THE STORY OF COOPER
By Stephanie
In the middle of December 2010 my dad and I were invited to a bbq with some of our close family friends. We arrived and I was greeted by the cutest, loudest, skinniest, little puppy I had ever met. From the moment I entered the door, he followed me around whining and yapping throughout our entire visit.
As we mingled, chatted, and waited for the burgers to finish cooking on the grill, I was admiring this little pup. It did not take long to notice that his brothers and sisters looked healthy and vibrant, yet he was emaciated and his coat was dreary. Overall, he posessed this unhealthy appearance that lacked life and happiness. I had never met this family before, so being straight forward and asking what was wrong with him was way out of my comfort zone. However, this was a family breeding German Shepherds and that was my breed. I grew up with them and had some serious breed bias! Plus, I had started a career in veterinary medicine years prior to this, so the curiosity was building up in me by the minute.
Finally, after a few beers (because let’s be honest, who doesn’t gain courage after having a few, right?) I finally just blurted out, “Has this little guy seen a vet?” Immediately everyone started to listen, I am sure waiting for me to make some sort of passive aggressive comment as to why this puppy hadn’t been treated professionally. The gentleman hosting the bbq explained that since “red collar” (they used collars to keep track of each puppy) was born, he had trouble keeping down any milk and eventually kibble. He would eat and within a few minutes or so, it would all come right back up. Not vomiting, but regurgitating everything he ate and drank. None of the kibble was digested, and he would eat as though he had never seen food before.
My mind is spinning thinking, how has he not seen a vet to determine the cause of this? He is withering away and will definitely die if he cannot keep food down! So, I asked the dreaded question…how much do you want for him? $200 was their asking price and before I could even utter the words, my dad was pulling out his wallet to hand over the cash.
We politely finished our meal, thanked our hosts for everything and walked across the street to our truck. This scrawny little fluff in my arms who had yet to stop whining and talking was now part of my family, just like that. My dad was apprehensive of taking him home and made that clear from the beginning but I assured him that all will be okay.
As we settled in the truck, “red collar” found his comfy spot on my lap, placed his little head on my shoulder and was asleep before we got out of their neighborhood. The whining was silenced, the talking had ceased and the bond between us was blossoming. I had never felt a connection with a dog like this one, he was finally loved and he was finally home! Oh, and he finally had a real name, Cooper.blob:https://caninemegaesophagusinfo.com/be310d0a-7e18-47f6-9606-7547581dff37REPORT THIS AD
The next morning I took Cooper for a brief walk, fed him some breakfast, and loaded up my new baby in the car. Off we went down Pacific Coast Highway so I could show off my new companion! We made it about 15 minutes down the road when he started to stir around the car uncomfortably, eventually regurgitating every piece of food from that morning. He looked up at me as though he was nervous, unsure of my response and not physically feeling well. I pulled over immediately and reassured him it was okay. There was a veterinary clinic a few minutes away and it was my next stop.
The clinic was full of the sweetest staff who took care of us right away. They took him to the back, preformed some xrays and escorted me to an exam room. The news I would recieve in that room was heartbreaking and terrifying. The doctor explained to me that Cooper had a severe case of congenital Megaesophagus. Essentially, he had a bulge in his esophagus which would prevent the food from reaching his stomach. Food and water stores in that pocket and eventually comes back up, which explains why nothing was digested. This poor dog was literally starving and for 12 weeks of his life, he was withering away, yet fighting to survive.
The doctor explained that there was nothing I could do, except to euthanize. He said it did not have to happen immediately, but the sooner the better. To take him home, love him, and bring him back when I was ready to say goodbye. That was officially the day my life changed and everyday since then turned into a fight for survival. Not only for him but for me. This was my soul dog and had been since he chose me that winter night almost ten years ago. He had no desire to give up, and I did not either!
I left that office feeling sad and defeated. Where do we go from here? This sweet little pup was staring at me begging for me to help him live. I called up to the veterinarian office I was working at and asked to speak to our internal medicine specialist. She had me come right in, reviewed his imaging, and performed an exam. She told me that although his case was severe, there was hope. She told me that everything from here on out would be trial and error. I can try different foods, different consistencies of foods and different feeding positions until I got one right. Although he was extremely high risk for developing aspiration pneumonia, among other secondary issues, I was determined to do what I could to give him a well deserved life.
After trial and error, multiple trips to the emergency vet and thousands of dollars, I finally found what worked for Cooper. Everyday, I had to mix 4 cups of dry food and a few cups of water in the blender and mix until smooth. We would wait about 15 minutes for the mixture to harden a bit and roll the mixture by hand into meatballs. blob:https://caninemegaesophagusinfo.com/be310d0a-7e18-47f6-9606-7547581dff37REPORT THIS AD
Cooper ate in what was called a “Bailey Chair” and had to stay upright in order for his food to essentially fall into his stomach. The chair in the photo was not created by me, but I did make the chair myself using the original Bailey chair method.
I like to think of Cooper as my soul dog. A connection that I never truly understood, but will forever cherish!
Cooper passed away one week before his tenth birthday, however, by some miracle, Megaesophagus didn’t take him from me. We discovered a rectal mass, and unfortunately it was too large to remove. Losing him was absolutely devastating to me, but in some way, I felt this amazing sense of relief that ME didn’t take him from me. Ten years of dedication, love, and a whole lot of tears in between, had paid off. I got ten years with the funniest, most charismatic dog, and I am forever grateful for that!
After Cooper passed away just a few short weeks ago, I had so many people tell me that the bond we had was so beautiful, and I love that other people saw that! My dad told me he believed that Cooper survived through 9 bouts of aspiration pneumonia and all the other struggles of an ME dog because he lived for me. It was true. That dog would do anything as long as I was involved.
As they say, there is no better love, than the love of a dog.
