Normally I like to post happy stories here on Deaf Dogs Rock but in this case I think all of us with deaf dogs should read this article. It seems to me deaf dogs are so much different then other dogs because they have bonded so closely with their owners.
The more deaf dog stories I receive, the more I realize many of the deafies have separation anxiety. My Nitro is on that list. I can only leave him for about 2 to 3 hours and then the barking starts. Remember when you crate your deaf dog and leave to go out somewhere, a deaf dog can’t see you. When deaf dogs can’t see their owners, it’s like you have vanished into thin air (because they can’t hear your movements in the house) so they panic.
Yes, this is a sad story but it is also a story we can all learn from. Being deaf dog owners also means we should always use caution when we board our dogs to go on trips. If you are going to board your dog, maybe a good thing to do before you leave on a trip try a doggie daycare a few days before you leave to see how your dog handles the stress of being away from home.
How many of you take your dogs with you? How many of you board your dogs when you go on a trip? How many of you hire a dog sitter to stay at your house while you are gone?
An upper Manhattan animal clinic let a woman’s dog bark itself to death — and then tried to cover up the bizarre tragedy, court papers charge.
A doctor at Riverside Animal Clinic, located at 801 W 187th St., had told Marie Moore that X-rays showed her beloved bulldog, Cowboy, had died from congestive heart failure, but an autopsy found that his heart was fine and that he’d actually suffocated as a result of over-barking, Moore said in papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“Defendants ignored obvious signs of Cowboy’s distress, allowing Cowboy to continue barking for days without proper care or intervention, until his severely swollen throat suffocated him and caused his death,” Moore said in her suit, which charges the clinic and kennel with veterinary malpractice.
“Moreover, the X-rays Dr.
Ramos and the clinic declined comment.
The suit says Moore’s nightmare began on March 9, when she took Cowboy, an English bulldog “who was in good health,” for boarding at Riverside.
She told staffers the pooch had never been in a kennel for an extended period of time and “was assured that Cowboy would be well treated.”
Moore called to check on Cowboy on the 13th and “was told that everything was fine,” the suit says. “One day later, Cowboy was dead.”
The clinic didn’t even have the decency to call Moore, the suit charges, claiming staffers sent an e-mail to Moore’s mom, who was boarding her own dog there at the time, and asked her to give them a call.
The mom, Megan Strong, called Riverside and was told Cowboy had died, the suit says.
Moore then called the clinic and was told by Ramos that Cowboy developed breathing problems that morning and an X-ray of his chest “showed an enlarged heart.”
Based on the X-ray, Ramos “concluded Cowboy was having congestive heart failure and he could do nothing to save Cowboy.”
An autopsy showed Cowboy’s heart was fine, but his throat was swollen and his stomach was full of air, a sign of respiratory distress, the suit says.
A “correct diagnosis of severe laryngeal edema and airway obstruction, followed by proper emergency procedures, would have saved Cowboy’s life,” the suit says.
Moore’s father-in-law, Carlos Moore, called the death “very shocking, just awful.”
As for Cowboy, “Everybody loved him,” Moore said. “He was a wonderful dog.”
This article appeared in the New York Post on 7-23-2011. Click here for full story.
