zippity wav

This podcast episode features the rescue story of a dog named Zippity, who had megasophagus. The guests discuss their experiences with rescuing and caring for dogs with this condition. They emphasize the importance of patience, learning, and finding the right feeding methods for each individual dog. Zippity's journey from neglect to a loving home is highlighted, with his love for playing with balls being a favorite aspect of his personality. Overall, the episode aims to educate and support pet owners dealing with megasophagus. Hello and welcome to Mega Emancipates, the podcast about pets with megasophagus and the people who love and care for them. I'm Michelle Zake and my co-hosts are Paula Jeffers, Jennifer Sandus, and Justin Ramos. Our mission is to advocate for our pets while educating pet owners and caretakers. Today's special episode is Zippity's story from Rescue to Forever. Our special guests are Patty Dodds from Dallas Dog Rescue Rehab Reform, Liam Cathy McConnell, Zippity's Fosters, Donna Challender from Upright Canine Brigade and the UCB Blessing Project, and Amy Rae, Zippity's adopter. Before we begin, here's our disclaimer. Always speak with your veterinarian about the care of your pet. We're not medically or formally educated, however, each of us have pups with megasophagus and hope to make your journey easier by sharing our experience. All right, Patty, what is your rescue mission and or vision? So our mission is to pretty much, we currently rescue all dogs. So our mission is to basically rescue the whole dog, rehab, health, behavior, medical, and the reform part is not only just helping the dog, but reforming the community or the situation because we can't do it if we're just going to save animals. We have to do the whole thing. We have to work with the families. We have to work with the legislative because it's an overwhelming thing. So we kind of work with that whole process and work with a lot of, we tend to take some of the harder cases. So get, you know, the ones that are harder to place. So how did Zippity come to your rescue? So we were alerted of Zippity. He had been spotted multiple times in the backyard of a house. And they tried several times, I guess, to get him to surrender, but they didn't, the family would not surrender. But he was basically living in the backyard of a home with trash and no food and water. Animal control was called multiple times. Nothing was really done. And then, I guess, a few weeks later, he was found as a stray. And when he was picked up, they called me immediately because we had agreed to take him initially. And they called me and we got him into our care. He was, so he was rescued as a stray, but, you know, they did kind of, and then immediately following, within two weeks, they had a new dog in the yard. Makes me so happy. Yeah. So have you had mygosophagus pups in your rescue before or had you heard of mygosophagus? Yeah, we had about five. We've had about five. We've had one that was an older one that we rescued from Dallas Animal Services. She was a lab. She actually got adopted, but she was older. She was like six or seven when we got her. And she, I think she passed away like two years ago. And then we had one that was born in our care. And he was like a shepherdy kind of mix. And he actually was fostered by one of our, what do you call it, that chair, the one we sent down, that little plaid, that was Sanderson's chair. It was built for him and stuff. And he's now three or four and living a great life. And then we've had a couple other little ones. And then I had a special need one, Harold, who recently passed away, who was back to, he was a petland puppy who had mygosophagus along with hydrocephalus and many things. And he just passed away last. But he did not actually pass away from the mygosophagus. We had that under control. It was other things that he passed away from. So we've had a few, we've had like probably about a handful. Okay. So what has having mygosophagus pups taught you? Oh gosh, I mean, it's, initially with him, he's, Zippity was a different kind of case with us, but patience, number one, and just kind of digging deeper because there were so many things initially we didn't we didn't jump right into that. And he was a little bit different in his case because of the way his ensophagus was. It's actually different. It has like more of a gully. So things kind of get stuck there and then come up. He's got more and we, but yeah, it's definitely patience, feeding, learning. I mean, we learned a lot through it. We learned different type of feeding. I think, you know, we've learned that because initially you think, oh, you do it's feeding this way, but the feeding like the one I had, I did meatballs. I did small flat meatballs that like were little and then we had another one that could eat, he had to be more slurry. It was like learning, you know, kind of really opening your mind to listen to different, opening up and getting out there to talk to different people because there's not a lot of direct answers I found from the vets. You know, we had to lose, we had to use our resources out there. I feel like because they're so different, you know what I mean? There are so many, they're all different and finding what works and the patience of getting through it because it's frustrating. We had one with, you know, we've had him with ammonia and sick and it's scary. I mean, so I think you, it was definitely scary for sure with him. When we initially got him, he was skinny and I fostered him the first week and I thought initially he was just so skinny from being, you know, not eating and he was, he would eat the food super fast and I did a slow feeder and then some days he would keep it all down and I was like, okay, good. And other days I'd come home and it was like projecta or not come home, I'd go in there and it would be like projecta food like he never ate it. It was like solid food and I was like, okay, so we took him in and and they're like, oh, he's eating too fast. Try this, wet it down, do all this. Like if, you know, it doesn't, it's not like they jump right to that. So they're like, okay, well, you know, you don't know his history. You don't know this. And so finally he had moved to another foster and she kept saying, because then he started keeping stuff down for me. So I was like, okay, well, we're okay. I did it. I pasted it. I kind of did like the meatballed up, like I had Harold. So I just kind of put him with that, you know, threw him right in with the meatball soup and he said he did okay. And then we found out that he had that and, you know, then we had, he had like more of the gully kind of where it sits and, but that explains. And I think what the most horrific thing about it is that I know how he, I know, I don't know how long he was out there, but I know for at least a month to two he was out living in that backyard with nothing but trash and how he survived. Like when I look at some of our megacephagous, it's kind of they're surrendered because they don't know what to do or they're medically. But he's probably one of the worst cases I think we had because of him being outside and then on top of it he was he had to have an amputation of his skin because he had the gully. It was so much room. And then he had demodex. He was bald when we first got him. I