My name is MAGGIE MAE!

MAGGIE MAE is an adorable 11 month old fawn female with natural ears and a heart of gold. She is another victim of the failing economy, and when her family could no longer afford to remain in their home, they had no choice but to surrender her to rescue. Maggie Mae is one happy and goofy girl who just loves meeting new people, dogs and just about anything else for that matter! She brings a smile to everyone's face whom she comes in contact with. Maggie has not had a lot of socialization in her short lifetime, but meets each new experience with confidence, tail wags, wiggles, leans and a smile! Sadly, Maggie Mae has some new and big challenges ahead of her, and with the love and devotion of her foster family and MAGDRL she still has a chance at happily ever after. Maggie Mae has just been diagnosed with possible Wobblers along with severe Hip Dysplasia. She will need further testing, to confirm the Wobblers and its progression. She is a candidate for a full hip replacement surgery also, but until the Wobblers is confirmed and severity pinpointed, the hips will be on hold. Despite her medical issues, she continues to just be a complete joy! Maggie is currently being fostered with 1 Dane and 2 Dane mixes, a cat and a large bird without any issue. She is non stop puppy and just loves to romp and play with her new friends. Maggie has met children of all ages as well, and has just smothered them with love and kisses. She is great in the car, loves everyone at the vet, enjoys her walks in the park and snuggling with her foster mom. Although she is completely crate trained, she has free roam of the house and is totally trustworthy when left out. She is content to just curl up on a dog bed for a nap, in what ever room you are in, as she just loves the company. She also loves snuggling with the male Dane in the home, often curling up and falling a sleep with him. Maggie Mae's journey is just beginning and she has a long road ahead of her. The medical expenses just to properly diagnose her are exorbitant. Her personality and love of life are undeniable and she so deserves a chance at pain free happiness. Maggie Mae came to MAGDRL in April 2008.

Update 9/1/08 - After consulting with several vets about the best way of treatment for Maggie, we decided to go with Gold Bead Implants for both the Wobblers and the Hip It is the least invasive and we hope it will give her the best chance of being a happy mostly pain free pup Maggie will go for a trip and visit Dr Durkes (http://www.durkesanimalhospital.com/GoldBeadImplants/tabid/55/Default.aspx) in Marion, IN for her procedure.

Update 11/2/08 - Maggie is ready for adoption! Maggie Mae had her Gold Bead Implants!! Yep we took a road trip to Marion, Indiana to see Dr. Durkes. I wish I could say the scenery was nice but I wouldn’t know because I left New York at 7:30 pm on Sunday and arrived in Indiana at 8am on Monday morning—over 12 hours on the road. Our appointment was at 9am, so I decided to check into the Comfort Suites which offered a special rate for clients of Dr. Durkes. They welcome dogs and don't charge extra fees. We had a beautiful room with a King size bed and a couch. When I arrived at Dr. Durkes office there was another woman in the waiting room who had driven from California with her dog to have GB to help with his seizures.

Here’s a little history on the GB implants: The first gold bead implants performed in the US was done in the early 1970's by Dr. Grady Young. Dr. Terry Durkes in Marion, IN began doing clinical research on using the implants in 1975, and initially used them to treat seizure disorders and hip dysplasia. The primary purpose of the gold bead implant is to prevent excessive vertebral movement of the cervical area of the neck. By preventing this excess movement, it reduces the inflammation of the spinal cord. The gold beads themselves will reduce inflammation of the cord and cause remodeling of the cervical vertebrae. GB helps the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the joint to tighten up thus preventing the excessive movement of the joint which helps to stop pain and weakness of the joint. Gold bead implants are a permanent form of acupuncture. Dr. Durkes is very pleasant and soft spoken. He takes the time to answer your questions and makes you feel like you’re his only client. Before they started the process they did blood work on Maggie and some of her values were low. The only thing that we could think of was that she had been on Rimadyl and a week before the Gold Bead we stopped the Rimadyl and she was put on Prednisone. The values weren’t low enough to cancel the procedure. After Dr. Durkes looked over her x-rays and MRI he did a physical exam and said that she was an excellent candidate for GB for the Wobblers, Hip Dysplasia and Vertebral spondylosis.

Wobblers: is a neurological disorder that affects primarily Great Danes and Dobermans. Other breeds can be affected by it but it predominantly shows up in Danes and Dobie’s. Signs of Wobblers’ often show in the early "growing" years with Danes and in the middle years with Dobie’s. Wobblers’ occurs when the spinal column grows too large to fit comfortably within the spinal canal. Vertebrae get thrown out of line and the nerve gets pinched. Nerve signals in the body get rewired and rerouted. The dog will have difficulty walking and running and may fall down easily. The spine will ultimately get so out of line that the dog may end up paralyzed and unable to walk. This is a degenerative disease, meaning that it will get worse over time. It's important to stop the progression early to minimize permanent damage. Hip Dysplasia: Is when the hip joint instability leads to subluxation (partial dislocation or joint laxity (looseness). Lameness is especially evident after exercise periods. A "bunny-hopping" gait is often seen in affected young dogs and is characterized by simultaneous advancement of both hind limbs while running. Dr. Durkes said that GB is 98% successful in dogs under 7 years of age, Maggie is 15 months old. Vertebral spondylosis: Spondylosis is secondary to a herniated disc, but excessive vertebral movement can cause the herniated disc. Brucellosis (is a disease caused by bacteria) can also be a cause for spondylosis as well as excessive amounts of vitamin A. GB is implanted around the vertebrae of the back to stabilize the vertebrae which will prevent pain and allows the return of normal nerve function.

