Like so many others, this was my first post to the Doghealth2 list owned and moderated by Jean Townsend.

21 April 2003
Hi, I am a new member. I am hoping to find answers here. My Great Pyrenees, Wooley Nelson, injured his knee and was scheduled for knee surgery. My vet could not get him in for 5 days and gave us Rimadyl for the interim pain.
Almost immediately Wooley had the black tarry diarrhea and my vet thought it was just bacteria related so gave us antibiotics in the meantime. The surgery was done without preliminary bloodwork.
Afterwards, Wooley was continued on Rimadyl and at home he continued to get even worse. We then took him to the teaching veterinary hospital in Pullman, WA. where he remains in the ICU. He was severely anemic, bleeding internally and has had three blood transfusions this past week. He is finally making his own red cells but not platelets which are critical.
The hospital has put off using steriod treatment because it inhibits healing and Wooley has a recent surgery on his knee. This is their next step which may begin tomorrow. If he does not respond to this
then.......I cannot bear to imagine life without him.
Wooley has suffered internal bleeding, blood in his urine, blood in his stool and bruising over most of his body from the loss of blood. I downloaded the FDA form this morning and my vet has reported this to Pfizer. What next?

Thanks,
Marta Brown
Dancing Pines Ranch

Yes, what next?
What came next was one of the most horrific deaths I have ever witnessed.
What came next was life altering and deeply grievous.

Wooley was not yet 5 years of age. We had picked him from two litters of puppies in the little mountain town that we live near. We thought we were crazy, since we already had five dogs at home.

We hoped to have livestock on our new ranch after our home was built and Wooley Nelson would be just the stock guardian dog we would need. Wooley flourished up at our mountainside ranch. He was truly the king of his domain. Large and white, calm and non-plussed at anything, he ruled the chickens, the guineas, the geese and would have also ruled the future Katahdin sheep we wanted to buy.

Wooley Nelson was named by my husband, Bob. Wooley slept mostly during the day and we soon learned that Great Pyrenees work by night keeping predators away. Life was good.

At not quite 2 years of age, Wooley injured a rear leg which involved a torn tendon/ligament. We took him to the little town nearby and the local vet, whom we had come to use for all of our animals, and it was deemed that Wooley would need surgery to overcome this injury. The vet scheduled Wooley, performed the surgery and although it was tough, Wooley healed nicely.
Or so we thought.....

Then, just before Wooley's 5th birthday, he injured the opposite rear leg. Wooley could not get up and I had to call a friend to come help me lift this 185# dog into my pickup so that he would not be left out in the field in the lowering temperatures of the March nights.

Wooley had to wait for his appointment, five whole days, in the interim the vet gave us Rimadyl for pain.

That was the end for Wooley. In the days before the surgery and after, Wooley was depressed, listless and his incision post-surgically would not stay closed or begin to heal. It bled and oozed fluid constantly. I called the vet again, told him that the Rimadyl was not helping. The vet told me to double the dose because of Wooley's great size.

It was a terrible time. I made a sling to assist Wooley in and out of doors. He was a dignified and proud dog that refused to mess in the house. He didn't think much of my assistance or the need of it either. The other leg could not take the exclusive use and IT became disabled as well. Now, we knew we needed more help than the local vet. The local vet said there was a new surgery called a "TPLO" and that it could be performed at the WSU Teaching Veterinary Hospital here in our State of Washington.

Another delay. WSU could not get us in for a few more days so we struggled along.

The morning came when we took Wooley to WSU. We left at 3:00 a.m. and had to drive over a pass in blowing snow with snow and ice on the roadways, too. Wooley had more black tarry diarrhea before we loaded him. He was in terrible pain and depression.

Upon arriving at WSU, Wooley was taken by gurney and the Orthopedics Specialist looked him over. He said the surgery would be long and that we should go ahead and drive the five hours back home. They would call us.

The phone message we had when we did get back was to call immediately. Wooley could not have the surgery. His red blood cells were practically non-existent and in one more day he would have just died at home.

We drove the ten hour round trip to visit Wooley at least twice per week for a month. Sometimes, only I could go or mostly, Bob and I went together.

On that last fateful day, I arrived and things were different.
I could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that something was wrong.
I had a friend of mine along for support, a NICU nurse and part-time vet tech.

When they finally had Wooley laid out on a blanket in an exam room, the doctor came to me and said that "Wooley must know you are here. He perked up."

There are no words to tell you of the expression on his face when he feebly raised his head and looked at me with those huge brown eyes, bigger now because of the wasting and weight loss. In that one look, I knew. I knew that Wooley could never recover from the devastation of this drug called Rimadyl.

His body was wasted and his liver, kidneys and other organs would no longer work. The ulcers that covered his body and internal organs were painful to see. He had huge purple patches all over his body from bleeding out through his skin.

I said, "No more." Our Wooley would leave us that day.

He died in my arms as I held his head and told him of our love for him that would never die.
I told him that I wished I could take this pain away and bring him home again.
I told him I was sorry for giving him the Rimadyl.

The room filled with veterinarian students and technicians. All of the young people that had cared for Wooley during his month in ICU came to say goodbye to this tender and valiant soul. Many had tears in their eyes.

Wooley would come home again but not whole. He would be in an ornate box painted with birds and rest in the living room of our home on a shelf that overlooks his territory. He remains there and we continue to miss him more than ever.

Note: To date, the cost of trying to save Wooley has passed the sixteen thousand dollar mark. We have an attorney and are pursuing this matter with the veterinarian.

If not for the Doghealth2 list and the support of the members there, I do not know how we would have gotten through this time. Jean Townsend and her moderators, the list members, all come together to share and discuss each topic and find the best possible care for us and our companions.
Along with Wooley, they are my angels.

Marta Brown

Post script: Wooley's necropsy and histology reports showed a "previous insult" to his liver. Upon receipt of Wooley's medical records from the ex-vet, we found that Wooley had been given Rimadyl without our knowledge after his first surgery before he was two years old. He received two doses back then.

December '04 Update: State of Washington Disciplinary Information