mean, he had so many other things wrong with him, I think, but just knowing that he had the megacephagus and was trying to survive on trash, just I think we're, I feel like the ones we had were born in our care. We figured it out semi-decent or they were in homes that home surrendered him because they couldn't handle him. So they at least had, I mean good care, you know, like they had the medical help and he I mean, I think that was our first rescue of a abused, neglected megacephagous puppy. And I think that's what made it more difficult. So he wasn't diagnosed until you guys had him then? Not to our knowledge. They didn't really share very much. And once they found him on the street, I'm not going to, they just don't go back and say, we have your puppy. They kind of got him and ran. So they didn't say very much. I mean, he was skin and bones. He sat out there. Sometimes they said they would see food. Sometimes they wouldn't. So we didn't ask a whole lot of questions. We kind of rescued and ran. I'm usually pretty good about trying to get with the owners, but on this case, it was such a a neglect, you know, it was such a neglectful thing that when he got loose, we were like, okay, we'll just How did you balance feeding him with having other pups and stuff? Initially when I had him, I kind of, I had him in like a little puppy pen. And so I just kind of, I had, I already had Harold who I had to hand feed about four times a day. So I just kind of put him in the rotation. I was like, let me ball for you, let me ball for you. He struggled more when he left me and he went to another foster and she actually was doing good, but she travels a lot. We didn't know at that time. And then he went to four fosters and it was so hard because everybody everybody wanted to put their little spin on and try to feed him and you know, he was just struggling keeping that food down. And then other people, then sometimes he would be great. It was like a we had to tweak him up a little bit. So what was your favorite thing about Zippity? Oh, my favorite thing about Zippity is there was what his ball thing. I mean his ball by far so and you have to be careful because he would bite like he didn't, I mean he was you had to be, but he would come over and he would chew through balls. And so I did a push list for him and ball, we had all these different types of balls. So we did like the the strength of the balls is what we did. And so he came over my front yard and we I put the different balls and we were playing and he would tug a war and play and chase and run for hours playing the balls. I think that and knowing where he came from and just his his situation and the ball and you had to be careful because then he would get too excited and then he'd want to throw up. And so it was like you had to balance it but it was just to see him light up when he played balls. I think that is by far I mean, it was just, you know, it's like the best. It was truly like to see him be a normal puppy, normal dog, just kind of running and playing. And it did not stop him even, you know, you had to be more of the adult in the situation. You have to be like, okay, no more ball, you know, like and he would start yawning or, you know, he'd foam up and so we had to limit it, but it was still fun to see him play. I mean, it was we had to do it, but then we found out what his, you know, favorite ball was. All right, do you have anything to add or does anyone else have a question for Patty? The one thing I just want to say is and I don't know if you'll hit this later on, but I have to say that this situation was so positive in rescue for me because you know in rescue a lot of people I don't know why but they it's like nobody works together, right? It's like you kind of work against each other a lot of times and I have to say like it'll probably make me cry, you know, but Everyone came together for him I'm so lucky to meet, you know Kathy and and all she did for him and and but not only that like that was One itself, right? But the community that came together and networked and posted I don't the boxer rescue who ran him and then somebody else ran him for a week and I mean i'm not going to lie. I was like oh my god. These are so good I'm going to steal them and use them myself And um and you know, it was so hard and just having that community and having Amy and and all of that coming together and seeing how Right. I think what made me feel just so good is having rescues come together to work in in Helping zippity find the perfect home. Yeah, you had like a a boxer rescue that has nothing to do with zippity ran his story then the group ran his story and That's a lot because I know as a rescue You have your own dogs. You're getting networks, but that everybody took him under his wing and Wing and just made him be a priority and I'm so thankful for that And that's that that's the networking um, and just knowing people and having that support group because you know, i'm Up to here with houston boxer rescue And I do I do a lot of stuff with them Um, and they didn't hesitate and I even had one of their board members actually looking at him Um, but she was scared to death and I told her i'm here Don't be i'm only like 40 minutes away from you. She just was too scared, but she wanted him really bad All right, kathy. How did zippity end up being in your care? Well, you know i'm a I'm a cruiser. I cruise facebook And people will tag me And I was trying to go back to see if I was tagged or if I just saw him Because I wasn't tuned in to dallas dog, you know yet um And I saw him posted somewhere And I said to lee oh my god He's in texas I want to foster him. I knew immediately That I wanted to try to foster him I just I just felt it and I have always secretly wanted a frenchie only because of walter on tiktok And and then you know walter and uh I I thought you know that I want that I want that in my home not that I need it But I think that would be fun, you know um But I just really felt like I could help, you know, i'm in texas. There's a dog with emmy He needs to be somewhere and so that's that was it pretty much I contacted them and filled out the application and That was it. I think he was posted on the megasophagus page because anne one of our fosters had a mega e-dog or one of our foster partners she um She shared on that page Yeah, we've known anne for years, yeah, she she's she's great and um She actually messaged me and she says do you know kathy? I said she's the best but yeah, I was scared I was nervous about it anxious because of bailey bailey's so hard to deal with um, but the uh, I don't know if they're called adoption coordinators or at at dallas dog, but Everybody was so good about just calming me down and and letting me know This is this is his story. This is where he's been He's pretty easy really um He hasn't really been regurgitating that much. We think we've got it pretty well settled I just went ahead and And I decided yes, that's what we're going to do this if they approve us, you know, and then there was that I was like I don't know if they will or they won't because we have bailey and she says they're gonna they're gonna do it Don't worry about that So, how did you manage zippity with um, I know you guys foster and everything too Plus bailey has megatrophia. So yeah, we foster and we board. Um, Well, he