Mario?

[ladyjubilee]

Has Mario gotten to come home yet?

[centrop67]

- It's a long story.

I was able to hear directly from Mario's vet dermatologist last Thursday, and the news is mortifying.

She (the vet) was pissed-off at the shelter owner, because they were not following her directions. The dog was supposed to be in for check-ups monthly, and she hasn't seen the dog since October 2019. In that time, Mario changed fosters, and the full story was not communicated to the latest foster.

The latest foster was self-administering a vaccine treatment that is supposed to resolve the environmental allergies so Mario doesn't have to have Apoquel and Cytopoint medication long-term. The last time she tried to administer the vaccine, it didn't go so well, so she decided to return to the vet for the shot - which is why Mario saw the vet last Thursday.

That gorgeous dog in the photos isn't the current state of this dog today. We went to meet him the Saturday before the vet visit. He warmed up to my wife right away, and could have cared less about me. What I saw was a dog in complete misery missing hair on the face, legs and hind quarters. Also, with sores and scabbing in numerous places that he couldn't stop licking and biting. Never the less, my wife and I decided we would pursue the adoption pending the vet's information and meeting our current dog Leela.

Today we are in limbo over this, with a very difficult decision on our hands.

You see, apparently unbeknownst to the foster, Mario has an antibiotic-resistant skin infection on top of his allergy issues that weren't being properly treated until now. He requires a daily medicated baths and a light bleach bath every 3 days.

BTW - the allergy vaccination is a life-long treatment - not temporary as originally advertised.

We put the meet-up with Leela and any adoption process on pause for a month to reduce his stress and give Mario a chance to heal. The next vet visit will give us a better idea of the condition of the dog. I am hopeful, but not optimistic about a happy ending for this dog.

If he was my dog and living in this misery without any signs of improvement, I would choose euthanasia over letting him suffer.

My wife fell in love with this dog at the visit, and I chose to support her. Last night, she admitted that she is having second thoughts about going through with this.

I feel disgusted with myself for feeling like we are better off without Mario. It just seems selfish to me, but we did not put Mario in this position. Right now, we're just waiting for the next vet visit.

[ladyjubilee]

No, please don't feel that way. I think this one of those grey ethical areas of rescues. Sometimes we try to save every dog, even though the dog may pay the price of our efforts. I mentioned the dog we looked at whose siezure meds were $1000 a month. Who can afford that? Another dog required a specific medical service 6 times a day in addition to being immobile and needing other care. Neither of those dogs were going to improve...and even in a great family, there was more than an possibility the standard of care could falter and slide into well intentioned neglect. Which sounds like Mario's situation. While the heart might bleed, I wouldn't be able to commit to that kind of time without possibly sliding down that hill, too.

I would add that as someone who specialized in fostering children with needs, its better to know your limits than slide down that slope.

Maybe if your wife really fell for him, you could do a monthly sponsorship for him.

[centrop67]

My wife texted the foster today.

His scabs have disappeared.

He smells better.

He's still itching.

[Mark77]

The dog needs to be put down.

[ladyjubilee]

So hope maybe?

Jett is also a gorgeous dog. https://post.rescueme.org/20-08-24-00036. He's photo reminds me of a certain someone.


And this guy is rocking the bold beautiful brindle https://m.facebook.com/NADSR.DSRescue

(If it worked out with the rescues, I'd be happy to help transport a state or two.)

[centrop67]

The dog needs to be put down.

This is a rather cold delivery, but not wrong.

I wish I could disagree with you on this, but I can't. As I stated, if this dog was in my care, I would make the best decision for him, but he's not.

[Tim91118]

Don’t know why the current caretakers and veterinarians can’t make that decision

[centrop67]

When the dog was initially found, it was in worse condition than now. You can see that he was recovering in the pics and video. Somewhere along the line, he wasn't getting proper care and has regressed. Those involved are hopeful of returning him to health. I hope it's possible too, but I'm not sure I want to take on that responsibility.

[Mark77]

The dog needs to be put down.

This is a rather cold delivery, but not wrong.

I wish I could disagree with you on this, but I can't. As I stated, if this dog was in my care, I would make the best decision for him, but he's not.

The staph infection and skin issues can be cleared with a spray called Vetericyn, which is cheap and easily applied. No need for medicated baths, just make him wear a cone so he doesn't lick it off on the areas that you treat. I've seen this stuff used on horses with skin infections. I used it on Asia who had a rash on her leg after we got her and it helped clear it up. However the allergies themselves may be diet related and you wouldn't know until you had a chance to try a raw diet. My thought is, judging by the lack of care that the "allergies" could also be caused by neglect. As in he's in a nasty cage or dog run with a mildew or standing water developing sore spots and licking his feet along with his sides causing open wounds. I'm of the mindset that I would probably give it a try only because you already met this animal.

https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/6 ... pray.html#

[ladyjubilee]

Thats a good point, Mark. I'd forgotten that when we got Casper he too supposedly had allergies. His ears in particular were in terrible shape. The shelter vet had him on the medicated ear wash, I can't remember the name but its the blue bottle. Our vet said not to use the wash as it might irritate more. She gave him the pills but also suggested seeing what happened once we got him home.

For Casper, I think, stress was at the bottom of his issues. As he as grown more confident, he's gotten healthier.

We don't do raw diet (not safe in our situation), but he got Peanuts' brand. All of those issues cleared up to the point I forgot about them.

But an antiotic resistant skin infection would scare me. Thats basically like MRSA....way over my skill level.

[montecarlogirl87]

I'm coming into this late and admittedly don't know all the details, I just read this thread... when I adopted Shota (my not-dutch), she seemed healthy other than an ear infection from the shelter, but almost immediately she started losing hair, turns out she had mange, after one (old-school) doctor that did a half-assed job of treating her and literally said to me "there's nothing else I can do", I got a second opinion and she responded beautifully... unfortunately a year or two later it came back, very very badly, to the point she had visible holes in her skin, someone else might have put her down, but I went to a dermatologist and with (admittedly not cheap) care she bounced right back, I have to be ever vigilant because the dermatologist told me that because she had it so young she'll be predisposed to it for her whole life, luckily, except for one summer where she had (unrelated) allergies, she's been fine since *knocks on every piece of wood within reach*

all that to say, just because it's bad, I don't entertain euthanasia unless it's a last resort... was she miserable for awhile? I'm sure she was, and I did everything I could to keep her comfortable, but she's since lived a super-spoiled life and is one of the happiest dogs you'll ever meet

[ladyjubilee]

I have no scientific evidence, but I sort of suspect that greasy feel is a stress response.

Not to advertise, but here at least, the shelters often feed Science Diet, cause it is donated (which is great.)