KELLER & SABRINA'S Journey
Keller came to Sabrina as a rescue in 2017. Unwanted and tossed aside by his breeder he lived the first 3+ months in a kennel. He was of no use to them as he was born deaf and was worth nothing to them. When he arrived to Sabrina he was 25lbs underweight at just under 4 months old. You could see the pressure sores on his joints, he smelled of pee and feces and was overall in poor health including metabolic bone disease which we would find out in a short few weeks.
Keller was afraid of grass, toys and other dogs were forigen to him therefore scary. However, with Sabrina's encouragement and training Keller soon became a confident, happy and social puppy who you could rarely find without a toy in his mouth. He bonded quickly to his sibling dogs in his home and was happy to make friends with any others he might meet!
Keller quickly began stealing the hearts of everyone he met, young and old he never met a stranger.
This boy just won the lottery and was with a family that would do everything in their power to insure he had the best life possible and never let his disabilities set the expectations for what he could accomplish.
In just a few short weeks we would make our first but certainly not last trip to Indy vet.
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In September of 2017 at just over 4 months old Keller took a fall and broke his back right femur. He actually fell out of our Jeep, don't worry folks it wasn't moving! For any other dog this would not have been an issue and I was surprised he seemed so upset. So off to the vet we went. We arrived at our vet in Martinsville and Keller always loved going to the vet, it meant he got good treats!
After x-rays it was determined that Keller had a clean break on his femur so off to IndyVet we went. This would be our first visit for our special little boy but certainly not our last. After the consultation it was determined that we could not do surgery as suggested to pin the break because this little boy had metabolic bone disease. Pinning his leg could cause way more damage than the break itself so we opted for crate rest. Yes you read that right, CRATE REST for a puppy who only had freedom from his crate in the last few weeks would now need to be confined solely to a crate for the next 6-8 weeks.
Sabrina's heart sank but she knew she needed to do what was best for him so she would make his crate rest as comfortable as possible. Keller now weighing in at a hefty 60-65lbs would have to be assisted in his outdoor bathroom time, his feeding time, relocations and more. This was not an easy task.
Sabrina and her husband set up “safe spaces” for Keller in each room of the house. Always somewhere that Keller could see everything going on because remember he’s deaf and didn’t like being left alone. They put together enrichment items, bought new toys and squishy beds. This boy's current crate rest would be nothing like what he endured previously. They even obtained a wagon and fitted it with cushions and safety straps so that they could haul Keller around with the rest of the dogs on walks, festivals and more. Keller was a champ and took to the crate rest better than expected, although not without a little complaining. However this meant he had to be watched 24 hours a day. Keller took turns going to work with Sabrina and her husband. He had constant supervision, something that would continue for most of his life.
They set up a plan with Indy vet where he had laser treatments and underwater treadmill sessions so that meant that Sabrina and her husband were making the long trip, over an hour one way, to Indy vet 2-3x a week for the entirety of his rehab.
Keller loved his treadmill time, it meant peanut butter! This boy loved his peanut butter. Again he became a fan favorite at Indy Vet and won over all the people he interacted with.
Keller finished all his treatments and his leg healed. He was back to being the life of the party, and making friends at every turn.
This boy always had something to say, the loudest deaf dog I have ever met. By this time we had realized he was slightly vision impared and in low light would run into things. Now that he was healed it was back to training for this smart boy. Sign language, body language, vibration collars, lights and other things were put into place to help him learn. Food was Keller’s motivator and never met something he didn’t like, although apples were always his favorite! He would tell you how unhappy he was if you didn't share. He passed class after class and soon earned his AKC Canine Good Citizens certification and Novice Trick Dog certification. He flourished in everything he tried, this 150lb boy even tried his hand at agility! His favorite activities included sitting by the fire, hiking with his family and playing with all his friends. He had a fairly normal life up until November of 2018, then our world was turned upside down.
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Keller spent his time making friends, training, and living life to the fullest. In late November of 2018 Keller refused to finish his dinner, I know this doesn’t sound alarming but for Keller it was definitely strange. So I arranged a vet appointment for later the next day. Sabrina was lucky enough to have an amazing vet who she had built a strong relationship with and when she brought Keller in saying “I’m not sure what is wrong with him but he’s off” the vet didn’t hesitate to run a full blood panel. Even though the only symptom was that he really didn’t finish all his food and seemed “off”.