was he was really Pretty easy. I kept I kept him in a separate area because of the ball thing Okay So he had all of his toys and his nice little bed and everything and he was very vocal I did get some of my walter fix When he was here um and he just kind of fell in love with us he he just started to you know get up and he didn't do a lot of kissing but get up and give you hugs and hang on to your neck and Um when it came to feeding we always fed him separately So bailey had her times and he had his times He would you would let him out of his kennel and he would make a d-line for the chair Always getting in backwards Never got in right so we'd have to spin him around and and he he just couldn't wait to eat Um, you know, that's that's kind of how we started bailey was a completely separate feeding time I just I just kind of did worked on him back and forth. I thought for some reason I could side by side them heck no because Because he was food resource guarding his food and she resource guards her food and I thought well I'm going to have a lock up here if i'm not careful We split him up but um He didn't care too much for all the dogs in the house. He didn't go after anybody. He just Farked at everybody But he what he was doing was resource guarding his balls So what we ended up doing and this is the funny part of the story is we put all of his balls in his kennel He had two different sized kennel one for sleeping and then one for when he was in the kennel during the day And then we have a 25 foot and 100 foot lead That we use out here in the country because he's way too little to let him run uh because of the hawks and the owls and the coyotes and everything so we We had him on those and we we just gave him a lot of ball time a lot of play time But we had to be careful Because of the regurgitating but he did not regurgitate one time The entire time I had him I was very careful about upright feeding Making him stay up. I I did. Um, I took him from 40 minutes down to I think when amy took him he was at 15 minutes upright And and patting his chest and patting his back and when I would pat his chest he would go But he did but he let me do it because it felt good to him, you know Just rubbing his throat. He did he had kind of funky skin and he had kind of an odor to him, so I did a lot of baths warm warm Essential baths and stuff on him spa day We did them like once or twice a week and he started to look really good and feel good But he was always licking at his paws always because he didn't like the grass. He didn't like being wet Um, so we had to I was using wipes and stuff on him um, he had salves and All kinds of things that he would need ongoing because of his issues But um, I just split my time up and or I you know, i'm organized. I have a real strict schedule And I follow that routine And so whether i'm ready to get up out of the chair or not, I know I have to I have alarms going off all the time And and he slept near us. I I think the thing I miss about him the most is his snoring And I miss it because it would make me fall asleep and I got used to it and I really missed that snoring So how many magnesopagus pups have you had? I've had four so the first two were Was malcolm wait was lj before bailey? Yeah, okay. So my big my big 10 year old boxer um acquired it through uh A series of swallowing a rock and regurgitating Aspiration pneumonia. He was in icu for five days. He never he never made it out So that was a my first introduction to nega esophagus Um, I never had even heard of it your dog has mega esophagus so, you know, that's you're going to have to do the upright feeding and all of that and He weighed 80 pounds And he was 10 years old and he was already starting to lose his his back legs. So he was compromised Um, but at the end of that five days that he never came out of the aspiration pneumonia, so we had to let him go Okay, and then bailey and maggie sisters same litter they came along at five weeks both diagnosed at 12 weeks um We had them for several months before maggie was adopted out and by this time I had joined ucb And I was starting to get my education And really understand and had sought out a great vet to help me She was the one that died that uh diagnosed bailey with a barium swallow because they were first diagnosed just with x-rays Um, so we had those and bailey's pretty severe she has a pocket as well like zippity So, um things get caught in there, but she still can do meatballs. Okay Um, that's the one thing that we've been able to uh We've been through every kind of consistency of food. You can imagine in eight years. She's eight years old guys Those two and then uh zippity Nice zippity was my first foster. Would I do it again? Yeah, I would do it again Nice I would and especially with the networking and the support system that we have that was the most incredible experience. I was so excited Uh the first call That the dallas dog connected amy and I and she cried through the whole phone call because she felt like it was really meant to be and that you know, I was a sister ucb-er and We kind of knew each other from ucb. It was just like the most incredible experience. I can't even hardly explain it Uh, we bonded we talk a lot. She sends me videos all the time So, I mean I i've gained family and she calls us aunties For zippity we're his aunties. So so what would you recommend for a newcomer to the megastophagus diagnosis? Breathe, I always tell people the best advice that I can give you right now is to breathe just breathe No, you know know that you have a huge support system out here and No, it isn't going to be easy. I think I think zippity taught me That it can be easy and I didn't really it, you know, it didn't dawn on me that there were variations of criticalness, I guess you could say or Symptoms out there like I just had no idea because when we started to work with him we felt Like he's not hard at all. Does he even really have it because he wasn't regurgitating or anything? But you know, I would just tell people to just take your time stay on Facebook and learn as much as you can And of course the biggest thing is the support group around you family friends, you know like If it hadn't been for jen, I would not have had a good 70th birthday, but I did Because she came here and babysat bailey for me so I Celebrate my 70th birthday and that was the most incredible thing. It was just wonderful and I thank you for that jen There's no way that you can take the fear away from people when they first hear that diagnosis it's overwhelming because Most people that hear it most people have not heard of it So they have no idea and of course they may be on the other end of a vet that's recommending euthanizing you know that is Something that that people do and we learned that at the acvim In austin that most of them. That's what they were told. That's what they learned Um, and we're and we work, you know donna Bob, everybody works so hard to change that to let them know it's not a death sentence and It is a lot of work And I think some people are working a lot harder than others like last night. I was up all night off and on because she was coughing And how to keep her out of the emergency bed is to get your bottom out of bed Get her upright Start massaging the throat have her bark for something, you know, you've got to get up