advice please, problem with rescued/rehomed dog - Page 1

I accepted a dog into my care last year, when he arrived he was emaciated, skeletal, muscle wasting, atrophy, starving.  Young purebred GSD, neutered male.  Despite his horrible condition he was in good spirits, lively, playful and sweet-natured.  The previous owner was a nice lady who knew the dog was "a little thin" and had taken him to the vet for bloodwork - the bloodwork was normal. 
Of course I took the dog straight to my own vet and had him tested for "everything" again, and included testing for EPI.  Sure enough, he had EPI and this was the cause of his starvation and weight loss. 

The next few months were spent feeding him high-quality food several times/day, and trying different types and amounts of enzymes.  He gained weight slowly but surely and in 4 months' time was maintaining a good lean weight, with no bones protruding.  I adopted him to a person I knew - or thought I knew - well, who owned another GSD from my program.  Being as I knew this person I did not place the dog with a rescue contract (mistake)

The person kept in touch periodically with pictures, and as I offer free boarding to "my puppies" I saw the dog fairly regularly over the next year.  He was always in pretty good shape and seemed to be maintaining his weight ok.

Last week I saw the dog again when the owner brought him to my yearly reunion.  I was shocked and dismayed, and very upset at his condition.  He is back to close to the same condition he was in when I got him last year - emaciated, skeletal, skull sunken, shoulders and thighs gaunt.  I could have put two fingers between each rib, vertibra, and several fingers inside his pelvic process and my whole hand in the indentation between the jutting-out pelvic process and hip. 

I immediately started asking questions - has he not been eating? "yes, he's been eating fine"  How much has he been eating? "5 cups of food per day, TOTW".  Would he eat more if you fed him more? "He would gobble down as much as I fed him, he's always looking for more".  How is his stool?  "Very good, no problems with the stool, except that he eats it".  He's really thin - too thin - could you feed him more, add canned food, feed him more often.... "my vet told me that he's at a perfect weight for him".  "He never was able to jump up in the truck before, now he can", "he has bad hips (never been x-rayed and no apparent problems that I could ever see), so vet says he should be lean".  "my friends say he looks good too".  "I just took him to the vet last month and he said his weight was good, 81 lbs"

cont.

cont part 2

I asked her if she would speak to a vet right then and there, I have a friend who happened to be at the reunion - a very good specialist vet - who had already noticed the dog.  I asked her if she would talk with the owner.

My friend the vet was very nice but to the point - the dog was much too thin - should gain at least 5-7 lbs (IMO the dog was at least 10 lbs too light, if not more), and that on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being emaciated to the point of death and 10 being morbidly obese - the dog was a 2.  Vet asked her about the feeding routine and the owner repeated the above-listed excuses, repeating several times that the vet told her the dogs' weight was good.

So now I get to the questions.  What should I do?  I feel responsible for this dog.  I took him in, spent a great deal of time, effort, and money including donated money to figure out his feeding/enzyme routine and get him healthy and at a good weight again.  I brought this dog from, according to my vet, approx. a week before he would have had irreversible organ damage from starvation, to a healthy dog.  I placed him with this person with full disclosure of his health condition and the enzymes he needed, and an easy-to-communicate with support system (me) if any problems or questions arose. 

I have attempted to communicate with the owner, offering to take the dog to another vet to get advice on what food to feed, different enzymes or whatever is needed to get him back on track.  I have offered to take the dog back.  I have offered to take the dog back until he is back to a good weight and figure out how to maintain his weight.  I have threatened to report the owner to animal control etc if the owner does not communicate with me about the dog's welfare.

any advice?  I can't just forget about it - the dog is emaciated and hungry to the point of starvation right now - even though the owner is feeding him, and "loves him".  Keeping in mind that EPI prevents the dog from digesting his food properly, if the owner feeds him 5 cups/day, he might be lucky to be digesting/using only a small portion of that amount per day.

The owner/dog is not in my state.  The people (animal control, humane officers) that I know in this area can't do anything themselves, but they do know who to contact and they are willing to contact those officials in the other state.  I haven't taken that step in hopes that the owner will communicate with me. 

advice/comments?

molly

Molly, kindly give your friend and ultimatum and if she doesn't do what's best for the dog, follow thru and contact the proper authorities. Your friend will get over it, the dog might not.

