Diesel's Second Chance

In honor of National Pitbull Awareness Month, I’m going to share with you an exciting story of how a very special pitbull lost his tail, but found his forever home.

Some of you may know Diesel, or in the very least, his foster mom Geralyn. Diesel had a rough start in life and was saved by Stepping Stones Canine Rescue. His original owner wanted to shoot him after he lost all his hair to a condition some puppies can get, called demodex. “He lost all his hair” is being kind to what his former owner did to him. Again, if you know Diesel’s story through facebook, you can skip ahead.

Diesel had no hair, had scaly skin, was severely underweight, and clearly had evidence of a muzzle injury around his mouth. He had a swollen tongue. He was only four months old. His owner would’ve preferred to shoot him instead of pay about $50 for treatment. But that’s in the past.

Diesel was rescued and had the best foster mom in the dog business, Elite Canine to be exact. She trained, cared for, and loved him. His illness was in the past- or so I thought when I adopted him.

Diesel had a home visit and fit right in with my other three rescue dogs. He was my feisty itty bitty pitty- being only 25lbs at six months. I realized right away he had severe separation anxiety- he chewed through two travel crates and one reinforced crate. He chewed through a door frame. I got an amazing behavioral therapist recommended by his foster mom Geralyn. I also spent $2000 on an Impact metal crate so that he couldn’t injure himself.

Diesel also exhibited signs of, for lack of better terminology, distraction. He couldn’t be on a leash out in our yard without turning his head and looking towards every little sound. He wouldn’t listen to me or the dog behavioral therapist. He essentially has doggy ADHD. Later on, he got aggressive towards my other male dog. He was fine with my two female dogs, but he seemed to constantly be in fight or flight mode. His pupils were so large you couldn’t tell what his eye color was and he couldn’t seem to relax away from me. He wasn’t sleeping enough for a puppy his age. He was barely sleeping at all. Ultimately, exhaustingly, I agreed to medicate him at the recommendation of my behavioral therapist. Two months in, and the medication worked. Diesel could focus long enough to be trained again. So our troubles ended. For a while.

One day, Diesel wouldn’t stop biting at the end of his tail. I took him in to his regular vet and he was diagnosed with happy tail. Happy tail occurs when a dog wags his tail too hard and usually into something. Diesel has a short coat and he has a metal crate, so it made sense at the time. Until his tail started turning black. I spoke with my other dog’s dermatologist about Diesel because I became concerned that Diesel’s pain medication wasn’t touching his pain and his tail didn’t seem to be healing. I showed her the pictures of his tail turning black and she made an appointment for me the next day for biopsies. She suspected vasculitis- inflammation of the vessels that can cause tissue death. What he was diagnosed with was much worse.

Waiting for the biopsy results were agonizing as my boyfriend and I wrestled Diesel to get him to let us change his tail dressings. It felt impossible keeping the dressings on such a wiggly tail. He sprayed the inside of my car with blood. He had a regimented medication schedule for pain meds, antibiotics, vasculitis medications. Everything was written down so that nothing was forgotten. And still the hardest part (aside from not knowing what he had) was that there was not a cone long enough to prevent him from getting to his tail. I had to make one from 1.5 cones that wouldn’t be too heavy for him and that he could still move around in. but we had to hand- feed him. Supervise him with his cone off while he drank water. Carry him inside and outside through the back porch so he could use the restroom in the yard. We did this all while caring for three other dogs. One that could not be around him who suffered from IBD and severe allergies, and one that was going through chemo.

One day, when I came home from work, the unthinkable happened. My boyfriend told me that Diesel’s tail stank. When we tried to hold him to talk the dressing off, he screamed. I hope no one ever has to hear that sound come from their fur babies. We made an emergent appointment for him to be sedated to remove his tail dressing. My worst fear was confirmed when the vet emailed me photos of a sedated Diesel’s tail. Because I recognized the smell with every amputation I had been a part of- death. His tail’s tissue was dying and we still didn’t know why. But I knew his best chance would be an emergency amputation. Around $1200 was what the surgery cost and I willingly paid it to save his life.

We played the waiting game, waiting to see what his biopsy results could tell us and waiting to see if his new amputation would heal or if what was left of his tail would continue to die. We discussed quality of life if that were to happen. We discussed euthanasia versus an orthopedic surgeon going in and taking the rest of his tail. My boyfriend and I discussed this with his primary vet- who graciously made time for the amputation and we discussed this with his dermatologist. We adjusted medications. I prepared myself for putting him down in a few weeks- because that’s all it took for his tail tissue to die last time.

The biopsy results came back. They were confusing. Diesel has a condition called Canine Scleroderma. Humans can have it locally or systemically and evidently dogs can have it locally. Diesel is a one-of-a-kind. He has it systemically. He is the only known case of systemic canine scleroderma. This means his own immune system fights his body. It can affect the joints, the lungs, the esophagus, the vascular system, and the brain.

We (our dermatologist, myself, my boyfriend) believe Diesel cannot help his behavioral issues. We also think the abuse his skin sustained while he was a puppy with demodex triggered this scleroderma response. We suspect he has brain plaques that make him act different than our behavioral therapist has ever seen a dog act before. He has had a bad knee, difficulty swallowing, a dry cough with excitement, and a tail that died despite our best efforts. We have been doing experimental treatment based off of human research ever since. His tail nubbin has healed and I could stop anticipating euthanasia as and immediate option for him. His treatments are working…Or so I thought.

He has begun to exhibit head tremoring. I immediately made an appointment with his primary doctor and she referred me to a neurologist. He needs an MRI- a procedure to capture images of his brain to see what is going on. He needs a CSF procedure- a way to look at the fluid in his spine to determine if he has an infection or inflammation. These things will cost $3500.

I am ashamed. Ashamed that I can no longer afford these things. But after two years of paying for specialists, medications, surgeries, and a special crate just for him- I have nothing left.

I’m trying to save up but Diesel needs my help and your help NOW.

The tremor episodes are increasing. Please PLEASE help donate to his medical costs or share this post.