and you've got to move learn learn where your dog is at in that broad spectrum of symptoms and Criticalness. Yeah, does anyone have anything else or do you have anything else to add? well, so I want to say something about the networking and michelle the the featured fosters, um That is that program everybody's doing such a good job Um, it just it's overwhelming uh to see how many dogs are getting adopted and i'm sending that out everywhere because You know, everybody knew I had an me dog but It's so much bigger than that. You know, there's so much more to it And then ucb and the buffy project they supported zippity like he was their own You know that networking that was so awesome Donna's like what do you need? Megan was like, what do you need? Everybody was right there for me and I felt that It made it easier for me to have That dog in my home knowing I had everybody behind me. I think just keeping That networking In the forefront of of what we're talking about and what we're telling people is important Letting the rescues know. I mean, I wish we I wish we had a rescue For me dogs. I wish we had a transport system set up for me dogs You know, we we've talked about that before I I could see a lot of stuff like that happening I don't know if i'll live to see it in in the works I've already drawn out the plans for the van. I mean All the kennels are elevated Okay Down four bailey chairs in the back of the van for feeding You know because you can't stuff 30 Pups in a van and drive. How long do you drive before you stop late? Four days. No, no before you stop to let him out of the potty Eight hours bailey couldn't do that Right, so I think of I know bailey's really, you know, she's she's severe So but I think of her like what would a pup need? And you know and not a lot of pups either maybe enough for 10 pups in a van You know if we were going to do something like that, and yes, we would be all over the united states But even getting a pup to a rescue from a pound, you know, or you know what I mean just Because we've had pups out here there was an emmy pup, uh at one of the emergency hospitals and um, I Almost took that pup It it didn't even have a rescue I was scared. I was like I Kathy don't you can't do that. You need a rescue Who's gonna pay the bill? Well, Kathy, we almost called you a couple weeks ago. We had a a puppy frenchie um At the er that they recommended to euthanize And so we called the we asked if we could speak to the family and um Rather than to euthanize it, you know could be taken into the rescue we Told them, you know after you know, just our experiences and um They ended up keeping it and got we got them a support group So we told them we would be back up but I was like, oh we have kristine is like What are we going to do and i'm like i'll call kathy I said, you know because he's a baby. I mean he was just It was young young when he got so like he's only a couple like I think four months old not even and so um, but the family um, we got them hooked up with one of our doctors and they were instead of the er like the er, you know, and I said Just try if not, we can take them. We'll figure it out. You know, we were like i'm like well i'll just beg kathy Yeah Don't hesitate to give my number to them either because You know, that would be a are they they're in texas, right? Yeah, you know, that would be a great support for them Just knowing, you know here I am up in the middle of the night. You need to call call me because I will definitely be there Yeah, so they they were relieved. I think they just needed to hear it would be okay I said, you know, I said here's the thing. I said he may not be But he also has a very very very good chance of being fine I said and I told her about sanderson who was our huge success story like he was born with it We struggled with him and now he's almost living in normal Um a normal life and he's a big shepherd. So um, you know, we I said look it can You know with the right care and the right support you can so she they were much better That's awesome. That's Fantastic to hear yeah, it's it's like both small strides and I think just even working and seeing like, you know, your what your work and going down seeing your babies, I think you know, it's it's hard and it's It's exhausting. Like you said like there's level just like like harold was you know gosh, he had a plethora of wrong, but like many a nights I you know, like you said, how would you do you realize what they need and the signs of them getting sick and What you need to do to keep them out of hospital Yeah, because they had told me like with harold if he went to the hospital one more time Where they didn't think he'd be able to get him out um, you know, it's like, you know, if you you start to recognize And I said, you know, I said I tell people you'll wreck you It's like a kid you recognize what they need and you start to do it and it becomes it's natural. It's it's it's overwhelming at first And harold was tough at first for me Um and zippity once till we got to know him and then figured out what worked what what didn't work It was difficult. But once like you said once we got him on that groove, like I remember the last foster Uh right before that one He would go in the chair and he would always go on backwards and she was like you have to turn around or he would Say he would he did not like the chair and then so she She put him in the sink the one put him in the sink and would elevate him there where he'd sit up And he would eat in the sink and he thought that was the greatest thing ever Like what you got to find like that's if that makes him more happy sitting in the sink for you And he's not and he's keeping his food to help so Just laid with him sitting up and he would you know, like because he would fight the chair so much in the beginning it was It was really difficult, but then they found other ways to make it work. So I think it's kind of like Helping each other giving suggestions and figure out what works, you know, and Yeah yeah, and just keeping an open mind because you know what works for bailey may not work for somebody else and You just have to keep like, you know in the beginning We just we tried so many different things and my head was spinning and somebody said to me journal it Write down what you're trying and then you and I was like duh, you know, of course, you know Because you're just in that you're like on the front lines and it's hard to think through that, you know when you're tired Yeah Yeah, but zippity loved like He was he when I would put him in the sink because you know, like I said, he needed he had special shampoos and stuff he Loved that warm water on him and he was just so still like a little statue You know, but the minute you'd set him down on the ground and there was a ball he would go into zippity-doo-dah mode You know so that I think that's That's how I got his name was his And he would break your fingers coming after up off the ground after a ball he would he would just come Towering at that ball. So you guys told me that be careful. Watch your hands I love zippity. He's so cute He really is and he was like quite the little when we first got him. I remember holding him and he was just I mean when we first got him, he was so skinny and the extra skin. I hit like a turkey gobble. It was like a Um, and we had