Empowering Stories

Like Mother Like Daughter:
Our Poodle with a Bleeding Disorder
By Diane Kholos Wysocki, Ph.D. September 6, 2006

In October 2004, our little black poodle, JT, who was 5 years old, was found dead in our backyard of a massive stroke. Our other dog, Bear, who is half Maltese and American Husky mix (11 lbs.), was home alone with JT when this happened. I will never forget the day. I was on the phone in the house, and my husband, Bill, came in and said I needed to get off the phone. I looked at his face; and it told me something bad had happened and, at the same time, realized that only Bear was next to me and that Bear was upset as well. Yes, my husband told me that JT was dead in the backyard. I remember just crying so hard as my husband picked JT up in his blanket, put him in our car, and called our vet, Dr. Deb Littels, who is the greatest. We left Bear at home (which we shouldn't have done, because he was so upset), rushed to Dr. Littels, and we all just cried, including her. We had JT cremated, so we could bring him home with us, and he could be with us forever.

Things were not the same at our house. Bear quit eating, Bill and I were upset all the time, and we had to get a new dog. Bill and I had a cruise planned a few weeks later, and we were going to drive from our home in Kearney, NE, to Houston, TX, to get on our cruise ship. I started looking up poodle rescues and made some phone calls, but no one answered any of the calls. I only left a message with one, which was the Poodle Rescue of Houston. http://www.poodlerescueofhouston.com/ I said our little poodle had died, we were all upset and a bit about what we do.

Imagine my surprise when the next morning I received a call at 7:30 from the woman who runs this rescue, Guinnette, saying she had a little black female who she had not shown to anyone and who needed a special family. By 11 a.m. Guinnette had taken her to a vet at my request, I had talked to the vet, and this little girl was given a clean bill of health. We agreed we would meet our new little girl before our cruise and take her home after the cruise. We named her Fate(lyn), because it seemed like fate had put us all together. Everything was going great. Bear had a new little sister, and he was happy. She was cuddling with her mom and would sleep on my chest or spooned next to me under the covers.

In the summer of 2005 we were asked to take another little rescue poodle, who is white, and who we named Chloe. We then had 3 dogs, who were all under 30 pounds total. It is still a good thing Bill and I have a king-sized bed. Then, in the fall of 2005, our groomer mentioned that Fatelyn had a red eye. A few days later we mentioned it to Dr. Littel before Fate and her siblings were going to have their teeth cleaned. I asked the doctor to look her over because of this red eye. A few hours later we received a frantic call from Dr. Littel saying that Fatelyn had little petechiae in her ears and mouth. Her platelets were 14, where the normal on a dog is supposed to be 160-600. Having studied bleeding disorders in women for years, I knew exactly what this meant. Our little girl had ITP, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

ITP is classified as an autoimmune disease, where the body mounts an attack toward one or more otherwise normal organ systems, especially the platelets. The treatment is just the same as for humans: prednisone and other drugs. She hated it. I was reminded daily of the women I have interviewed who have ITP; and if Fatelyn could talk, I knew what she would say. She hated it and felt so bad with the treatments. We took her to CSU Vet School, and they tried another drug; but we couldn't keep her numbers up.

Bill and I came back from San Juan a few weeks ago, and I took one look at Fatelyn and knew it wasn't good. Her numbers were at 22, and we put her on another drug and her platelets fell to 12 two days later. By the next week I was so worried about her. Since I know how bad bleeds in the joints and the rest of my body feel, I just couldn't handle her feeling that way; but, of course, we couldn't give her anything for the pain. We all know about that!!!

On a Wednesday night in late August, Fatelyn wanted me to pick her up and hold her. I did and asked her just to give me a sign that it was too much for her. Maybe you think that is weird, but I knew that I was the only one who could make the decision, and I needed Fatelyn's help. By the next day, she couldn't get up on the couch. I called the vet, and we decided to put her to sleep. Bill and I were with her through the entire procedure, holding her and telling her how much we loved her. When the vet put the needle in her arm, she asked Bill and I if we were ready; and, holding her, we said yes. It was over in an instant. Kind and gentle. It was quite a fight with this bleeding disorder...a fight that we lost. Fatelyn was only 3.

We had Fatelyn cremated as well and have her home on our headboard right next to JT. So, she was like her mommy and had a bleeding disorder. Because I know the pain that is involved, it helped me not only care for Fatelyn but decide when it was time to say good-bye. I know those bleeds hurt. All of us with a bleeding disorder do.

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