[Nyagdu] Julie how is Brewster doing

Sun Jun 20 23:35:12 UTC 2010

Hi friends,  Since many of you are asking how Brew is doing, I thought it 
would be easier to update everyone on his condition.  For anyone who I may 
have missed before he is now having a problem with breathing and more 
specifically with panting.  It is called Laryngeal paralysis, and is more 
common with labs and other larger breed dogs and in hourses.  .
He can't go out in this heat and humidity for very long but as long as he is 
inside and in the air conditioning he is doing OK.  He is eating great and 
his energy level is the same as usual.  He wants to play but we have to 
limit how much of that we do at any one time.  If it is not too hot and 
humid at night I have had the windows open and he is OK.  As long as he does 
not need to pant he is breathing normally.  When he does try to pant he is 
not getting enough air and then after a while he starts getting agitated and 
more worried so he tries to pant more.  That is
when I have to give him a little sedative and that calms him down very 
quickly and he is down for the count for a while.  I don't like giving him 
that but if that is what I have to do then so be it, otherwise he could 
actually suffocate with this and die.  There is no telling how long he could
live with this.  I talked to the vet Thursday and she said it is a 
degenerative disease and will get worse in time but there is no way to 
predict how long that could be.  I have
left him now 3 times with someone who sits with him here.  The first time he 
was OK but it was with someone he knows well, then Thursday night he was
here with someone who he knows but not so well, and she ended up having to 
give him the sedative because he got himself all worked up.  Now today he 
was with the same person and I went out for a walk for about 45 minutes and
he did OK.  I am not going to be able to go any where as far as going out of 
town for a long time because he has to be where I can keep him cool and with 
someone who he is OK with being with.  My parents kind of would like him for 
a while but my parents don't have air conditioning and I will not expect 
someone to take on the responsibility of having him stay with them with the 
way this is going.  I also don't want to leave him with someone who may not 
know how to handle him, and I just want to be with him myself.  It doesn't 
look like he is going any where for a long time yet.  May be by the state 
convention in October it will be cool enough I may be able to bring him down 
to the hotel but I don't know.  This would be easier to manage except for 
his separation anxiety problem.  I don't know who would want to take on 
having a dog with this problem that he would be OK with.  I am afraid to 
even let him go to my friends house who he has stayed with for a few days at 
a time when I have had to go out of town, because he can't even play very 
long without getting too worked up.  She has 2 of her own dogs and 3 cats 
and he loves to play with them.  It would be imposible to keep him from 
doing that.  We play for a few minutes and then take a brake and then play a 
little bit more after he has calmed himself down  again.  We are taking 2 or 
3 short walks each day and I have to make him come home when he starts 
breathing hard.  He would keep right on going and then end up in an 
emergency situation again.  I can't let that happen because I sure can't 
pick him up!  That was how I hurt my back in the first place with my first 
dog when he got sick.  Right now he is laying on the couch next to me trying 
to convince me that he absolutely needs another cookie.  He is batting at me 
with his feet and just will not allow me to ignore him!  Talk to you 
sometime.

Julie Phillipson
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
To: "New York Association of Guide Dog Users" <nyagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 9:51 PM
Subject: [Nyagdu] Julie how is Brewster doing

> Would like an update on him.
>
> This week 2 friends has to put there dogs down.
>
> So I am wondering how he is?
>
> Cheryl Echevarria Independent Travel Consultant
> C10-10646
>
> http://Echevarriatravel.com
> 1-866-580-5574
>
> http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel
> CST-1018299-10
>
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