that amputated we went in and had it amputated and yeah, he had like chin tuck What what happened to his ear he had a did he have a What you know, like his ear was bent over and it was real hard and like a lot of scar tissue Yeah, I don't know if he had a bunch of what it looked like to me. It's a bunch of hematomas that healed Healed and they didn't treat them because it was it was very hard and scarred and yeah Like hematomas, you know how when they get them and they'll go untreated hard fatty cartilage I think that was because there wasn't a lot we could do for him his ear when we first got him I mean he had ear mites his ears were I mean he was he was in rough shape when we first got him and and he had come a long way before he Had made it down there and got some of his you know skin was coming back But he was when we first got him, you know the video I have of when they took it the first one in the backyard It was heartbreaking to see that backyard. Like it looks like a hoarder house with just trash thrown on the porch and you just you could see his little body and It was just a mess In the mess. It was this tiny little It's just frustrating but yeah I know he's got a good life. I mean, that's what rescue is about It's get by giving them that second chances and hoping that and he did he did great All right, donna. You're up So we started the ucb in 2012 um, just a support and awareness group because we found that The pet owners were going to the vets and the recall they've been being told, you know, just euthanize them There's nothing you can do Nobody knew anything about it. Nobody heard of it before No one no one's heard of mycenae gravis which is that's what my dog had and so A group of us decided that we needed to start an awareness group and then the old group canine megasophagus shut down so, um, you know, we took on all of their members, but some of them were in both groups anyway, but um, And I just fell in love with the people there You know, everyone is just so wonderful the way they share everything and they share their ideas and then in 2017 um, we were We were already a 501c3 And we were earning a bit of money. Um And we just I had some extra money and I was thinking to myself It would be nice to help rescues You know help them out because you know encourage them to take on these dogs we have the support group they can learn from the support group and then if we Have the ability to help them out with a chair or a neck hug or medicine or food Whatever they need it. It would make it easier for them to you know, say hey i'll take that dog I'm willing to take that dog and um It's been very rewarding to be able to help that way I really initially I wanted to start some kind of a foundation with you know to help all Me parents that were struggling But you know, we just never have been able to come up with those kinds of funds But um, yeah, we've we've definitely spent about ten thousand dollars a year Helping rescues with chairs and whatnot Um, and it's been very rewarding and we were just thrilled to help tippity Cute little guy and um, I knew kathy and lee would do such a wonderful job We met kathy and lee and bailey Out in acvim in austin a couple of years ago. She was our bailey chair demo demonstrator I mean she just did such an awesome job and she just I mean she just drew the veterinarians into the into the Off to our table. I mean they were just like flocking, you know, and then you know and Kathy and lee were just so good at um explaining, uh How to feed her and showing them they were even allowing the vets to feed her And uh, and she just she was just such a ham and when uh, kathy would uh, like leave the table She would actually say mama I swear to god. She said mama, you know, and we just cracked up and Uh lee would lee lee would like do her megaphone thing over here. We're having a demonstration Yeah, that was awesome it was so awesome to meet them And so I knew that, you know, she would be a perfect absolutely perfect. It would be an absolutely perfect fosters For zippity, you know, so again it asked me and I said, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I've met them I know how they they take care of bailey and you know, and it's it's it's like they're they're baby they're child and um, they're just Excellent people. So thank you daughter. Oh, no, I mean that Sincerely But it it's a it's a a whole The whole group is so wonderful, you know from the members that that chime in to help and say, you know what what works for this their dog and you know and and don't give up and you know, it's it's just a wonderful group and you know that we have, you know, michelle and the meggie misfits and Um, it's just growing and and and it's just it's just phenomenal the whole group is um And um, yeah, so we we love trying to help as much as we can Uh through we call it the buffy project because buffy was our first dog that we helped So, you know, that's why it's called that And yeah, and it's so nice to see placements, you know, and and happy endings and it's very rewarding And so I can't thank everybody enough everybody that comes together in that group. It's just it's just wonderful you know our mission is, you know to to educate the public about regurgitation versus vomiting and the signs and symptoms and and about myasthenia gravis, so, you know, we go to pet events and we go to um We're going to the dog show the national dog show This uh saturday and sunday and we're going to talk to breeders and pet owners and So we set up all kinds of places It could be like a little little pet fair locally or the acvim. We're going to go to minneapolis Next uh june, so it's been a wonderful awarding. Um, never thought it would grow like this But it's wonderful. It's awesome So how many members do you think are in the group roughly now Well, if you look on there, it's over 17 000 Actively though, I think it's more like 10 000, maybe 11 000, you know, some people follow some people don't So I think I think uh in our in our um, in our specs there It's like it's about 10 or 11 something like that So it's just very active. There's so many posts a day and it's hard to keep up with sometimes but We have a good team of moderators and um That that helped me out, which I wouldn't be able to do this if I didn't have help we have our group experts, you know that chime in and they know what they're talking about and Which is great, you know because sometimes things get off on the wrong Foot with some members and maybe they just don't know enough yet, you know, so no it's um It's been great. So we try to keep everything organized and um, try to try to you know, give them as much knowledge as we can and we keep Looking for knowledge, you know with the with the researchers and everything That's the other thing when we first started there were some things when I asked the group And we were small and I asked the group. I said, well, what do you think we should accomplish? And one of the things was they really wanted to contribute to research So that's why we do the calendars every year Um, and so we're almost up to 50 000. We should should make that mark this time. So i'm very Very very happy about that and um, you know, and we we just try to encourage everyone to participate when when a school um comes up with a study and they're looking for Candidates for