BandVino Wine Spike Indoor Outdoor Wine Glass Beer Beverage Drink Holder

Hannah's Story

Hannah

When Hannah was just a puppy she suffered greatly at the hands of a human being. She was found by a Las Vegas Humane Society volunteer lying on the side of the road where she had collapsed. They guessed that she had escaped after having her head smashed in by what looks like the markings of a shovel. She ran as long as she could and finally collapsed. She was rushed to West Charleston Animal Hospital where 1 veterinarian, Dr. Carney, decided to rush her into emergency surgery in an attempt to save her life.

Hannah healed quickly and was soon approved for permanent home placement with stipulations such as no other big dogs, the understanding of her injuries and the possibilities of what might be. It was basically a wait and see situation.

The BandVino group has a history of rescuing and caring for special needs animals. On an extra trip to Petco we met Hannah. After learning of her past and present situation and careful consideration, we began the process of bringing her home. We quickly passed home inspection and soon Hannah was getting acclimated to her new environment.

Hannah is unable to climb stairs, and at the time, all of our bedrooms were upstairs so we carried her up to sleep beside us so we could monitor her constantly, and back down during the day or even for middle of the night, “I have to go out” sessions. She was “on her terms” a normal puppy and enjoyed basic puppy activities like playing, eating, drinking; she surprised her doctor by learning to go outside, sit and to follow basic commands.

Almost a month passed and we were in love. Suddenly she began having severe seizures. That was the beginning of a tremendous change in her.   We started Hannah’s Fund and we received a donation of an MRI. This helped diagnose her neuropathy but we needed more. Her “aunties” who generously donated to Hannah’s Fund stepped up and paid for her to take a trip to U.C. Davis where she was seen by some of the top pet neurologists in the country. After a second MRI and other studies she was put on a cocktail to help her live a somewhat normal life. She was diagnosed with only half of a brain remaining and a 1/8th of a usable spinal cord. She is only able to see partially out of one eye which is the eye where the injury occurred. Brain fluid fills the part of her brain that died away after her trauma and with her spinal cord swollen it is a concern at times that it does not drain properly.

Hannah takes medication 5 times per day beginning at 5 a.m. and her last dose is at 10 p.m. She has two types of seizures; she has a vestibular seizure which is caused from too much pressure on the remaining brain. This seizure can last up to an hour and she appears to be in a catatonic state. Her eyes are open, but she is non-responsive. When she comes out of this seizure she is very thirsty and disoriented for about a day and half. She has one of these about once every two weeks. Her doctor has said these are non-life threatening and do not cause her more harm.

The other type of seizure she has is the typical body convulsing type. Her paws are paddling as if she is swimming, her jowls are clenched back showing her teeth as if she is angry, she drools extensively, and on a few occasions she has urinated. This seizure is life threatening to her and if not stopped or contained within the first few minutes it could continue until she dies. We are aware of the pre-signs of this type of seizure and are on elevated alert keeping her in our eye sight at all times. We also have to protect her head and neck during this very violent seizure. We administer a valium suppository immediately and the results are astounding at how fast they stop. Since we are able to stop this one so far very quickly, she only seizes for a few seconds, once she stops seizing it takes her about 15-20 minutes to accept her favorite treat or a drink of water. She is also much disoriented for a few days afterwards and has to be assisted to prevent her from running in to walls and so forth.

Over the last year and a half Hannah has been to the brink a few times and each time, with the help of Dr. Carney she has rallied back. Today, Hannah’s schedule looks like this:
5 a.m. ½ Kepra and a cup of dry dog food, plenty of water; 7:30 a.m. 1 sodium bromide capsule, 1 Amantadine capsule, ½ steroid, 1 ½ Phenobarbital, ¾ large can of wet dog food, plenty of water; 2 p.m. ½ Kepra; 7.30 p.m. 1 sodium bromide capsule, 1 steroid, 1 ½ Phenobarbital, and 1 Prilosec, 1 cup of dry dog food, plenty of water; 10 p.m. ½ Kepra – then just before bed and for good measure she gets 2 Hauls strawberry cough drops. (It is how she chews these that we know if we will get sleep or not). If she just swallows them whole, we go on high alert and sleep lightly, if she gets some good crunching from a little cough drop we know she’s going to have a good night.

