Photos by Robert Zurflieh |
In
Memory of:
1/15/97 to 5/2/01 |
 Pictured at 12 months old |
Mousse was put down after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 4 1/2 years old. But only two years earlier, Mousse nearly lost his life after swallowing a piece of rug yarn. It was New Year's weekend when Mousse began to show signs of not feeling well. By Monday morning he was throwing up every time he ate. After a series of barium x-rays, a blockage was found. Surgery was immediately scheduled and an 8-inch piece of rug yarn was the cause of the blockage. The yarn had accordioned the intestine and damaged its wall. My local vet was able to remove the yarn but Mousse did not rally after the surgery. Seven days later another surgery was performed. This time they found that he had developed peritonitis. During the following week Mousse seemed to be feeling better then began to get sick again. My local vet seemed at a loss as to what the problem was and kept adding antibiotics to the regime in the hopes that something would begin to work. By the end of that week Mousse was refusing to eat and was obviously in trouble. On Sunday morning I loaded him up and headed for the dog shows in Brooksville in search of a vet to get a second opinion. Dr. Cindy, from south Florida, took one look at him a told me to take him to the University of Florida vet school in Gainesville - NOW! Don't wait for Monday. Traveling north to Brooksville had put me a 1/3rd of the way to Gainesville. The vet school opened their doors to us that Sunday afternoon and within 2 hours Mousse was in surgery. A team of 6 doctors and assistants had been called in for this emergency. The problem this time was that the intestine had ruptured. Now Mousse had an E. coli infection throughout his abdomen and chest cavity. Had I waited a few more hours to get him up to the university his chances of survival would have lessened greatly. Read the rest of the story and view photos. |
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