the study if you know if they And and people do and it's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful Because that's the only way we can learn We can only learn if we have smart people like that out there That are willing to you know delve into the mysteries of everything and and to find out the solutions and the surgeries that can be done and medications that can help and um And and just the therapies that can help so that's how we all learn but So yeah, it's been it's been a great experience for bob and I i'll talk to uh, he's he's just wonderful you know, we go we go somewhere and He will hand out those brochures to everybody that passes and tell them come on in and learn some more and He's like a barker, you know like everybody in um, but he gets very excited about it definitely does and um Yeah, so I can't thank everybody enough. I mean because it does it takes a village. It's not you know it's not one person doing everything everybody contributes and everybody gets involved and um, and it's all for the greater good So do you want to talk about your pup cody that started this? Yeah, sure. Yeah, he's he was my heart dog No doubt about it. It was really the first dog I think Well, I had one other dog shortly, but but not for very long. But so cody was really my first dog And uh, he was a beautiful husky mix Um, he had some miniature eskimo in there and he had some retriever in there, you know But he was mainly looked husky and acted husky, too so, um he um one day, uh, he was eight years old and um We had gone we had gone away. We had gone away and we we decided to put him in a kennel You know, um boarding boarding boarded him and um Because we were going away for like a long weekend And before we went he had to have shots so, you know, um I'm, not sure if this is what created the problem I don't like to talk about it a lot because i'm not anti-vax, but You know, it it did seem to be what contributed to his myasthenia gravis For him it could have been the perfect storm because he had lyme disease the year before So he had a weakened immune system. It had been a lot of things and just the the Excitement of being boarded, you know, he never liked to be away from us. Um, so we got him home and um He started um doing this strange thing where he would start to lift his leg to pee When he was outside on a walk and then he would just continue to pee as he was walking away Like he didn't even know he was peeing still And I and I didn't think too much of it. I just thought well, maybe that's he was getting older Maybe that's what old dogs do they can't hold their pee. I don't know I didn't think too much of it two weeks went by and then all of a sudden he couldn't Jump on the couch and he couldn't he was like He had no pain but he would like try to jump up And it would he would just abort right away And uh, it was very very strange and I um Then he started this he would walk and then sit down Walk and then get up and walk normally and then you can see his back legs were really stiff And then he would sit down again and It seemed like it was happening after he lifted his leg to pee and I said, oh gosh bob I think he has a urinary tract infection something's hurting him or something. Why does he keep sitting? So it was a sunday and we said we'll just take him to the university of penn. That was bob's idea I don't we never were there ever in our entire life And for some reason he saw it somewhere and he said let's just take him to the university of penn So we dealt with him and you know, he can he's like really having a hard time walking and they asked me a lot of questions Um one was, you know, how is he eating? And no, it just wasn't clicking in my mind. Why are you asking me how he's eating? That's not the problem. The problem is pretty pretty simple to see though. I can't walk And I really wasn't getting it and then they sent us home with um, Killers and um, you know gabapentin or something and thinking that was gonna help it out and it didn't and he got worse So we went back and the second time we went back the nurse in there saw it And she said to the doctor I think you should give him a tensilon test because I think he has spinae gravis So they did and sure enough they injected that stuff in him and he ran all over the room So, you know and so they kept him there for like three days or whatever and um, You know got the medicine all adjusted for us, which was a big help When we came to get him, he was just barreled out to see us, you know, he was all full of you know He was all full of energy and and not having a hard time at all. Um, and we were like, oh, this is great and So they told us that many times he didn't uh, they did an x-ray they did hundreds of x-rays on this poor dog Uh, but they did an x-ray and they said he doesn't have this mega esophagus, but a lot of times it comes it comes later So we were always on the lookout for it and my friend barb with lily She actually had the same thing my spinae gravis and the mega esophagus and she told me about the support groups so that's how I got involved and Um, they were very nice to me there they because he didn't have mega esophagus it was all about his back end most most of it and But they were very nice to me and they listened to all my problems every time he would relapse or something, you know, I would I would come there for support and And I and then I just every day I just kept reading about you know How how discouraging this whole disease was you know, and and how they weren't finding the help from the medical field and the veterinarian field and Um, it just didn't seem right to me, you know, so I I posted this one post I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore. You know, I don't know the old network movie and um where he shouts out the window, you know, and and I said, you know, let's Who's with me who wants to see if we can create some awareness or whatever? So that Post was the post that started everything, you know, we had uh, melissa that came up with the name and she came up with the the um, the logo and then we had other people that chimed in about things we could do and it was just That's where it all started. It was so funny. It's so grassroots It was a great dog. Absolutely a wonderful dog. He got over the myasthenia gravis went into remission Easy peasy, not really. It was like 18 months of Back and forth, but um never got megasophagus He was very very lucky um he had it pretty bad too because he ran really high titers like 9.3, you know that you know, that was really a severe illness and But never it never attacked his esophagus it was very very strange, but we were grateful and happy about that but so I worked a lot by just reading posts and listening to people and and just you know reading I read a lot, you know read articles and um, you know tried to bring knowledge to the group and things like that so And that's that's pretty much how it started and you know cody did great until he he got a mast cell cancer He had a tumor and we we went through Having it removed. It was a bad one. Of course He couldn't do anything. Just mild It was a bad one and uh And then we went through chemo and he did great through chemo was no problem and then it came back about Nine months later all over his body And we did palladia we did that drug and oral chemo and it went away