Hannah is very active in the mornings. She loves to play in the grass and will romp Hannah style and bark, she will also lie down to play, bark and try to play bite which we never allow her to even play bite us.

Hannah requires 24/7 supervision. She cannot be left unattended outside as she could fall and get stuck, fall in the pool or pond or wander off and get lost. If she panics, she will start running and go wild and bite and it is almost impossible to rein her back in. The part of her brain that controls reactive behavior is damaged so when Hannah is scared or upset she will bite with no control mechanism to stop her from doing damage. She cannot be bathed or groomed unless she is in a seizure and we take advantage of her stupor to clean her up. She perceives cleaning as “bad” and will bite. Hannah struggles to follow commands but her body frequently doesn’t cooperate so in a typical day Hannah will have 4-6 accidents in the house. We now live in a 1 story house with all tile floors. Because Hannah drags her feet when she walks, she has lots of injuries on her paws so we put in grass so on “good” days she can run without injury. She can not wear a collar due to her spinal cord injury and therefore wears a comfortable harness 24/7 that helps us handle her.

Some people think we are cruel for keeping Hannah alive, but we know Hannah will tell us when she is tired. She is like a handicapped human being; she finds extreme joy in the little things and we know she is still enjoying life.

She has a strong will to survive and live and does not have any memory of her abuse therefore she is very affectionate and will work very hard to get up and greet everyone with love.   She is protective of small children and lets the cats climb all over her and sleep with her. Even though her brain is severely damaged, she somehow understands that little people and creatures pose no threat. Usually when she’s “acting out” it has something to do with her feeling out of control like being lifted into a car, or being “forced” to do something she does not wish to do like having booties put on her feet or getting groomed.   The rest of the time, Hannah is a loving 90 pound puppy.

Every day, Hannah reminds us not to take life for granted and to take time to enjoy the small things, like she does. She helped us decide to pursue our dream of starting a no-kill sanctuary. Hannah’s touched and changed all our lives – once we saw her incredible will to live and watched her take joy in every tiny thing we realized how much we take for granted every day. Hannah is a blessing to all who meet her. This is Hannah’s story and Hannah’s Ranch is her legacy.

Many thanks to Dr. Carney, all Dr. Carney’s assistants that are a big part of Hannah’s life, Hannah’s Aunties, and all her pet sitters including Theresa, Grandma Judy, Michael, Chelsea, Kurtis and Chelsee.

Warning:
Some of these pictures are of a graphic nature. Please view with caution. Abuse of any kind is horrifying.

(above) Hannah's puppy pictures, also her recovery pictures. She is clueless that she's in recovery, she just wants to be a puppy and play.

(above) Hannah going for her first MRI (donated), Dr. Carney and her assistant met us in the parking lot where they had to sedate Hannah on the back of a truck, put on a gurney and covered so that she could be secretly taken in. The facility is for humans and pets are forbidden which is why we can not disclose and give credit to the company, however you know who you are and we are deeply grateful. Dr. Carney stayed with Hannah and monitored her vitals "old school".

Hannah at UC Davis. I took her all over the rest stop to use the rest room and she finally led the way to the "pet area" which is where she finally did her business. She is very curious and enjoyed checking the hotel out. This is where she learned how nice it is to get to sleep in a bed, by doing this I could monitor her for seizures and still sleep.

Hannah & Frisco getting pets from Mom

She loves to go for walks, but the stroller is necessary for when she gets tired.

Petapalooza 2010, she had too much fun.

Home after seeing Dr. Carney, she even got a purple bandage.

Return to home Hannah's Ranch