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Home2018-10-07T11:35:37+00:00

2019 Lionel’s Legacy Calendar

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Lionel’s Legacy

Lionel's Legacy is a 501c3 non-profit San Diego based senior dog rescue and humane education program for elementary school children. Our Tax ID is 46-1123304

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Lionel's Legacy

Maximus from OC Animal Care received his angel wings

Words from Dr. Saskia Boisot, pathologist, co-rescuer and friend ♥️

Two weeks ago Laura and I had to let Maximus go. Both of us have been through this a number of times before, certainly Laura more than I have, by virtue of her rescue focusing on senior dogs, but this one hit us both hard. Maximus came to both of our attention about a week and a half beforehand, when he was at the Orange County shelter, and to be honest when I first saw his video, I only half paid attention, given that my main focus is usually the large breed behavior dogs. Laura had contacted me asking if I knew anything about him, and I tagged her on a recent post I had received of him being walked at the shelter, but didn’t really think much more about him at that time. Then a couple of days later, on Sunday December 30th, while I was in Las Vegas for the New Year, I received an email from the shelter that Maximus was not doing well due to some sort of urinary obstruction which prohibited him from voiding, which was causing him to go into renal failure, and because of this, rescue was necessary by 5pm that day. After much back and forth discussion with the shelter about his condition, for which a diagnosis had yet to be uncovered, Laura and I decided to pull him in a collaborative effort, with the idea of her doing a lot of the physical “heavy lifting” under my guidance for medical management.

Because it was the day before New Year’s, with many vet offices being closed, Maximus had to be shuttled between multiple veterinary facilities, so this presented a massive logistical challenge, not to mention a significant amount of stress for Maximus himself; and right off the bat Laura and I were pretty clear that we were not going to be performing any heroics if he was either suffering or the prognosis was obviously poor. The problem was that not only did we not have a diagnosis, but with the initial information at hand, it sounded quite feasible that the diagnosis might not in fact be malignant, despite a drastic 14lb weight loss.

Now as most people know, I am a human physician, a pathologist who started out in general surgery, so my understanding of the pathobiology of disease is deep, and although much can be extrapolated to animal disease, the range of diagnostic tools and treatment options at the disposal of each respective specialty are quite different. As such, I immediately consulted with a good friend of mine from the former California Veterinary Specialty Hospital, and together we formulated a management plan for empiric treatment, based on the possibility that, with appropriate care, Maximus might have a shot.

On the Friday after pulling Maximus, we elected to have his urinary catheter taken out, to see if he might void on his own so that he could leave the hospital. Not only did that not happen, but the catheter could not be reinserted, so Laura had to transfer him to the emergency hospital with a higher level of care for the catheter to be reinserted, at which time an ultrasound was repeated, and urine was obtained for cytology. Laura called me from the hospital and told me that the vets at the emergency hospital had done a cursory look at the cytology slides and were concerned about malignancy. I have to say that on the one hand I was not surprised at all, because everything about his presentation pointed to malignancy, but then having had multiple discussions with my vet friend, and knowing that prostate cancer is rare in dogs (unlike in humans), I had come to hope he was going to pull through. Unfortunately, the slides had been discarded, so I couldn’t confirm their suspicions under my own microscope (the veterinarians are generalists, so don’t have the training in pathology I do, in the same way I could never perform orthopedic or cardiothoracic surgery, since those are not my specialties, so I could’ve rendered a definitive diagnosis on the spot), and therefore we were left to await confirmation from the outside veterinary pathology lab they contracted with, which we were informed would take about a week. Armed with this knowledge, Laura decided to take Maximus home with her to her house, catheter and all, and the next day when I came over, we were given the final cytology results, confirming what we dreaded hearing, that it was in fact cancer.

During the time Maximus was at Laura’s house, he essentially required around the clock care, mainly because the catheter was so uncomfortable for him; he was restless, and spent a lot of his time lifting his leg on most of the furniture (although obviously nothing came out), which meant walking around with him so his urinary bag didn’t get caught on something and pull the attached catheter out. He also required aggressive and vigilant pain management. We both knew what the right thing to do was for him, but decided it was imperative that he not go back to the hospital, so Laura tried to arrange for an in-home visit from the vet. Since it was already too late on the Sunday evening, it was set up for the next day in the early afternoon.

I came back the next morning, and Laura and I, along with her 16 year old daughter Reina, hung out with Maximus on her porch, where he was able to spend his last few hours basking in the sun, with lots of treats and medication to minimize his discomfort. Throughout the week, Maximus, who purportedly had previously shown his displeasure when being handled whilst in the shelter, had fully trusted us to do what we could to help him, even if that sometimes meant occasional uncomfortable manipulation, and he fully accepted all our love and affection. I know that as animal lovers, we all tend to anthropomorphize them, but it was truly heartbreaking to see him in Laura’s home looking around, and thinking this is the life he should’ve had all along.

At 1:30, the Reina, Laura, and I were sitting on a blanket out front with Maximus in a very relaxed state, and the veterinarian arrived. Maximus left this world and his poor frail, failing body shortly thereafter, so loved in that moment. For Laura and myself, the whole process turned out to be a lot more emotional than we were both anticipating, and so we crumbled. Maximus was with us for a short time, and although he stretched us both in different ways, he taught us a tremendous amount. I am so grateful to have had this shared experience with my amazing friend and incredible rescuer, Laura Oliver, and Maximus will forever remain in my heart (yes, I’m crying as I write this).

Maximus, we only got a short time with you, but we both loved you hard💔 ... See MoreSee Less

1 day ago  ·  

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