Louie

Louie the Very Lucky Beagle

Louie had many supporters, over 1100 page “Likes” on his Facebook page. I’d like to ask that in honor of Louie please make a Donation to Canine Rescue Connection. Link is on this page, just hit the DONATE button.
If all of his supporters would just donate $10…we would be able to finally purchase the Rescue Van that we so desperately need to save more dogs like LOUIE!

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of our very own Louie the Very Lucky Beagle. It has taken me a long time to make this announcement as he left this earth on November 9, 2018. Not many days after my last updates on his condition. I don’t want to rehash his journey to the Rainbow Bridge just know that he did not suffer. I do want the chance to celebrate his life, at least the 3 years he had with me.

I have put together this video of his tenacity and zest for life that he displayed for the last 3 years. I know this video is long at 32 minutes but if you want to see courage and love for life at its best, you’ll want to watch every minute of it… here is Louie with the heart of gold. The $50,000 dog named after my Father who lived up to his namesake in every way. He always wanted to be heard, turn down your speakers if you have other dogs around because they will gladly join in to honor Louie.

I could hardly ever get good photos of Louie as he was always looking down. With his back condition it probably hurt to try to put his head up. Just to remind the backstory on Louie…

I had just lost Gizmo on January 14. January 30 this poor guy comes across the rescue pages. I had not thought about getting another male so soon after losing Gizmo just a few weeks earlier. But this guy needed my help!

His story was he was an original owner turn in unaltered. Shelter fixed him and put him up for adoption. A “family” adopted him but only had him for 8 months and turned him back into the shelter claiming he bit their 5 year old child! He was labeled for New Hope Partner rescue only. If a rescue didn’t step up he would be euthanized due to his age, 10 years old. I just had to save this guy!! I have dealt with Gizmo who was a true biter and I never gave up on him after 14 years so I knew I could handle this guy!! So I sought out a rescue to help get him out for me. Meade Canine Rescue stepped up to the plate and agreed to help. In addition I had to wait to get him because there was a 10 day hold on him due to “the bite.”

February 7…Freedom Day! He was excited to be out of the shelter! And NO he was NOT a biter!! There isn’t a mean bone in this dog’s body!!

So on March 10 he got a full work up. He had a routine dental with two extractions. He was “Frankendog” because he also had 2 lipomas removed and 7 sebaceous cysts. And lastly he had a tumor on his rear end that was biopsied and luckily came back negative. He just loved that I did all this for him! He was indeed Lucky Louie!

We knew there was some underlying issue neurological or just “arthritis” related, after all he was 10 going on 11. But had no idea of what was about to happen to him!

March 21, he pulls up lame. Cannot use his back legs. MRI done same day to reveal that his disc blew out into his spinal cord causing paralysis. Same day headed to surgery. Hemilaminectomy. Removal of the disc material rupture. Three days in the hospital… Cage rest for a month!

Poor Louie just can’t catch a break. Got him a new harness to help him get around and it gave him a case of priapism!! Oh boy!!!

If it’s not one thing it’s another. Louie developed a bad case of diarrhea.

This poor guy suffered, and so did I cleaning up after him, for almost 3 weeks with the runs!! We tried all kinds of medicines but nothing worked. It really set his healing progress back. After an expensive ultrasound and blood panel it was determined there was no tumors to indicate a problem that would be causing his diarrhea. So there was one more thing we could try…a large bowel antibiotic and a high fiber food. And yeah finally it worked within two days!!

Do remember that crate that I told you he hated? Well he really proved it by breaking a canine tooth on it! May 21 he had it and the tooth next to it extracted. He really just can’t catch a break!!

Well since he did not improve and only kept getting into more trouble I came across Two Hands Four Paws rehab center. I elected to keep him there where he can have attention all the time and get daily therapy. Louie was there for over 3 months.

Here was his story as told by them…

“SUCCESS STORY- LOUIE BOUNCES BACK!

Louie, an 11 year old Beagle, had only been with his mom a few months after being rescued from the shelter when he began to exhibit signs of hind limb paresis. A hemilaminectomy was performed to ease pressure on his spinal column and help return strength to his legs but he did not recuperate as hoped. In fact, he couldn’t even stand up. To get him walking again Louie’s mom entrusted his well-being to Leslie and her team. He is now boarding with us and receiving 24-hour care as well as daily physical therapy.