I guess I would try to speak with the new owner's vet and see if what s/he says about the dog's condition is really true.  I can't really say what I personally think without seeing and touching the dog.  Everyone has a different idea about what is too thin and what is ideal.  I have a dog that needs to be kept thin b/c of a condition and while myself and my vets are perfectly happy with his weight and tone, people often say he's skinny, etc.  My vet might say I could take another 2-3 lbs off and another vet might tell me I should put 5lbs on.

Wow!  I agree with michael.  Do what's best for the dog.

Molly,
I agree with the above.  First, ask if you can talk to the new owner's vet.  If this doesn't reassure you, ask your vet friend who saw the dog if "calling the authorities" is necessary.  Before actually calling any agency, though, you might check with an attorney about any rights you may still have.  If you have a web site which states you can reclaim any dog you place, you may be able to do that without a signed contract.  I wouldn't necessarily want a unhealthy-looking dog to be seized by animal control; he should go with you.  Good luck, and please let us know how this works out.
Linda 

As of now, she is still refusing to admit the dog is too thin.  He is EMACIATED as of last week - every rib, over-tucked in abdomen, every vertibra sticking straight up, muscle wasting along the sides of the vertibra, pelvic process sticking up with hollowed-out bone, skull sticking up between his ears, hips sticking out - he looked terrible as of one week ago, I'm sure he hasn't gained much back if any especially if the owner is still saying that her vet told her the dog is in good weight/condition (which she is still saying).

She says I have an ego and am just bitching because........??????? - I say I'm all about the dog and his welfare - I want her to do what's right by the dog.  FEED HIM MORE, change his food, change his enzymes, do whatever is needed to gain  his weight back.  I don't want the dog back, I have 10 rescue dogs in my kennel now.  I only want this dog to not be starving, maybe to death - again.

So supposedly there is a vet appt for tomorrow.  I asked her to request information from her vet about the best food to feed him - change foods if necessary.  Different enzymes and/or amounts.  And a picture taken from the side of the dog at the vet, along with a written signed statement from the vet on his letterhead stating that the dog is in good weight/body condition.  Contact info from the vet.

"Or else".  I have told her I will contact animal control authorities if I am not satisfied that she is taking the proper steps to get him back into correct weight.  I don't know how much trouble I can make with this since it's out of state, but I can certainly try.

My main problem is she doesn't seem to think he's too thin!  And this isn't just lean or a little bit thin - he is skeletal with muscle wasting.  Much like he was when I first got him last year. 

Here are pictures of him "before and after" I got him and brought him back to a decent weight before adopting him to this person.  He looks now as he did in the first pictures, maybe even worse.  https://picasaweb.google.com/eichenluft/TysonRescueGSD# 

molly 

Molly by what you describe, I would doubt the dog's stools are fine. TOTW food is probably too high in fat and fiber for a dog with EPI.  Most dogs with EPI do best on a raw diet.  If the dog is stool eating this too will not help his situation. I have an EPI dog if you have any specific questions please pm me.  If the dog is 10 lbs under wieght that is huge for a dog.  Fat content of food needs to be no more than 12 %  fiber no more than 3-4 %.  Enzymes should be powder not tablets.  If the dog is having trouble maintaining wieght, I would keep on the porcine based enzymes, but add prozyme as well (plant based enzymes)  My girl initially had trouble maintaining weight this helped her put on the added pounds. She has maintained her weight even gotten a little porky at times for more than 6 years now.  There is a Co Op for purchasiing enzymes in bulk to make it more affordable.  Again please Pm me should you need any more help.  This is a very unfortunate situation for the dog:(

Lyn

This is a very touchy subject...BUT...I think you're on the right path...Getting the "new owner's" vet involved and if need be even in contact with your vet...I think sometimes people can't see the truth sitting right in front of them...It might take an intervention of some sort to shake the "new owner" into a state of reality...
Maybe you've already done this but send the "new owner" pictures of Before and After...and then NOW to see what they think of them...I'd pick and post 3 pictures...Before...After...and...Now...

Good Luck...

~Bob~

Molly,
I remember this boy at last years function. I wish I had seen him at this function too.
This situation just aggravates me to no end. When I was a Groomer I had several clients who would bring their obese dogs in for Grooming. And when asked, they would deny up and down that their dog was not fat. 
I wish I could offer you advice, but I do agree with Michael49. It appears you have tried to help in every way and this person does not want to listen. Time to take it to the next step. This is YOUR dog, no matter what. They say you have an ego...blah blah blah...B.S. I just don't understand how they could not see how emaciated he is and, if true, how a Vet. could say the same. 
Keep us posted,
Brandi and Dugan