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Tribble

UPDATE 1/8/08
It's been 4 months since Tribble's visit to Penn and she's shown remarkable improvement. She now weighs 15 lbs., and her snapping fits are more predictable. That being said, Tribble will always be a special needs dog. For the rest of her life she will require biweekly or monthly (once she is more stable) Vit. B12 injections. When Tribble was younger, the B12 malabsorption was a major contributor to her brain damage, though it is not known if that was the only contributor. As a result, she spins (always clockwise), snaps at food, and can growl and bite when startled, especially in the evenings when she's getting tired. The growling and biting has been lessened by firm correction, usually by holding her down until she relaxes. Tribble also has retinal degeneration, which will eventually lead to complete blindness.

Tribble is looking for a quiet home where she will be on a consistent schedule. She does not necessarily need to be the only dog in the household, but she should not be paired with a younger, more hyperactive dog. In foster care, she does well with her 12 yr. old foster sister. She should not be in a home with children. She will need someone who is patient, firm. Her adopter will need to be able to handle her mood swings, put her in her place, and understand her psychological problems. While she can travel in a crate (like a baby, the motion of the car seems to put her to sleep), she does not do well being crated during the day. In foster care, she is kept in the kitchen and family room when she is left alone for the day. Because of her lack of vision, she can not walk up or down more than 1 or 2 stairs and has difficulty making it up stairs. Luckily, she is easy to carry up and down flights of stairs.

If you have a quiet, child-free home, are looking to adopt a loving, happy dog, have the patience to deal with her mental issues and are able to provide biweekly and eventually monthly B12 injections, I encourage you to consider opening your home to Tribble.

UPDATE 10/17/07
Tribble has shown remarkable improvement since receiving cobalamin injections every 2 weeks since the end of August. The injections are very inexpensive and easy to give. She loves to run with her foster family in the yard - both human and canine and play with tug toys. She's most active in the mornings, running around the yard, and jumping into her foster mom's arms to be held. She still has some food issues, so she is fed in her crate. At night, she likes to snuggle by her foster parents, or when it's nosier in the family room, she retired herself to her crate. Tribble will make a great companion for someone looking for a dog who is happy to enjoy life, and likes to be with her person.

What isn't said in this is that she is best in a constant environment. When we've had lots of people over or when she's in a place she's not familiar with, she is prone to snapping (an issue related to her condition). She does growl before she snaps and is easily corrected by tapping her on the nose, or saying her name in a disapproving tone. She is up to 12.6 lbs. as of last Friday's shot, gaining 5.5 lbs. since starting the shots. She still circles when she's in a crate by herself, which usually brings on a poop that she then circles through! On Friday, I brought our oldest collie, Misty, with us to the vets to sit with her during the day in a crate while I was working. There was no circling until I took Misty out of the crate to give Trib a chance to dry off after her bath. She's doing very well coming to people. I can take her out of the fence, and she runs along beside me, sometimes trying to herd me. When I play tug with Murphy in the yard, she'll chase after him, barking all the way! She really does like to play and cuddle.

UPDATE 9/26/07
Tribble had her second cobalamin injection last Friday and is showing remarkable improvement. Since her visit to Penn, she has gained 4 lbs., weighing in at 11 lbs.! Her hair is growing in more, and is a lot softer. She's much more active and has a much brighter look and attitude. Her behavior problems have dissipated with correction and it looks like she's now thinking before reacting. Tribble loves to cuddle in the morning, go for a good pounce, and jump into your arms. In the evening, she'll gnaw on a bone and then curl up by your feet. Her foster family believes that with continual reinforcement, she will make a fantastic, loving pet.

