The 17th of February also saw the 5th anniversary of the first ever SHAK dog we lost. I will never forget Bruno, and the complicated tale that came with him.....
Bruno came to us all the way from Southampton, looking for a new start due to no fault of his own. He had a history of a poorly stomach, but that was put down to a food allergy, and we tried to combat it with various specialist diets, although it turned out to be something a lot worse. On February 17th 2009 we had to give up the fight, and let him move on to a better place. Bruno gave us so many ups and downs in the time we had him. He was such a loving, yet grumpy big guy. I for one don’t regret trying to help him, and right to the end, he was a gentleman and a calming influence on the other dogs. Below is brief description of his illness, written by former volunteer Sharon Ness who was with him right to the end. Run free Bruno, God bless you.
“His blood tests showed a significantly low level of protein which the vets say was obvious given his emaciated state. The scan showed nothing and they felt an x ray would yield no valuable information as they could feel the whole of his intestines when examining him. Several of the vets reviewed him, his results and his history during the time they had cared for him. The consensus of opinion was that it was inflammatory bowel disease as debilitating as cancer, if not that then a diffuse lymphoma causing multiple small tumours throughout the bowel. Definite diagnosis would have required surgery to take biopsies but this was something that they felt was too much for him to cope with in his very poor state of health. Basically his immune system was attacking his own gut and causing an absorption problem and profuse diarrhoea. It would be untreatable and progressively worsening. The vets felt that they could not offer any interventions and the best thing for Bruno was to be put to sleep. The whole illness would have occurred regardless of where he was living and was not contributed to by "kennel stress". Bruno very quietly and peacefully was put to sleep 4pm this afternoon while I cradled his head and told him to go off and have a great run after some rabbits.......run free at Rainbow Bridge little man xxxxxx”
