Koda with her pal Ch. Sophia Katherine Nizhoni Koda (Beautiful Friend)

Nizhoni Koda ("beautiful friend") was indeed a beautiful Saint Bernard and a friend to all, and she died from a toxic reaction to Rimadyl on July 20,1997. It has been several years since her death but it is still painful because we miss her terribly and her death was so senseless.

As with many large breed dogs, Koda had hip dysplasia. She had a total hip replacement when she was 5 years old. That helped her immensely but she was still in pain with the other hip, although she would never admit to it. We needed to make her comfortable until she could have that hip replaced, too. So my sister and I thought we were doing her a favor by giving her this new 'miracle drug' for arthritis which was supposedly safer than aspirin. The intent was to provide temporary relief until she had the final surgery.

Koda was started on Rimadyl on June 3, 1997. By July 4th she was in ICU at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Teaching Hospitals. In only about one month our girl had gone from healthy and happy to excruciating pain and fighting for her life. With no previous liver or kidney problems, she was now in liver and kidney failure and DIC.

Koda fought hard and we thought she was winning. Her liver was responding and she was out of DIC. After 14 days in ICU, she was on the way to recovery and was sent home -- only to return to the hospital the next day where she went into cardiac and respiratory arrest. Koda died early Sunday morning July 20,1997. A necropsy was done which showed that she had died of a massive perforated gastric ulcer. Her stomach and intestines were filled with over 200 ulcers. So not only did the Rimadyl almost destroy her liver and kidneys, it also destroyed her gastro-intestinal lining.

To give you some idea of what we lost, I want to tell you about Koda. She was a gentle giant - at her prime she weighed about 145# and stood over 6' tall (and she still tried to be a lap dog!). She was the caretaker of our whole household. When I got Sophie, a Lhasa Apso puppy, we introduced her to Koda and there was an immediate bond. It was precious watching this enormous dog care for that tiny, 7-week-old puppy who weighed only 2-3 pounds. We had a mattress on our living room floor for Koda to help protect her joints.

Koda would lay very still and let Sophie romp on and around her, chewing on ears, hanging on lips or whatever - essentially, Koda willingly gave her whole body to be Sophie's own personal "jungle gym." When Sophie got a little older Koda sensed that she could take a little discipline and would place a paw over Sophie's back whenever she got out of line and immediately Sophie would settle down. It was a long time before Koda would even get on her feet while Sophie was present. Knowing Koda, I'm sure she didn't want to risk stepping on the puppy. Sophie has since become an AKC Champion.

When Sophie had 2 puppies, Koda mothered them, too. One of the boys, Mac, suffered a head injury while racing around the backyard with his brother and developed a seizure disorder. That was when we discovered that Koda, ever the caregiver, was also a "sensor." That means she could predict when Mac would have a seizure before it happened and would bark in that bark that could only mean "come here right now!!" She would be so concerned that she would hover close at hand and would even have worry lines in her forehead until the seizure was over. Since Mac's seizure disorder was quite severe, in that he had cluster seizures, it was important to prevent the clusters from even starting. Koda's sensing ability and warning behavior allowed us to intervene with medication before the clusters began. While Koda was there, Mac's seizures were under control. Then the Rimadyl killed Koda. Without Koda to sense and warn, we had no way of knowing when Mac would start seizing and his condition worsened. The only substitute for Koda was higher levels of Phenobarbital, which is very hard on the body. Mac died 16 months after Koda. He was only 3 1/2 years old. Prior to this, Mac was a show dog on his way to becoming a champion like his mother and his brother (who had just finished as a champion).

Even when Koda was in the hospital in critical condition she continued to care for those around her. One night a little Yorkie was brought into ICU. Koda, fighting for her own life, nevertheless focused immediately on the Yorkie. She would bark to alert the staff whenever she thought the Yorkie needed help. Finally Koda just kept barking until the staff put the Yorkie on a blanket next to her. Koda was diligent in her care and watched over the little Yorkie. The next morning the Yorkie was much improved and seemed intimidated by the huge Saint and was put back into its own cage. That is just one of many stories the staff would tell us about when we went to visit Koda several times each day. We were not surprised. That was the Koda we knew and loved.

Koda loved to go for rides in the car and every evening I would get her into our old Jeep that we kept just for her and off we would go for a ride around the neighborhood. It was years before I had the heart to wipe all of her Saint Bernard drool off of the windows.

It has been so hard to deal with her death. She was one of the most gentle and caring creatures God every put on this earth and we all, including Sophie, miss her still.

On the day we buried Koda, Sophie was entered in a dog show (it was our Lhasa club's specialty weekend). This was Sophie's debut as a finished champion. She showed her little heart out, showing the best she had ever shown, and took Best of Breed over almost 40 Lhasas from all over the country, including the #1- and #5-ranked Lhasas in the country! That meant Sophie would be in the Group competition. So we went to the pet cemetery (about 4 miles from the show site) for Koda's burial and then back to the show in time for Sophie's debut in the Group ring. She was amazing and took a Group 2, beating out 4 dogs that were ranked #1 of their breed in the country. While many may think we're crazy, we're convinced that she did it for her 'mom' and inseparable companion, Koda.