UPDATE 9/1/07
Tribble was seen at Penn's Veterinary Hospital today to try to determine what is wrong with her. She was seen by an internal specialist, a neurologist, and an opthalmologist. Their thought is that she does not have liver disease, as we previously thought. It is now thought that she has a potential hereditary metabolic disorder, selective cobalamin (vitamin B12) malabsorption. Serum and urine were collected to confirm this diagnosis. Those results should be available in the next week or 2. The neurologist suspects that Tribble has diffuse brain disease secondary to metabolic disease. Unfortunately, the opthalmologist is less suspicious of cobalamin deficiency to explain her poor vision. She has a hyper-reflective retina, with evidence of retinal degeneration. It is believed that Tribble will eventually completely lose her sight. Since a Vitamin B12 shot is inexpensive, she was given one today. If she is found to be cobalamin-deficient, continued cobalamin injections (every 2 weeks initially, then monthly) will be needed. Sadly, there are few other conditions that could cause the dramatic clinical signs she is exhibiting and be readily treatable.

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MORE ON TRIBBLE
Tribble came into rescue with her mom and 2 brothers when she was 2 weeks old. Her mom was feral and her distrust for humans was rubbing off on her puppies. At 5 weeks of age, the pups were placed into foster care. Tribble stood out as the runt. Her brothers picked on her; she was constantly fighting them for food. Tribble quickly grew to love humans, as they were safer than being beat up and bullied by her brothers. Unfortunately, her foster family noticed she had some neurologic issues. In the beginning, she would press her head to the ground and almost look like she was doing a head stand when her back legs lifted off the ground. Her mobility was erratic as her back legs seemed to go wherever they ended up falling. It was soon determined that her eyesight is compromised as she occasionally bumps her head into things. Trib comes when called, but if the caller is not moving, she will walk right past them. We also learned that she was too small to be eating the hard kibble that was being fed, so she was placed on Science Diet a/d for a few days so she could catch up on her growing and try to get into a healthier state of nutrition. For the next few weeks she was fed the same kibble as her brothers, but hers was allow it to soak in warm water so that it was soft enough for her to eat.

At 8 weeks of age, she was spayed and made it through the surgery. Several vets (friends of MABCR and her foster family) speculated on what was wrong with her, with the general consensus being that something was wrong with her liver and could possibly be a portosystemic shunt. Through donations and veterinary discounts, we were able to do a chem screen, CBC, and bile acid tests to see if we could figure out Tribbles' problem. The tests determined that she is anemic, has low calcium, and has a liver issue. Her bile acid tests were not high enough to directly point to a portosystemic shunt as the main problem.

A few weeks later, Tribble started to be aggressive when being fed. In her crate, she would growl and snap at her food. If she was fed with her foster family petting her, she would snap at them. Her foster family tried the Nothing in Life Is Free method of training to end her food aggression. Once she was fed a piece of kibble, she never looked at her foster mom for another. If a piece of kibble were put in front of her nose, she would bite at the food to get it. It was determined that her food aggression is related to her liver problems, and she is now fed in her crate with no food issue.

We have consulted with a surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary hospital, who specializes in portosystemic shunt surgery. While he agrees that something is wrong with her liver, he is leaning away from it being a shunt, because her post-fasting bile acid level wasn't where a shunt dog’s levels would be. Regardless, he suggested that we come to Penn where she can see an internal specialist, who might be able to figure out what's the trouble with Tribble. Penn does offer rescue groups a 25% discount and the cost for her first appointment would be $112.50. This price does not include any tests they would need to run.

At this point we need your support to help us diagnose Tribble. MABCR’s funds are drained because of the large numbers of pups we have taken is, as well as several expensive surgeries we have provided in the past year. In order for us to move forward with Tribble’s health care, we will need to raise the funds to cover not only the consult appointment, but the resulting testing and potential surgery.

Please consider making a donation to assist with Tribble’s care. You can do so either by mail (send to: MABCR Medical, 24420 Chestertown Road, Chestertown, MD 21620) or via paypal at this link.

Thank you. Without you, we cannot make this happen.

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To make sure your donation goes to Tribble, make sure you write Tribble Fund under "Add special instructions for the Merchant".