Hope for Rufus

[weloverufus]

Hello!

I started coming by here last year after a terrible time of it with our beloved Podenco cross, Rufus. After many desperate weeks, much pain, much weight loss, and feelings of great desperation, he was diagnosed with IMPA. At the time, this site was a real life saver, and now, I in turn want to bring some light and hope to other readers by including Ru's story.

Please know that there is hope for your IMPA dog! What did seem hard was getting a diagnosis. Eventually, after stumping one vet (who gave up and didn't really care, it was awful!) we found one who worked with us (a fab caring vet, yay!) and recommended he go for tests at a special veterinary hospital. You might have to really fight for your dog to be seen at a vet hospital, but it will be worth it. Keep trying if you think IMPA is a possibility, don't give up!!

Poor Ru had so much wrong - spinal pain, couldn't get up the stairs, intermittent fevers, collapse, anorexia - it was so dreadful to see. From a beautiful happy bouncy dog, he want to a collapsed heap that looked like an empty pajama case - it was heart-breaking. He also had to have so many tests, from x rays to blood work, tick titres to CT scans. It went on and on. Eventually the vet hospital did some joint taps and gave us a confirmation of IMPA. He was subsequently put on steroids, and we followed the regime suggested here.

I was very worried about giving Ru steroids, but it seemed to be our last resort. Actually, they saved his life, not least because he had been refusing to eat for weeks and had become absolutely emaciated (getting a bit choked up thinking of it), and the steroids gave him his appetite back, which led to increased strength. We also home cooked all his food, giving him a meat/veggie mix instead of relying on tins or packets. Am sure this supported his body; the vet was always very happy (even surprised) at his results (he had regular blood/liver tests to gauge how he was coping with the steroids, and he did very, very well).

Looking back its been like an incredibly long nightmare, and now we are waking up; we are more than relieved!  To give an idea of the time scales, it kicked off last September (when he was just not himself, very quiet/depressed, we discovered a large lump on his side, and then he collapsed with his first fever) and so went on for about 10 months. There is no quick fix here, but if there was hope for Rufus, then there has to be hope for other dogs.

I remember lying by his side, when he was suffering from a terrible fever, he was becoming emaciated, panting copiously, and I thought there was no way he could make it. The leap from that time to anything resembling 'recovery' felt like a fantasy, I just couldn't see how it was possible, indeed, we thought we had lost him many times. But with the right diagnosis, a supportive vet and the steroids (along with much much, much love and care) he has come through. Ten months after this started he has now on all his lost weight (and more), has revived the muscle tone in his head, likes to run and jump (within reason, he is now nearly 10), and recently won a prize at a dog show for the best sausage catcher. Go Ru!!

I cant believe I am writing this, but I am. I got a lot of hope and comfort (as well as information) from this site, and just wanted to return to pass on the baton of hope to others. 

Love to all IMPA dogs everywhere, from Lee, Christine and Rufus xxxx

[Penel CIMDA moderator]

Ahhh what a brilliant read, thank you SO much for posting and giving hope to everyone else whose dog has just been diagnosed.  It really often does feel hopeless at the start.
So great to hear that Rufus is doing so well now.

[tricia]

Thank you!

My girl was 10 last month and our journey has only just begun. I felt she had been a bit off for a while but then she was getting on a bit. We tried some acupuncture as she was looking a bit stiff she had her first flare up the next day, not eating, very high fever and just so lifeless. We were back an forward to our own vet for 2 weeks with a couple of in patient stays for fluids before we got a referral to the vet hospital. They were very good and with just blood tests, abdominal CT and chest x ray to rule out infection they did joint taps next which gave us a diagnosis.

We're still fairly early on in the steroids as we've only done one reduction in dose so far. The side effects are sometimes as frightening as the initial illness, I feel as if she's fading away and am so worried that at her age she won't bounce back even after the treatment.

I'm glad Rufus is doing well. It's lovely to hear a success story. Thank you.

T