A few months after Koda’s death we had Sophie at the University of Minnesota Vet. Hospital and she happened to see a Saint Bernard walking across the lobby. She just about went crazy, lunging on her leash, wagging her tail and just about turning herself inside out. We walked over to the dog and when Sophie saw that it wasn't Koda she was so devastated. Her head and tail dropped - it was as if her whole little being just shriveled. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen.

When Rimadyl killed Koda it didn't destroy a piece of property, as the legal system would have us all believe, it killed an important and valuable member of our family.

Dale Randall

I rescued Angel at 1 year old. She was starved, dehydrated and was barely able to walk. The vet's prognosis was not very good.

I nursed her for 4 months, at which time she took a turn for the good. And let me tell you, after that there was no stopping her. She walked, she ran and her jumps were with the greatest of ease. She lived a disease free, healthy life for 11 more years.

And then, she left for the Rainbow Bridge.

Angel lived a healthy, disease-free life until she was 12. Pretty good for a shepherd and she was going strong, but she wasn't as young as she used to be. When I took her to the clinic for a checkup, the vet worked her back legs to see how much mobility was there and noticed it.

"Doesn't seem to be the hips," he said.
I said, "It's bad in the morning when she first wakes up."
They know me at the clinic. They know I prefer the holistic approach and that I've had good results with it.
So, when he brought out the bottle of Rimadyl and said, "This will help her," I told him, "I don't want a
drug." "It won't hurt her," he said; "it's a non-steroid." An NSAID, a non-steroidal anti-inflamatory.

Well, she was like a puppy for about two weeks, then she stopped eating. At night, she slept with me, so I could hear her labored breathing, hear her moving around, unable to sleep. She began to throw up bile.
At times, she couldn't hold her balance; she'd be walking along and just fall over. I took her to the vet and he gave her a shot and sent us home. She wasn't much better and a few weeks later, she couldn't get up at all. GSDs aren't small dogs; limp weight, she was too heavy for me to lift into my car, so I called the mobile vet service.

Angel died on my living room floor before they arrived,
an agonizing death that I could not stop,
could not ease,
that I could only watch in anguish,
that I still feel, thinking of it.

And it should not have happened. It was not her time. But I didn't know the signs to watch for, didn't know this NSAID could kill, never received any information at all on this drug from the vet who assured me it wouldn't hurt her. No bloodwork was ever suggested.

Most likely, he didn't know he should draw blood or tell me about those side effects; most likely, he hadn't read the label. Or he had the kind of blind trust in the drug companies that made him believe their assertions that adverse reactions were rare. They still say it, though the FDA says otherwise.

We live and learn, don't we? And our dogs pay the price for our learning.

Pfizer felt the strength of the outcry from all the heartsick dog owners whose dogs suffered or died as a result of being put on Rimadyl. The media and the FDA added to that pressure. Their label carries a strong warning now about this drug that is so safe.

It's still prescribed, though,
and vets are still failing to tell dog owners about the dangers and the warning signs.

So, do your homework. Don't take anyone's word for any drug, not anyone's, especially this drug, this killer, Rimadyl. Go to the sites where people are posting information about it. They know what they're talking about, they've learned the hard way, as I did, and they've done the research. The facts are there.

Make copies of them; print them out. Take the information to your own vets and make sure they know what they are doing...and what they should do...when they prescribe this drug.

There are other treatments out there for arthritis; maybe they don't work as fast but you don't have to watch your dog with anxious eyes when you give them, wondering if that little out-of-character thing he just did is a sign that you should be rushing him to the vet. It can happen so quickly you might fool yourself into believing nothing can destroy your dog's kidneys that fast...bleed him out if he has undiscovered Von Willebrand's disease, which is hemophilia...attack his skin, bring on neural disorders. It can. It does. Sometimes in just a few days.

It was first marketed for people, and they were dropping like flies, so they quickly and quietly pulled the plug on it and...began marketing it for dogs.

They say it's safe. There's a warning on the label, of course, and a directive to vets to do bloodwork before the drug is dispensed and to tell people about the possible side effects that Rimadyl can have. Most of them don't.

They say it's effective. It may be, for some dogs. But the dogs who shouldn't have it...the dogs who are old or have some condition that precludes their having it, the dogs who are sensitive to it...they die from it. The ones who do well may keep on doing well; then again, they may suddenly begin showing signs that they should be taken off the drug right away. Of course, if you haven't been warned, you don't recognize them.

My Angel died from it.

If nothing else, be informed before you decide to use it.
Odds are, your vet won't tell you any of this.
For my Angel,

Pat Hartman