For the GB implantation, Dr. Durkes put Maggie under general anesthesia and then she was shaved and surgically scrubbed over the areas where he was going to perform the implant. The GBI is performed with a special needle that doesn’t cut the skin. Each point receives three to five beads, the number of beads depends on the size of the patient and degree of pathology. Magraine GB is actually gold plated magnets with a low energy charge that are placed on a transparent tape. Gold is used because it is non-reactive with the body. Each of the GB’s are treated with an antibiotic ointment to prevent infection. This method also makes it easier to load the syringe with gold beads off of the transparent tape. If you’ve ever gone for acupuncture you know that the acupuncturist can feel the energy imbalance and this is the area that they work on. Dr. Durkes uses a form of energy reading and he feels changes in his own pulse while moving his hand, which contains the needle, over the dog's body. When he feels the fluctuation in his own pulse, that is the spot that he implants the gold beads. No blood should show when placing the needle into the acupoint, but some should ooze from the point after implanting the gold bead. Oozing should occur only after the needle is withdrawn from the acupoint. Dr. Durkes was explaining to me that the color of the blood that ooze’s can be from red to a very dark black like in color and this black blood is the degree of congestion & heat in that area. The darker the color the more congestion and pain is being caused from that point. It’s important to let the acupoint bleed, as it will stop once the congestion is corrected. Dr. Durkes said that Maggie’s was red in color which was a good sign.

I went back at 2pm to pick up Maggie and other than the fact that she was shaved and had the tiny dots on her she looked and acted fine, typically Maggie wagging her tail so hard that her whole rear end swayed back and forth. They had put a neck brace on Maggie that was wrapped from just behind her ears to where her neck met her shoulders. The brace is made up of thick cotton then it’s wrapped with gauze vet wraps. It’s not stiff but it is firm in order to help ensure that the implants heal properly. Dr. Durkes showed me how to loosen the brace if it became too tight and said that it was important that she keep in on for 3 weeks. He also gave me antibiotic for her just encase of any infection or bacteria. Maggie was allowed to exercise, but no jumping or playing with other dogs that would involve wrestling or twisting of her neck or head, another words no rough housing with other dogs. We went back to the Comfort Suites and both took a long nap before getting ready to head back home... Maggie was having a problem getting into the car and on the bed as the neck brace was throwing her balance off. Poor Maggie when she’d lie down she couldn’t get up so I put pillows behind her and she felt secure and fell asleep. At 2 am we left Indiana and headed home, Maggie did very well on the ride and the only problem was that I had to lift her up to get her out and back into the SUV as she wasn’t allowed to jump but I don’t think she could have even if she wanted to. We arrived back home at 2:30pm, another 12 plus hrs trip but this time I was traveling in some day light and got to see the changing of the leaves on the trees which was beautiful.

When we got home Maggie wasn’t in any pain and seemed to be walking better. By day 2 after her GBI her appetite got better and she wanted to play with my 4 Danes. Maggie spent a week recovering with me till I brought her back to her foster mom. We called Dr. Durkes after her first week and told him she wasn’t happy about the neck brace and kept trying to scratch it, he said that was normal and she needed to keep it on for another 2 weeks... Finally, it’s 3 weeks and we called Dr. Durkes to see about removing the neck brace. We had a 3 way conference call with Dr. Durkes, the foster mom and myself. Dr. Durkes had asked how she was doing and the foster mom said she been trying to play with her toys but can’t get her head down to pick up her toys due to the neck brace so she hands them to her and Maggie runs around with them in her mouth. She’s also been running around in the yard and isn’t falling—good sign… so we were given the OK to remove the brace. When the brace was removed Maggie started rubbing her neck along the ground to get rid of any itches she might have had, her foster mom said she’s doing wonderful. We need to give Dr. Durkes a call in a week to see about any changes but it looks like its was a good decision to have the GB done. Maggie LOVES everyone that she meets, men, woman, children, dogs you name it, she has a knack of making you smile when you look into her doe like eyes and watch how happy she is wagging her tail that it causes her whole rear end to swing from side to side. She’s a special girl, when she came to us at 10 months old her owners said that the Vet told them that she was a clumsy puppy and that’s why she fell. This had nothing to do with being clumsy. Her first foster home did a great job with building up her muscles that had atrophied, this allowed her more movement with less falling. Even before her GB Maggie was running and do better and rarely fell but now she’s a whole new girl and enjoys running around her foster home and playing with the 2 small dogs that she’s living with. If it wasn’t for my two wild boy pups (18 & 20 months old) who love to wrestle and chase & body slam each other Maggie would be part of our family. I promised her the best when she came into rescue and taking her to Indiana was just the beginning to a normal life, the next step will be her forever home—are you the right home for her? Its been a week since her neck brace was removed and Maggie is continuing to amaze us with how well she’s doing. The foster mom said that she’ll run around the yard and hasn’t fallen. We called Dr Durkes to give him an update and he was very please and said to expect her to continue to improve over the next year and half as the GB for her spondylosis of her back should remodel 100%. Maggie is going to make a wonderful addition to someone’s home but there will be some restrictions.

** going to a dog park isn’t an option as she could be body slammed or start to wrestle with another dog and get grabbed by the neck..

**a home with another dog would be great but the dog needs to be gentle and no rough play.** children 10 yrs or older so they don’t fall on her and understand that they can’t grab her by her collar and pull her.

** No prong or choke collars. She is to be walked with a harness only.