Cocoa

ISN'T SHE ADORABLE!!! I LOVE THIS DOG!

Cocoa was picked up from a West Virginia shelter on Saturday, 9/3/05. She was due to be euthanized on Monday. She was deemed unadoptable because she is overweight. Cocoa is a senior beagle. We are not sure of her exact age.  Cocoa belonged to an elderly lady and when she became ill, her son brought Cocoa to the shelter. Cocoa wants to be everyone's friend. She loves cats, dogs, and all people, young and old. She is very affectionate and just wants to be loved. Cocoa displays some typical beagle traits, such as digging in the yard and barking when she gets the scent of something. She has managed to dig under our fence and escape. She's not very fast, so she's been easy to recover. Luckily she does not bark very often, but when she starts it is difficult to get her attention to correct her. Cocoa is housebroken. She would do well in a home where someone is home most of the day. My husband and I work long hours and there are too many animals in our home for Cocoa to get the individual attention she needs and deserves. Cocoa is a wonderful girl and really deserves a second chance.

UPDATE: 9/7/05
Cocoa has just been diagnosed with a mammary tumor. Estimated costs are $500 for the procedure to remove it.

UPDATE: 9/23/05
Cocoa had her surgery today and is home and recovering. Her pre surgical blood work was all normal. She had 1 mammary tumor and the vet found that she had a hernia when he opened her up. The mammary tumor has been removed and the vet said it looks benign. We'll know for sure after the pathology is done. He took care of the hernia today as well. She is in a lot of pain and has a pain patch to help her out. She'll be on pain medication and antibiotics for a week. Hopefully she'll be back on her feet soon. The cost for Cocoa's surgery was $606.00.

UPDATE: 10/3/05
 Great News!! Cocoa's tumor is benign. Cocoa is recovering well from her surgery and is back to being a typical beagle. She will get her stitches out on 10/8/05.

UPDATE: 10/18/05
Cocoa started urinating in the house so I took a urinalysis to the vet. They called and told me that Cocoa has calcium oxalates in her urine. This could mean that she has stones. She is scheduled to go the vet on 10/19/05. I'll update the page when I find out more.

UPDATE: 10/19/05
Cocoa went to the vet today. The vet took x-rays and did not find any stones. Even though there was no sign of an infection, the vet gave me 10 days of baytril to give Cocoa just in case she has an infection that is not showing up. She'll be rechecked after the antibiotics are finished.

UPDATE: 11/5/05
Cocoa went for her recheck today. She is still urinating in the house and in her crate. There was blood in this urine sample . The vet decided to take blood and gave me another antibiotic to give Cocoa. There is still no indication of an infection so I'm going to have the vet check Cocoa for polyps after we see if the blood work comes back with anything. The vet wants me to consider a behavioral modification drug to see if it helps. She believes that this is more behavioral than physical. I want to make sure that this is not a physical problem before we go that route. After all, why is there blood in her urine if there is not a physical problem? As for good news, Cocoa has lost 10 lbs. since we picked her up. Good Job Cocoa!

UPDATE: 11/8/05
Cocoa's blood work came back normal. She is still urinating in the house and in her crate. When the antibiotics are finished we will take her back to the vet with another urine sample. We are getting frustrated with the situation, but we are hanging in there.

UPDATE: 11/19/05
We took Cocoa back to the vet and he wants to do a cystocentesis to get a better feel for what is going on. We have to drop Cocoa off on Monday, 11/21/05.

UPDATE: 11/25/05
Cocoa had the cystocentesis on Monday and the results came back normal. The vet thinks that Cocoa has chronic inflammation in her urethra that is causing her discomfort and giving her the urgency to urinate. He suggested that the inflammation could also cause minor bleeding because of irritation. He wants to try her on a medication called Amitriptyline. This is a drug used to treat depression in people, but can be used to treat pain in dogs. He is hoping that we will see results using this medication. I don't fully understand how this will work at this time, but I am desperate for Cocoa to get better. As a last resort he will do an exploratory surgery to make sure there is nothing in her bladder causing frequent urination such a polyps. We picked up the prescription today and we'll give it a try. Hopefully it will help. Cocoa's vet expenses are really adding up. We are well over $1000.00 now and money is getting tight. We really love Cocoa dearly and want her to be happy and healthy.

UPDATE: 12/22/05
Cocoa was doing really well. She was only having accidents in her crate when we were at work (between 10 - 12 hours a day). We started leaving her out of the crate at night and we were so proud of her. Unfortunately, between last night and tonight she's had 4 accidents in the house. Two were right after she was let in from outside. We'll keep trying. She's starting to listen better and she's even been playing a little. She loves playing in the snow and loves her chews even more. I've started sneaking her into the bed to sleep with me under the covers. Cocoa is a snuggle bug and we cuddle up and she falls asleep with her head on the pillow. She snores louder than my husband. It's an endearing quality. She is so wonderful. I just hope we can fix this urination problem because other than that, she's an excellent dog.

UPDATE: 10/2/06
Cocoa has another mammary tumor.  Cocoa is now 90% housebroken.  She rarely has accidents, but sometimes we will find a pee spot here and there.  Due to Cocoa's continuous health and behavioral problems, we have decided to make her a permanent member of our home.