HAPPY ENDINGS: GUINNESS

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Hi, Ursula, and Boxer friends,

Wow! we are so happy! So much has happened in the last four months. The bottom line: Guinness' bottom is doing quite well and he is home and very, very happy (and fat too!)

Long story: I think when I last wrote we were desperately looking for help. Boxer friends of ours, Randi and Scott Harris highly recommended Dr. Karen Martin, owner of East/West Veterinary. Karen is spectacular! When we met with her in the beginning of April, Guinness was about 41 pounds and still suffering from tremendous diarrhea (remember, since we adopted him in April of 2002, he had never had a solid stool). She recommended home cooked chicken & sweet potatoes. Then she added prozyme and tylan powder. As with previous treatments of any kind, he responded somewhat positively initially but then declined even more after a couple weeks. Then Karen added prednizone and perhaps something else (it is all starting to blend in my mind). Guinness continued to waiver between bad stools and really bad stools…with no real hope in sight.

Memorial Day weekend, he declined so much to the point that he needed to urgently go out almost every 20 minutes or so…and many times, he didn't make it. My poor husband lost more sleep than he did when our kids were newborns. Guinny's "explosions" were bloody and foul smelling, frequent, and making him very weak. That week, Karen gave him a steroid injection and antibiotics. Guinness lost even more weight and stopped eating and drinking. By Friday afternoon, it looked hopeless: he was exploding constantly, now with more blood than stool, and he was very lifeless. To us, it seemed that Guinny was suffering from very bad intestines. Our previous vet had tried almost everything in the book, and Karen too was trying variations of conventional methods.

In tears, I brought Skinny Guinny to Karen so she could put him down and end his suffering. After a long, long discussion, she convinced me that we hadn't tried everything…in Eastern medicine, that is. She also pointed out that whatever he was suffering from wasn't killing him: although he was exhausted and lifeless, his coat was healthy, his teeth/gums were good. Karen wanted to keep him and give him her best, with the hopes of sending him home with us eventually. Grateful for her German persistence, I left Guinny with her… When I returned home, my husband could tell I'd been crying but couldn't understand why I was smiling. Once again, we had a glimmer of hope in the Guinny saga.

For about three weeks, Guinny continued to explode, but now it was in Karen's office and not our once-cream-colored-carpets. I have to thank the staff at East West for dealing with these cleanups…we know how bad they could smell and project! During our visits with Guinny, we noticed he was a little happier because he had a new friend. Ursula brought in a Boxer dubbed "Canyon" because he was severely emaciated after being deserted in a canyon near Pasadena. Although Canyon looked like a hunger victim from Ethiopia, Guinny found that he could sit, albeit not comfortably, on Canyon. The two became buddies as Karen and company nursed them. Sadly, late one Saturday night, Canyon's body gave up and a staff member found him early Sunday. Guinny, understandably, slipped into a bit of depression now that his friend (and chair) were gone.

The following week, Guinny started to decline too. He lost even more weight. Even during one of our visits, a customer of Karen's asked if Guinny was "that boxer they found in the canyon". For the first time, Karen started to think he wasn't going to make it. Again, as happened several times during our time with Guinny, I braced myself for his death. My Dad even stopped by East/West to say goodbye to Guinny. Karen felt so sorry for Guinny that she ended up bringing him home with her to hang out with her two boxers, hoping the change of scenery and new friends would make him happy.

And, as God, fate, and luck would have it, that weekend, Karen attended a veterinary conference. The speaker Karen signed up to see was about 20 minutes late, so, Karen walked out, and walked next door into another presentation that just happened to be on gastroenterology. One of the suggestions they discussed was the benefit of Vitamin B-12 injections. With her new knowledge and a dying dog, Karen started yet another potential treatment that she hoped would work.

Well, three more weeks of prozyme, Eastern herbs, tylan, Metamucil, Pepto, prednizone, acupuncture, B-12 injections, Uma Burgers (Karen's invention of miraculous meatloaf named after her boxer) and pasta, Guinness began to gain weight! His stools started to form slowly but nicely. Best of all, his spirit came back. Karen knew Guinny was feeling better when her husband called one day upset because Guinny and Takio (one of her boxers) ganged up on Karen's tortoise, leaving a bit of a scar.

After six long weeks at Karen's, Guinny went from a measly 26 pounds up to a perfect 51 pounds!!! My husband, Mark, who coined the name Skinny Guinny, now refers to him as "Guinny Pop Ali", a true beefy boxer ready for a match.

We solely have Karen's persistence and dedication to thank for Guinny's survival. She now considers him as family and continues to open her office to him for weekly "play days" (and B-12 injections). They say timing is everything. Sadly, a couple weeks ago, Karen's boxer Uma, finally passed away after a very long battle with cancer. Her time was up. Karen was able to give Uma a few more years than expected. And now, she's given Guinness another life to enjoy with us and our children.

In a million years, I would have never thought I'd cook for a dog (my kids live on fast food and spaghettios), support play days or acupuncture for a pet but Guinness is worth it! He has a heart of gold, a gentle spirit and big squishy jowls that bring out the playful kid in all of us. As hard as the last year has been, I can say it was worth every minute of it to have helped the life of a dog. And as much as I've tried to make our home look like a Pottery Barn catalog, I've learned to love the carpet stains as they can oddly symbolize Guinny's suffering and spectacular renewal.

All of you who dedicate your lives to saving animals, there is a special place in heaven for you. One of my friends once said she could really never be friends with someone who didn't adore animals. She's right. Pets, like kids, bring out a type of selflessness that can really test a person's true being. For people like Karen, her staff, Ursula, the Boxer Rescue of LA, and the countless others whose work is often thankless: they'll get their reward someday…and until then, hopefully, they'll have a Guinny Pop Ali in their lives that remind them that it's all worth it!

Thanks for everything,
Jen McGee

Latest Update

Guinness started to decline again in about October and even worse in November. We started daily visits to back to Dr. Martin. The staff at East/West Veterinary would do “daytime duty” with Guinness while our home would to “nighttime duty”. Finally, in December, after many long discussions, we decided it would be best for Dr. Martin to keep Guinness 24/7 in order to isolate all variables that might be making him ill. He has fit right into the East/West family and is now tracking Dr. Martin! As much as it breaks my heart not to have him in our daily lives, we know this is best for him, and he is quite happy. And, with his “full staff” now, there are no chances of him sneaking a spare Cheerio or chicken nugget from our kids J. Shortly after Christmas, we signed over Guinness to Dr. Martin. He is so happy now and is truly in the best situation possible.