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Longlease Bernese Mountain Dogs


In Loving Memory of

Herb

December 18th 2006 to January 18th 2012

Owned, loved and now so sadly missed by Jean Cheesman and June Miles






I took this pic of Herb on December 18th 2010, his 4th Birthday, and he had a wonderful day.
The best present ever, it snowed here and he and Pixie had such fun.
http://www.bernese.biz/pixieherb5.htm


I had planned to take new pics for his 5th birthday but sadly things went very wrong!

December 18th '11- Herb's 5th Birthday, noticed a patch of dermatitis? back end, near tail, took him out to treat then, out of the blue, when I brought him back in, excited jumping with the girls and a yelping? Seemed a mild strain L back leg, initially limping but then seemed fine during the following few days but then increasingly picky about his food which was very unusual for this boy. Always an eat anything and everything Berner!

December 25th '11- relapsed with weakness both back legs and an increasingly high temperature and very poor appetite got worse over the weekend.

December 27th '11- temp. 106.5 F and off to an emergency visit to the vet, found only some slight restriction of movement the L hock joint. Treated with metacam and oroclav, movement did then improve and he was getting up and down on his own again though appetite still very poor over the week

December 31st '11- started developing sore patches around the muzzle which gradually got worse over the weekend,.

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January 2nd '12 - temp. still high 106 F, back to the vet, changed antibios to doxycycline in case of Lyme

January 3rd '12 - temp, 104.4 F, and back to the vet again for full panel bloodwork., high calcium levels, though all other levels normal, appetite very poor, coax feeding by this time. Drinking normally, Helen, the vet, very concerned about the sores and thinking immune related disease?

January 6th '12 - temp. 102.5, biopsies taken of the sore patches and needle aspirate of a swollen lymph gland in the neck, which had come up since the previous night, also full x-rays of the back legs, spine, chest and abdomen (nothing abnormal found) Bloodwork done again and sent to the lab for more detailed panels and calcium slightly higher than the earlier test. Appetite very poor by now syringe feeding to get anything inside him.

January 9th '12 - Started on cyclosporine when the path report came in as cutaneous/possibly systemic hystiocyotsis and stopped the metacam and doxycline as could be conflict with the new med. (BTW The Lyme test came back as negative anyway and his temp was again normal).

Path reports here:
PixieHerbIda/HerbPath/Herb1.jpg
PixieHerbIda/HerbPath/Herb2.jpg
PixieHerbIda/HerbPath/Herb3.jpg
PixieHerbIda/HerbPath/Herb4.jpg



January 17th '12 - It's been a very tough few days again with Herb, he developed a bad reaction to the cyclosporine we started him on last Wednesday with nausea and vomiting. I'd been syringe feeding with a liquid feed five times a day to keep him going as he'd been totally off his food for the last week or so since the biopsies were done. His appetite had been previously poor and I'd been coax feeding with anything and everything. With those increasingly horrible sores around his muzzle and in his mouth and nose it was too painful for him and most likely he couldn't smell or taste anything anyway. On Saturday night he threw up the feed I'd given him a few hours before and even more worrying was he was now hovering over the water bowl and turning away so was not even drinking. I gave him by syringe dehydration fluid in small amounts at regular intervals and next morning first thing called the vet out to come here. He got an anti-nausea shot and he did keep the feeds down later and I continued giving him the fluids but I had to do something more, he's lost so much weight, since this first started a few weeks ago so very weak and listless and I was again having to help him up and he's a big boy! On Sunday I had almost decided to say this is enough but I talked everything through with Kelly when she came over and again with Helen next morning (she'd been treating him previously, Kelly was on call on Sunday) some hopeful signs as the sores are now starting to heal and crusting over, it can take around two weeks for the cyclosporine to kick in fully and he did perk up a bit yesterday morning and had kept his later syringe feeds down the previous night but by this time I was feeling emotionally drained and so very tired this, is just such hard work!! I took Herb in yesterday and he is now in Intensive Care at the vets, on a drip for fluids and getting liquid feeds.

He's now getting the anti-nausea injections and antepsin to coat the stomach lining and today he was also started on prednisone to help boost that appetite and further reduce the inflammation. I know he is getting the very best possible care!. Kelly just phoned a while ago and she said he has perked up a bit this evening, she had just taken him out for a short walk a while ago down to the river, about 50 yds, Did a very long pee though not pooping yet but showing interest in the new smells and was getting up on his own again! What a good boy! I've fought cancers in the past with three of my Berners but this disease is a new one for me! Paws crossed for this boy!


January 18th '12 - Helen phoned me this morning to say things were not looking good and could I come in. His condition had declined overnight and when they took him out to poop it was black diarhea indicating an internal bleed!

My boy when I got there was so very weak but cuddled his beautiful head into my lap and stayed there as we gently helped him over the Bridge, there was nothing more we could do.

I am still so stunned, this has all happened so very quickly!

Helen phoned a while ago and preliminary findings from the initial necropsy are that his pancreas was inflamed. his kidneys and spleen showed abnormailties and there was some ulceration of the gut lining. Thinking is that it was systemic histiocytosis which was also involving the major organs. Samples are going off for pathology and we'll know more when we get the results back in

Tonight we are heartbroken and missing our gentle giant so very much!


Jean, Pixie, Ida and the Longlease Gang
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February 8th 3012

Herb's final results have taken a while to come in as we also sent off to a Specialist but seems most likely that Herb actually had a malignant form of this disease and that this cancer had most likely been hiding in the internal lymph nodes or bone marrow


Path Reports here
PixieHerbIda/HerbPath/Path1.jpg
PixieHerbIda/HerbPath/Path2.jpg
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January 21st and these floral Tributes for Herb arrived this morning.
I've put them by my computers as I'll be working there tonight!
(Have the next B-G fundraiser website to keep me busy)







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These beautiful tulips from
Michaela Simmons-Lackner
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This wonderful arrangement
from Karen Connors


Thanks you, my friends for your support during this very difficult time


Jean, Pixie, Ida and the Longlease Gang
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