In The Loving Memory of Harley

We'll Miss You Buddy!

10/10/2012

2012-10-10

Harley was put to rest this morning at around 9:30am. Given the other options that were available, putting him to sleep was the best thing for him at this point. Anything else would have been selfish and not for his best.

Thank you all for your donations and spreading the word via social networking. And thank you Harley for being the greatest dog anyone could ever ask for. I'll always remember the smiles you brought to our faces. It's a shame that your life had to end way before it was due. I'll miss you buddy.

2012-10-08

Unfortunatelly, after over $5000 in surgeries, Harley isn't going to make it... As a final attempt to save his life, he was placed on a special diet involving four different medications to induce diarahea and then working backwards to regulate the stole. Harley either leaked feces or was unable to go at all.

At this point, all of our options have been exhausted and we all feel that Harley has been through enough. Harley will be scheduled to be put to sleep within 48 hours of this writting. My final update will follow...

2012-09-19

Harley had his third surgery today in Albany. It was discovered that his hernia repairs have remained intact. However, the muscles in his anus have been weakened due to his previous condition. I'm not sure of the medical terms, but basically the doctor wrapped something around the muscle in the anus, kind of like a brace, to strengthen the muscle. I guess there's another weak point in his intestines as well, but due to the risk of infecton, both repairs can't be done at once... Hopefully this doesn't mean that yet another surgery will be needed.

Thanks to all who have donated so far to Harley's expenses. Please help pass on Harley's story via social networking by sharing this web site on Facebook and Twitter. You may use the links under the video to the right to do so. Thanks to everyone for your help.

2012-09-12

Harley had to go back to Albany today to see Dr. Second for a colon cleaning. Good news is that his doctor now has all the materials he needs to perform what we're hoping to be his final surgery. It should be scheduled soon.

The Story

Harley is a miniature long hair dachshund who joined our family when he was just a few weeks old. Harley instantly brings a smile to the faces of everyone he comes in contact with. He has one of the best lives a dog could ask for. We've always been very protective of him and have done everything we can to ensure his happiness and comfort as he goes through life. But in the middle of the 2012 year, Harley's life took a turn for the worst.

It all started when we noticed Harley was having trouble going to the bathroom (number 2.) He would stay in a squatted position for more than five minutes at a time. Harley's first visit to his primary veterinarian, who we'll refer to as Dr. First, did not bring good news. What we were expecting to be an enflamed anal gland that just needed to be drained, turned out to be a large mass in his abdomen. Dr. First's original thought to this was the possibility of cancer. Dr. First gave the suggestion of putting Harley to sleep, but there was no way we were going to give up on him this early.

A biopsy was taken of this mass in Harley's body as the next step. The results showed that the mass was actually Harley's prostate. The reason behind Dr. First being unaware of this originally was because Harley's prostate was enlarged to a very abnormal size and in the wrong position within his body. Apparently this is a common issue with dogs of this breed and neutering them will help keep the prostate at a normal size or shrink it down if it's already become enlarged.

Harley was brought to another doctor to continue his medical treatment. We'll refer to this doctor as Dr. Second. Harley was given a CAT scan to find out more about what was going on inside his body. The CAT scan results revealed more bad news. Harley had developed two hernias within his body. The only good news brought on by the CAT scan was the absence of cancer. However, these hernias will obviously need to be repaired.

Harley's first surgery, performed by Dr. Second, was to neuter him and reposition his organs in preparation for his second surgery. As mentioned previously, Harley's neutering should help with his enlarged prostate. The organs were repositioned to improve the pathway of his intestines. As a result of this, Harley would produce fecal balls until the second surgery was finished and the organs were put back in order. Due to Harley's small size, he was not able to safely stay under anesthesia long enough to complete both surgeries at one time.

Harley went through a few weeks of recovery before going back to Dr. Second for what was suppose to be his final surgery. During his recovery, Harley produced the fecal balls just as we were told.

After a few weeks, Harley went back to visit Dr. Second for his second surgery. Dr. Second began repair on the two hernias within Harley's body. One hernia was a breeze to repair. However, Dr. Second had a very difficult time repairing the other hernia, but in the end had success. Harley's organs were put back in order and everything at this point was suppose to return to normal.

Dr. Second said that Harley's bathroom habits should return to normal. They did not. Harley continued to produce fecal balls long after this surgery was finished. We thought that perhaps there was still a back up of fecal balls in his intestines. Harley was brought back to Dr. First to receive an enema. The enema did make him go to the bathroom easier, but only for a short period of time.

Harley frequently finds himself going into a vet's office to remove feces from his rectum that has become too large for him to pass on his own. We had brought him again to Dr. First on a recommendation to have him placed under anesthesia and remove all of the feces throughout his intestines. After this procedure, the fecal balls had gone away and Harley began to produce feces as normal. A week later, Harley began to develop the fecal balls again.

At this point, Harley was placed on a special diet that would soften his feces and make it easier for him to go to the bathroom. The fecal balls still developed and the Harley still had a difficult time passing them.

When Harley's rectum became blocked again, we felt that it was finally time to put him to sleep. None of us wanted to see this happen to him, but we felt that it was becoming too much and the options were running very thin. It wasn't fair to Harley to continue his life like this when there was nothing more that we could do for him. We had called Dr. First on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend roughly an hour before their office closed. We left a message and waited for a call back from Dr. First. At this point, we wanted Dr. First just to see Harley, but if the recommendation to put him down was brought up, we had agreed to take it this time. Dr. First never returned this call.

For the remainder of this Saturday, we had made a decision to get a third and final opinion from another doctor. We'll call him Dr. Third. My mother had gathered all of Harley's medical records from the previous two doctors in preparation of this visit.

A few days later, Harley was brought to an emergency vet clinic to clean out his colon. The option to put Harley to sleep was thrown in there during this visit, but my parents denied the option as Harley had an appointment with Dr. Third and we really wanted that third and final opinion.

The very next day, we had a family meeting to discuss Harley's fate if Dr. Third were to make the recommendation of putting Harley down. But before we all got together, my mother had received a phone call from Dr. Second's office. Dr. Second wanted to take a look at Harley to see exactly what was going on. Dr. Second had made excuses about not seeing Harley after his two surgeries were completed. So we were surprised that his office had called us unexpectedly that night.

The decision was made to place Harley's visit with Dr. Third on hold at this time. The following day, Harley went back to Dr. Second for a follow up CAT scan and to ensure the muscles in his colon are still functioning as they should. The follow up CAT scan gave us a little news as to what was going on. The hernia that Dr. Second had trouble repairing during the second surgery had redeveloped itself. As a result, Harley would need a third surgery to try and repair it again.

This is where we are now. We have spent several thousands of dollars on these surgeries, office visits, and emergency vet visits. I would hate to see this dog go because of us reaching our financial limit. Especially when we're this close. That's why I have made this web site.

We are looking for donations to save Harley's life. Harley is about to go in for a third surgery that we can only hope will be the final surgery to solve his problems. However, this is unfortunately not a guarantee. Even if you can only donate one dollar you could be one of two thousand people who've donated one dollar and helped us raise two thousand dollars. Every little bit counts and is greatly appreciated. Please use the Paypal donation link at the top of this page.

Any overflow of donations that aren't used towards Harley's medical expenses will go to our local SPCA to help other dogs and animals in need. If you can't donate, please help us pass Harley's story around. He needs everyone's help to get through this. For those who are interested in following Harley's story may revisit this web site for updates.

Please don't let my best friend die.