A short time later the vet emerged with news we were not hoping for. Our vet was unsure how he was still upright. She explained Keller’s blood work and what she thought she saw but unfortunately she didn’t have the capability to run the test needed to confirm so once again we were off to IndyVet.
Once there our vet had already sent all the records and the staff was awaiting our arrival. Keller was rushed to the back. After the results were in, the vets came in to confirm Keller had Addison’s Disease. What is that you might ask, because we did!
The way it was described to us is that it means that the dogs don’t produce the hormones in their body to allow them psychologically deal with stress. Good or bad stress doesn’t matter too much and it could kill them because they don’t produce enough of two important hormones necessary to sustain life. If you want to learn more you can check out many different sights as the information is extensive.
Keller was extremely luck, because of the nature of addison’s disease most dogs are not diagnosed until they are admitted unable to stand and dying. We caught it just in time, Keller was lucky to be alive.
Keller would require immediate medical intervention but the good news is if we could level him out he could live a fairly normal life with daily medications and a monthly shot. The vets wanted to keep him overnight but after a lengthy discussion about the fact they would only be monitoring him they allowed us to take him home. So loaded up with IV bags of fluids, syringes, tubes and more we headed home after 12 long hours at the vet.
Once home we set up an IV station on the couch since Keller would require fluids every 2-3 hours for the next 36 hours. That ment needles, something Keller would become very familiar with. Keller received fluid and we watched and waited for the medication to take effect.
Over the next week he began to improve, and we went in exactly one week from diagnosis for a follow up at IndyVet. All came back good but this would not be our last trip that day to the vet.
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We were overjoyed to hear that Keller was on the mend, we knew it would be a long road to get him back to normal but we were prepared. A vet appointment scheduled with his regular vet in a week's time to do more blood work we were free to enjoy the holiday with our family.
Keller accompanied us to my grandfather's nursing home for a thanksgiving celebration. He played, snuggled and got plenty of treats while we explained his recent medical issues. All and all he had a great day. Once home we settled in for the night and started to get everyone ready for bed. Around 9pm Keller started to act restless. Just couldn’t seem to get comfortable. We monitored him for about 20 minutes then he began to act like he was going to throw up but nothing was coming out. I knew that was a bad sign so back in the car we went and off to IndyVet once again.
We were greeted by familiar faces when we arrived. The techs and doctors were already familiar with our family. Keller was rushed back to emergency once again. Sabrina and her husband waited while they ran tests and kept coming back with more cost estimates and requests for testing.
Once the vet walked in the room we knew it was not good news. Keller was bloated! His stomach had twisted and the only option to save him was surgery!
Having spent the last week at vets trying to get his Addison’s Disease under control they had spent their entire savings, maxed out two credit cards and more. They didn’t have the money for the surgery and the vets were not even sure he would survive it due to his weakened state. We had a hard decision to make, one Sabrina was NOT prepared to make.
Sabrina insisted on seeing Keller while they talked it over, while they weighed their options, while they made every phone call they could to see if they could save their boy.
Keller entered the waiting room with a wagging tail. To Sabrina he seemed brighter and more alert. At this point we were contemplating humane euthanazia. They brought three vets in, and got an expert on the phone. They let Sabrina review the x-rays, explaining why this was the best option for her sweet Keller. Through it all Sabrina kept saying it didn't’ feel right and she reluctantly agreed but refused to actually sign the paperwork, her husband had to do it for her.
As she spent what she thought would be her last time with Keller she noted his bright eyes, his snuggly head and his insistence that he have some water. When the vets came to retrieve him to install the IV for the euthanasia she once again protested. Explaining that he seemed to be improving and everything she knew about bloat said he should only get worse. She was second guessing her decision. They took Keller back for what should have been a 5 minute procedure but did not return for almost an hour.
Sabrina was beside herself wanting to know what they did, where Keller was. Finally the vets came back in the room but without Keller.??? They were holding more x-ray imaging. They said that when he got back into the clinic they too noticed an improvement with him. The more they talked they found it weird so they ran another set of x-rays and what they saw was astonishing to everyone involved. Keller’s stomach had untwisted itself! Something that never happens, something that was so rare it could only be described as a miracle.
They insisted on keeping him for observation for a few more hours and sent Sabrina and her husband for some food. When they came back they said Keller could go home! Our boy had cheated death once again.
So after another 8+ hour vet visit we loaded Keller up and headed home. We knew we would have to be back in Indy later that day for a follow up, we knew we had two more vet appointments later that week and a long road ahead of us but Keller was home and that is what mattered!
