and a cough suppressant. Buster received these drugs for several days during
which time his cough improved. On the fifth day, startled by knocking at the
door Buster's eyes completely dilated and he flew into a rage that lasted for 20 minutes after the person had left.

Confused, his foster mom contacted us. Going over Buster's medicines, we were
horrified to discover that the cough suppressant he was given, Torbutol, is
primarily used as a pain suppressant and is on the list (under its generic name
Butorphonal) of problem drugs that should not be given to dogs who may carry a
mutated mdr1 gene.

For those of you not familiar with this mutation, dogs carrying the mutated gene
cannot pump certain drugs out of their brains in the normal way. This can cause
a dangerous build up of the drug in the brain resulting in neural toxicity,
essentially poisoning the dog's brain.

Buster was immediately pulled off the medications, but continued to get much
worse day after day. When we reviewed his medical records, we discovered that he
had received another drug on the list during his neutering. So Buster was given
two of the problem drugs by different vets within a very short period of time.
We immediately tested him for the mdr1 genetic defect. Buster's test results came back as "normal/mutant" meaning he
carried one copy of the mutated gene.

The official diagnosis was "Undifferentiated Rage" meaning that Buster, due to


neurological problems, was viciously attacking anyone and anything whenever his
fears were triggered. And his fears were multiplying daily, with his rage
seizures (as the vet called them) lasting longer and longer. Eventually his
pupils remained fully dilated all the time.

In his final days, Buster's foster mom took him for a walk in a sunny field,
hoping to bring him a little bit of joy. A bird flying overhead triggered such a
violent rage that Kathie ended up hiding behind a tree in fear for the forty
minutes it took Buster to recover. Even when Buster was kept gated into a spare
room in an attempt to protect him from all fear triggers, any little noise or
movement brought on rage seizures many times each day.

The MARS Board of Directors held a two-hour long emergency meeting to discuss
Buster. We heard testimony from his caretakers as well as examined the input from all of the medical experts we had consulted. Although there has been some research done on dogs recovering from ivermectin toxicity, we were told there is no research that has been done on treatment from and recovery from the other toxic drugs on the
list or from combinations of the problem drugs. No one could offer us any hope for Buster's recovery.

We also had to consider the fact that Buster was clearly a danger to any human
or animal in his vicinity. But for me the most compelling fact was that Buster's
life had become one giant nightmare for him. There was no way we could protect
him from everything he was afraid of since he was afraid of everything.

After much heart-wrenching discussion and many, many tears, the Board of
Directors of MARS voted to euthanize Buster. He died peacefully in his foster
mom's arms last week.

If you're a praying person, please say a little prayer for Buster and for the
many people who worked to rescue him and are devastated by his loss. The only possible good that can come out of this tragedy is if Buster's death can educate people about the mdr1 genetic mutation and help save the lives of other dogs. Please read Kathie's post below and visit the web link she gives to learn more about the mutation and how to test your dog for it. Kathie attached pictures of Buster (the only pics we could get as the sight of the camera triggered a seizure) for those lists that accept attachments.



With sorrow,

Paddy Marcotte
President, Mini Aussie Rescue & Support (MARS)
MARS email: info@miniaussierescue.org
MARS website: www.miniaussierescu[linkhttp://e.org/]e.org[/link]

From: Kathie and Gary
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 1:33 PM
Subject: Buster's story - Please God, never to be forgotten

These photos are how we want to always remember Buster. One of the sweetest and most loving Aussies we have ever had the pleasure to know (and we had and still do
have several to compare him with, so we know of what we speak). Maybe someday
God will be merciful enough to grant our prayers to let the grief-filled memories fade. But this is not that day, and for good reason. Today, four days after his
passing, we purposefully remember the crippled Buster because it is important
enough to do so. What's important now is that you know, and so we revisit the
pain and despair and, albeit it sparingly, share both with you. Grab a tissue
and read on, please.

Buster tested MDR1 N/M. This means that only one strand of his DNA's double
helix carried the Multiple Drug Resistance deficiency mutation; but one was all
it took to rocket him along the path to death. Buster received Ace during his
neuter and, days later, Torbutol 5mg 3 times a day. 13 pills total. The
neurological toxicity evidently caused by these drugs drove Buster to psychosis
and paranoia manifested by sessions of undifferentiated and uncontrollable rage
and aggression.

Clinical terms aside, we can personally attest that poor Buster lost the ability
to distinguish between friend and foe, or between threatening and benign. Over the course of just a few days - and continuing in the days after the drugs were stopped - Buster's demons randomly and exponentially grew from being triggered by a stranger at the door to being caused by just the sight of a large bird flying overhead. In sum, this whole world became a torture chamber to him.



Originally, we intended to sit down at this machine and pen all the horrifying
details, but we can't. Instead we have to trust that you, dear reader, can well
imagine what it is like to be unable to get through to your innocent charge and
assure him that he is safe. We suspect you can also imagine the conflict and
turmoil present 24/7 when a loving wigglebutt entrusted to your care can turn,
at the drop of a pin, into a threat to the safety and welfare of anything and
everyone within reach. We hope only the guilt when it dawns on you that you
contributed to this beautiful guy's sufferings is unimaginable. Trust us, you
never want to experience any of this firsthand. Too many others already have and the stories they have selflessly shared with this family are equally heart wrenching.

Buster suffered at our hands and we were unable to reverse it, nor to provide
comfort, solace or refuge short of destroying him. The only defense you have
against this nightmare is education.

You simply must educate yourself, your vet, your friends, neighbors, & family to
this fact: dogs are needlessly suffering - even dying - because caregivers are
unaware of or, worse yet, dismissing the significance of drug side effects in
dogs with the MDR1 gene mutation. We are convinced that Buster's brain was
poisoned (the "neurological toxicity" part of the equation) by receiving at
least two drugs specifically listed at the Washington State University's
Veterinary Clinical Pharmacalogy Laboratory site

[linkhttp://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts%2DVCPL/]http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts%2DVCPL/[/link]

Admittedly, the MDR1 studies are still a work-in-progress, but do you really
want to run the risk of your furbaby becoming just another statistic that further serves to prove the point?



Spread the word. Test your own at-risk herding and mixed breed dogs. Remember -
it's not just Ivermectin and the coma side effect - behavorial changes can also
evidence neurological toxicity. Please help us to avoid letting - nay, we'll be
frank - causing Buster to die in vain.

And please cross-post widely. Thank you.
Kathie Kiss, Gary Smith, and Debby & Brandon Starkey
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