Help for my English Mastiff!

[MurphyMurphy]

Hi everyone,
My name is Meghan and I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I have a 3 1/2 year-old male English Mastiff named Murphy. I purchased him from a breeder near Akron, OH on 03/17/2007 (he was born 01/03/2007). Our breeder was Patricia Sams and I have been unable to contact her. After Murphy's 1st birthday he became very ill, and we have struggled in finding a diagnosis and treatment for him. At one point we almost had to put him down. The breeder used to have a website, and had even posted pictures of Murphy as a puppy, but around the time that Murphy got sick, her website disappeared. I even sent her a letter asking if any of the other puppies from his litter had experienced any health problems. I recieved no response. I even explained in my letter that I didn't want any money back, and I certainly didn't want another puppy. I was just hoping to gain any information as to any known illnesses within the litter. Murphy is like my child, and I just want him to get better. We believe he has some sort of autoimmune disorder, probably genetic, and I would love to know if anyone knows of anyone that has puppies from Murphy's litter, or has purchased an English Mastiff from Patricia Sams. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

 

[moose]

Welcome! That breeder seems kinda fishy, I hope someone on here can give you more info, either about her or his illness..Poor Murphy how is doing ? That pic of him is very cute, love to see some more of him!! Btw I love his name my oldest dog is named Murphy too!

 

[MurphyMurphy]

Thanks moose! Murphy is doing OK. Just after he turned 1, he started limping and wouldn't use his back leg. Then a few days later, he wouldn't use his other back leg, and ultimately he couldn't walk or get up from the floor. The first vet just diagnosed him with "growing pains" and prescribed pain medication. Of course we got a second opinion, and they started treating him with Prednisone for a diagnosis of IMPA (immune mediated poly arthritis). Also at that time, he had stopped eating and we had to cook him ground meat and rice and hand feed him. He improved on the Prednisone and went into remission for about 2 months. But…after he got a round of vaccines, he became ill again. Our vet told us that he most likely had some sort of auto immune disorder, and that he could never receive vaccines, sedation, or anesthesia.
Our vet advised that we take him to a "specialist" at one of our local ER vets. However, the "specialist" sedated him to take x-rays of his hips. About 4 hours after sedation we found Murphy on the floor, drooling and foaming at the mouth, and breathing so fast I could not even count how many breaths per minute, and completely lethargic. We called our vet immediately and took his temp, which was 105.9. We had to carry him (at the time he was 180 lbs.) to the back of our truck and get him to the vet. I rode in the bed of the truck with him, and I thought for sure was going to die on the way to the vet. When we got to the vet, they immediately helped us carry him in, they got all the fans they could find, and puts bags of ice all over him. She was able to start an IV and treat him with high dose IV steroids, and after a few hours, he began to come around. We thought we were going to lose him, and the vet told us if he did not improve within 24 hours then we would have to euthanize him. Most recently they found that his thyroid was almost non-functioning, so we started him on Synthroid. Also, he has lost about 17 lbs. within the last year. He’s still on Prednisone and Pepcid and has had multiple treatments with multiple different antibiotics for bacterial skin infections. At this point he has black spots everywhere, and there are spots where he has lost his fur completely, leaving black, scaly areas. It is so sad because he is apricot in color, and his coat used to be sooooo beautiful. Now he sleeps about 16 hours/day, which gives me lots of time to cuddle with him, but he still enjoys playing with his toys and chasing his tail. He's not in any pain, but we have been preparing ourselves that we may lose him at anytime. He is the most loving and loyal dog. I can’t imagine life without him, as most Mastiff owner’s feel the same. Even if I can’t find any information to help Murphy at this point, at least I can share my story, to maybe help someone else in the future. Thanks for letting me share his story…

 

[Tailcreek]

Thanks for sharing your story and I'm so sorry to hear what you have been going through with your boy. Although prednisone will make him feel better, it only masks the symptoms and long term use is known to cause a host of other serious issues. I would encourage you to take him to a wholistic vet who can give you some alternate treatment options. Also, getting him on a raw diet, eliminating all processed food and keeping his stress levels as low as possible should give him some improvement to his current condition.

Jennifer
www.tailcreekmastiffs.com

 

[MurphyMurphy]

Thanks Jennifer...we have tried that already. We have weaned him down to the lowest possible dose of Prednisone (20 mg every other day). If we even give him his Prednisone later in the day than usual, you can tell because he starts shuffling his feet and has trouble going up and down the steps. We have him on a special diet, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Plus...because he is so big, the cost of the food is so expensive. We try to keep his stress level low as well. We don't take him to dog parks (for fear of him getting infections from other dogs) and he stays in side in the central air most of the time since he is so intolerant to heat. We keep our house at 68 for him! I'm starting to think he may be faking it just so we will continue to spoil him rotten!!! Thanks for your suggestions though! I'm starting to think there isn't anything we haven't tried!!

 

[anyeone]

Poor sweet Murphy, he is beautiful. I am sorry he is having such a rough time. I really hope you can find something that works for him.