Not being able to walk was not his only challenge. Louie, having been so recently pulled from the shelter, suffered from severe separation anxiety. He was miserable and whined/barked/howled if you left his line of sight. When Bryan fitted him in his cart for the first time you should have seen the change! His whole face lit up and he took off, doing lap after lap around the facility! He was so happy he forgot all about us. He became a care free puppy happily wagging his tail as he rounded each corner on one wheel!

A triumph for Two Hands Four Paws indeed but Louie has an accomplishment of his own to announce. After only 40 days of hard work, laser therapy, and acupuncture Louie is beginning to gain control of his hind limbs again. He has taken his first steps and is getting stronger and more mobile each day! We are so happy for you Louie, congratulations!”

Louie finally got to come home. He was doing well in his walking. He will need more therapy to keep those muscles strong. But right now we are concerned with several cysts that have gotten larger and have bled. This coming week he will go under anesthesia to have several removed and at least two biopsies.
Frankendog is back! Louie had about 10 cysts removed. He’s stapled up. He’s in good spirits though. Sent out for biopsy, let’s hope they are harmless.
Louie saga is never ending! He pulled out the suctures on the back of his paw leaving it exposed. So we had to wrap him up so infection wouldn’t set in until he can go back under again on Monday to close him back up.
Louie is sporting a Thundershirt. It is working pretty well. It is keeping him a bit calmer as he heals from all the spots that are stapled up. Let’s hope no more tearing out the staples.
Louie is in better spirits as they took the stent out on the one paw. Also a few of the staples came out, the others still need some more time and will be removed Monday. He can’t wait for that to happen!!

Prayers for Louie today as he goes in for a routine dental. Last year after his dental as you may remember, a week later he went down with the blown disc. Keep him in your thoughts for a smooth cleaning and no extractions. Louie is back at home. 4 extractions… he’s still a little sleepy because he is so quiet.

I wish this was Louie right now. He’s gone down again. He can still actually walk but he can’t pick himself up. I hope it’s not another disc. I think I might just have to step up the Go Fund Me again to get him some help. At the vet now we’ll see what he says.
Louie is back at home after a 7 day stint in therapy where he got acupuncture, cold laser therapy and massages daily. The surgeon didn’t feel that he needed to go to surgery that it is an inflammation in one of the discs in his neck rather than his back. He is definitely feeling much better after a week of needed rest and therapy. Still rest and more therapy needed for the next few weeks to get the swelling down for good. But him being home, he is a happy boy!

Louie is finally starting to feel better. 2 days of nasty diarrhea. Back to that old medicine that fixed that last time. He’s a much happier camper now.

Louie is back in his wheelchair for a bit. He is having trouble standing so to give him a boost of confidence I got the chair out.

Back at therapy again. Louie is back at home. He has made some progress but he’s going need more therapy. He is very happy to be home though!

Update on Louie! Look how well he’s walking around!! A week ago he could not stand on his own and would walk in a circle and go down. Now he can get up on his own and walk! We’ve figured out the source of the problem. Would you believe this all stems from a UTI?? You see Louie is an extremely proud dog. He gets very upset when he is incontinent. The pain from the UTI and the inability to go out when he has to made him even weaker and weaker that he’d soil himself and just give up. Once we got some antibiotics in him and the infection subsided he gained his confidence back and viola he was able to stand on his own again! Therapy going forward here will definitely help him with strength and he will get some. But for now he is much happier and content.

Another month later…same deal. I’m incredibly elated to see this! Louie has been in his wheelchair for over a week and now he is standing and walking on his own again!! He is nothing but short of incredible!!

Again he got past all that… continued UTIs over the next year gave him a lot of setbacks. But again they would get cleared up and back again he was on his feet.

Then the real news…
I know you haven’t heard from us in quite a while. So Louie thought you all would be interested in how he’s doing.
Louie has gone through a lot over the last year. Constant UTIs that lead to his inability to stand and walk. Antibiotics clear it up and up on his feet he goes again.
Recent turns in his health led us to do an ultrasound to really see what is going on with Louie.
Unfortunately it isn’t good news. We found a medium sized tumor on his spleen. Unknown if it is a hemangioma (cancer) or benign. In addition we found lesions on his kidneys. And one kidney is totally malformed. But believe it or not his blood work showed normal kidney values. So that means that his kidneys are still functioning at more than 75%.
At this point there isn’t much we can do given his age and condition. We could do a spleenectomy but there would be a good chance he wouldn’t survive the surgery.
Right now he is still full of heart to keep going, he tries so hard. Keeping him comfortable and get him to try to gain some weight is the plan. He is happy and we plan to keep him that way.