and For a long time and then it came back in a vengeance and he was really sick and it was the first time I saw him really sick and We couldn't take it. And so we you know, we had to say goodbye. He um, he was a great dog. Very loyal He was my sweetheart. I really loved that Yeah, he started something For a dog that didn't have it Yeah, he had his pathogitis once so I did go through that with him. I that's when I thought he had it I thought oh wow, this is it, you know, because he's bringing up all this foam this white foam and stuff and He was really sick didn't want to eat We took him in and they did another x-ray because i'm telling you this dog was x-rayed more times than you can imagine Because they were always looking for it. They always thought every time he went in there was for something They would say, oh, well, we have to do an x-ray And um, yeah, and and they came out and they said nope, no megesophagus. He just has a sore throat Okay And that's all it was because you know, but I was I was paranoid. I'll tell you I was paranoid about it You know, he did eat in raised dishes And then I would make him sit on the side of the couch and I would burp him. Yeah, I was very paranoid about it because I you know just Everybody that was in the group that had myasthenia gravis, of course, they had megesophagus too because they were in the group, right? So yeah, I was always looking for it in myasthenia gravis is very interesting disease There's actually a researcher in In england That's been in contact Contacted with me and she's doing a new study And the study is about testing for myasthenia gravis because you know, there's there's false negatives quite a bit in it's reported that it's only two percent when they test but This woman she was saying she thinks it's more like 20 and she has a new way to test for myasthenia gravis and so she's Starting this research and she contacted me and we're gonna as soon as she gets everything together She's going to accept samples from the u.s over to Yeah, yeah, so that's on the horizon. That's really cool It is cool. It really is So what is the biggest fundraiser that you have for the acb buffet project? Ah the auction There's no doubt about it. We make good money on the auction I'm thinking was thinking about doing it twice a year, but then I think sometimes it's an overkill So maybe we'll just keep it up in the spring um We used to do really well with ama amazon smile, which really kills me, but you know So so we have I give uh, that's out there I give.com and it's it's it's somewhat like, um Amazon smile only the um, the the um rewards are a little bit more They will because amazon smile only gave points by percent uh of the uh of the purchase to to their you know to the non-profit, but um with I give it gives as much as 3.2 in some cases, I think like walmart, I think it's 0.7, you know, so Um, it's really worth checking out if you know if you want to help and there's also a pink zebra A fundraiser going on right now. I don't think anybody's really done much with it, but it's going on right now and um, that's um, that's sense and um wax sense and Sprinkles and stuff like that. Yeah and then there's uh We always have a pampered chest at least once in the spring and that that does pretty well, too Doing two and four hundred dollars the auction definitely is is our our biggest fundraiser for ucb and all the money that we earn from calendars goes to Research so I don't count that in You know, so it's all separate. We try to divide it up, you know, so They like when we go to the acvim it's five hundred dollars to do that You know registration fee even though we're a non-profit. That's the only break they give us Um And we were going to the avma um, but If it's if it's close by to me, i'll go i'll do it. But that's that's again another five hundred dollars Um, and but it's that's a big big conference. The last one we went to was in philly It was huge. It was the whole Conference center at the the convention center. It was the whole thing And it was so big. Um We were sort of lost back there because they put us put all the non-profits back in a corner And you know, so there's really no you know Reason to go back in that corner. So that was the only thing I didn't like about it but uh, but we did meet a lot of a lot of uh, Great vets and and people there and so like the national dog show is wonderful Because they give all of the uh, it's free for us except that we have to pay for insurance which is like a hundred dollars, but In this in the spring they send a thousand dollar check to all of the non-profits that participate which is Really nice. Yeah. Yeah, that's the it's actually um the uh, philadelphia kennel club That that does that yeah, yeah, so we're looking forward to that this weekend it's really a fun thing to do, you know walk around and see all the breeds and Um, you know and they're all getting groomed and prettied up and you can see them compete in the ring And a couple of rings that they have the main one Uh that you see on thanksgiving day Uh that that's that's really fancy Um, but then there's a smaller ring where they have to qualify to get into the big place And it's nice and we always make our way to all the german shepherd, um Some of the breeders are kind of snotty, you know But most of them are are really really nice and they really are interested and they'll stop by and say Oh, yeah, we had this one time and or we know about it or you know along those lines But there are some that keep walking they They see us and they keep walking Yeah, I mean there's a whole bunch of great breeders like the first time we went to that that national dog show We went just to walk around and we had pamphlets Um mega e pamphlets and stuff and we were just handing it out to uh breeders and we ran across this one, uh, great dane breeder And she said oh I know all about that she said Before when I first got started and I didn't know anything. I I I uh, I I bred my girl to this a stud And uh, there was a whole litter 12 of them that had mega Whole litter she was about ready to cry. She was She was so upset And uh, she said and I I just didn't know enough and you know to to ask the the um, The lady that owned the stud about you know, all of the history and afterwards. She said oh, yeah, we've had that in our line And she was she just just was she was so sad she said she lost all of them, but I think one and of course, you know, she kept them all and But they they died young and uh, you know, it was just very sad she was actually just about crying it was sad well There's some really good breeders out there very conscientious ones I think At the at the at a place like that. I think you see a lot of conscientious ones um the backyard breeders and the amish and you know, I mean it's crazy what they're doing to some of these breeds like the doodles and and the shibas i'm waiting for more shibas to pop up in our group because you know, they've been um, they've been breeding them like mad and They don't know what they're doing. And you know It's that's how I ended up with a 65 pound shiba inu So it's once a breed gets popular. That's when you start seeing more megasophagus You know right now right now. It's shepherds You know and and you see great days You don't see them as much because they're not that popular because there's such a large giant breed that a lot of people You know, um stay away from anything that big Uh, you know just just feeding them. It's a lot of money But yeah, but labradors Definitely, you know labradors goldens schnauzers There's a lot of a lot of schnauzers that have it are born with it And uh, so a lot of everything but you know, it's um You definitely see it in the frenchies. How many frenchies do we have in the group? A lot as soon as the breed gets popular Then people just you know, think it's money and And they they just don't pay attention to what they're doing and Yeah, we we see a lot of the frenchies and then i'm not going to lie You see them you see a lot of dogs come from the pet stores, too And that's where your pet stores are and they're popping up all over again, I I fought hard for that ban and it didn't get passed, but we're going to try again in 2025, but um We got it. We did get here. We did get the store closed though that harold came from in dallas that was a huge accomplishment for us, so Uh, I mean they just moved outside the district. But yeah, we see a lot of them. Um, Frenchies are big. I didn't know about schnauzers, but I see frenchies But they're all crossed like we just had a breeder They surrendered their mama dog and kept two of the litter and then gonna breed them You know and the mom the mom has Yeah, like the mom has we just took her The three babies that she had had all cleft palates serious cleft palates and why would you take the next litter like But they don't it's all like you said it's all about money. I think in new york state They they're passed a law that they no more pet shops Um as of I think the end of this year, that's it next year There's no more pet shops that can that can sell Dogs, I mean, that's what I mean They can't sell They can sell shelter You can have the laws the way they're changing the laws and what we're trying to get in texas is that you can no longer Take breeder dogs like right. Yeah, I can only do rescue dogs or shelter dogs It's like pet smart does that um, well, it's I think it's just cats I think that's all I see in our pet smart Yeah, I think that's all they have. Yeah it's it's terrible, you know because You're probably getting them from missouri because missouri is Notorious for You know breeding farms and whatnot. Very bad, too. Yeah, we have some horrible cities Towns whatever you want to call them out here the rule in texas there's just The abuse of animals is just outrageous There's a special place in hell for those kind of people Right, oh we don't I guess it's county to county here And uh in new jersey up north we there's still pet shops that are selling Dogs, so it must be county to county Um, but and I wish they there is a statewide banned, uh legislation In new jersey, but they haven't they haven't passed it hasn't gone anywhere. This is a shame There's just so many dogs When I sat in Dallas was in unanimous. It was pretty much They had burned a lot of bridges, but when I went and testified in the state Um in listening to the councilmen in the senate in the house and the house was who we spoke to and It comes down to money and frisco where we're fighting it comes down to the income the taxes they pay and they don't really really Care about the animals. I mean that's the even though frisco had the whole humane society that thing of what was going on there And they didn't shut it down Um, they have them where they're checking them and they still have they go in and get citations after citations after citations They don't shut them down yeah, and they don't shut them down and but one of the things that The questions when the bill would be done and they would ask questions um Because there's like the little independent there's not there's the pet lands, but then there's those little cute little independent that are privately owned and They would say well you're going to take my livelihood my income my this my that And then the councilmen are like they don't want people to lose in jobs and they don't want economy You know what? I mean like it affects everything and they don't like they don't see it was enlightening to hear the way the house They asked questions and how they saw it now not everybody the bill the bill got through house. It got stopped in the senate um but um That's you know, but we'll get it what's gonna we'll get it. It's just a matter of you know, just staying on top of it I hope so because I think texas is one of the worst and You know just you know with all the the abuse and it's such a big state, you know, it's like another country and I think the hardest part where the hardest part I think in texas is We have I know this is going to be an oxymoron. We actually have really great great Dog laws if you actually read our dog logs, they have really great like we have That spay and neuter is mandatory in the state. However, it is of course If it's not in cities, the royal areas can't afford it. South texas can't afford it. There's not enough vets So the problem we have here in texas isn't the laws necessarily. I mean they need to be better But we have enforcement because exactly They can't afford it Donna, do you have anything to add or does anyone have anything to ask of donna? I just would you know again like to say and it's it's just such a wonderful thing that we can all work together you know and um and and for these dogs and the owners and people that are looking for dogs and you know, I just think it's wonderful. I Can't say enough about the great people in the group and the people i've met Yeah, yeah. I mean it does get sad every once in a while You know, it seems like it comes in waves. Yeah, you get three or four in a day and then you'll have Three or four days that you hardly have anybody that's posting that their dog died and then you get three or four in a day it's weird and an odd but um you know, that's We're there to to be compassionate too and and the group is very compassionate because they know all the hard work that goes on in To uh taking care of these dogs and the the kind of love these dogs give back uh That uh, you know, it's just like no other no other Well, and then we have the soft place to fall after the loss And that's been a great thing and and that's Unfortunately, it's it's growing by leaps and bounds as well. So it's a grief group. Um, patty that we started the me angels, uh, it's For support, uh for people that have lost their me dogs Yeah, we we started that. Well, how long ago michelle? Did you say? Oh Was it six months eight months Yeah yeah, it's it's that that has been a wonderful thing because You know some people are afraid to even post that their dog passed because they don't want the group to be sad, you know So it's nice to have a place where they can go where everybody understands and everybody suffered the lost loss and they understand and You know, I think that's that's been a very positive thing That's a great group and it's called me angels Me angels. Yeah. Well, I just want to say thank you. I mean it has been such a pleasure and it's another great group of resources and you know people to Support this, you know rescue is hard and I think you have to have an army behind you supporting you pulling you up instead of pulling you down and Um, it's been an amazing experience, you know Thank you everyone for joining us