Kynismar Miss Millie
Posted on April, 4 at 7:33 pm
Hello,
I love Bichon Frisé dogs they are in the toy dog class at Crufts I saw one at Crufts this year but alas it did’nt get placed. Time was when Myra Atkins dogs were in the line no one stood a chance as her Kynismar champions usually took most of the awards.
Sometimes, Bichons don’t meet the breed standard and so go to good homes when as a family pet - Millie was such a dog. At all times Kynismar Miss Millie was every bit a champion all the way through her short life.
Breed: Bichon Frisé
Kennel Club Registration Name: Kynismar Miss Millie
Sire: KC Rregistration Name CH. Kynismar Feels Like Heaven
Dam: KC. Registration Name Kynismar Special Heaven
Curley Tail Millie in the garden
Kynismar Miss Millie came to me on the 09.02.2001 a seemingly quite healthy dog with no outward sign that she had a life threatening illness. I attach no blame to either breeder or rescue but at the time that the rescue dogs are looked at by the rescue vet then a simple bile test would have revealed what had been inherited.
A much treasured gift from Helena - Brazil!
When Miss Millie was presented to me by Maureen Reynolds then Hon.Secretary of the Bichon Frise Club of Great Britain. (BFCGB) I was warned by Mrs Reynolds not to approach Miss Millie in her basket or she would bite, she had already bitten Mrs Reynolds and was promptly smacked. I understood later why Miss Millie bit and had the BFCGB had all their dogs tested (expensive I know) then she too would have realised why she bit. Liver shunt gives dogs a migraine attack type headaches similar to humans:
A migraine is a throbbing, intense headache in one half of the head. It can affect people of all ages. The cause of migraine is not known.
During an attack, the blood vessels in the brain dilate and then draw together with stimulation of nerve endings near the affected blood vessels. These changes to the blood vessels are probably what cause the pain, but migraine is still a condition that is poorly understood. [/quote]
I guess its the same for animals as migraine attacks is one of the many symptoms of Liver Shunt.
Miss Millie lay in her basket all the day long which Bichons do not normally do, in most cases a bichon is difficult to keep still for one minute unless sleeping let alone all day so thats one indicator that something was’nt quite right. She was ok on walks for a while but even that began to give me nightmares. She walked ever so slow. Mrs Reynolds came by car and I am unsure if BFCGB has dog/puppy walkers to assess the dogs daily, maybe they have. Miss Millie if we walked too far would simply lay down after some walking excersise to rest.
A lovely animated globe from stargazer
It was time for a booster so I mentioned the lethargy, and the excersise and the Vet gave her a good looking over and decided to do some teeth extractions and dew claw removal, the dew claws were hanging very loose and could have been hurting her on walks. I took her in for her surgary the following day and picked her up that day. I returned on another day for the stitches in her paws to be removed. She was given antibiotics and I expected things to improve.
That was in August 2001
Please try to have any dew claws removed at puppy stage if they *need to be removed.
Its been five months and no improvement, Miss Millie continues to lay in her basket all day and her walks still the same slow walking and needing to rest. All of a sudden out of the blue she started to bang her head on the floor, this occured after feeds for some reason and where before she was excersise intolerant now she paced the floor and fluid was running from her mouth. It was apparent My Bichon was seriously ill but with what?
A paragraph of a conversation which came in a nice enough letter about the tests Miss Millie was due to undergo from Mrs Reynolds:
“What exactly is the procedure that she is undergoing next week, and what is the diagnosis relating to the liver problem? (22.08.2001) If we are talking liver shunt, that combined with the temperment problem (biting) would lead me to say that, however, sad this may be, we would have to seriously consider euthanasia”.
But I did’nt allow Miss Millie to return to BFCGB for euthanasia. I sat and pondered my next step as BFCGB said they could’nt possibly support Miss Millie with the special diet the Vet said she needed. I began to serach the net in search of financial help and came accross The Bichon Frisé Rescue which changed my life forever, and Miss Millies too. They are so kind its quite breath taking, each and everyone of them. Derek Briggs and his lovely softly spoken wife Joan (East Susses) , My good friend Jan Jacobs (Isle of Wight) who knew instantly who Miss millie belonged to. Diane Story who to my greatest sorrow passed away and I never knew about it. Derek put me in touch with Jan, and Jan put me in touch with Diane thats how the Rescue works. You are NOT being passed from one to another mearly contacting the correct person for the help you need.
More thinking, With so much to think about and being distressed at Miss Millie’s illness I then I realised that we had insured Miss Millie with Directline insurers and they paid her Vet bills and a batch of the special diet. As it was Miss Millie took a turn for the worse after the first batch and we returned to the Vets. The Vet said to return the next day with Miss Millie for tests to be carried out.
Milie after a grooming session.
Wee Willie’s story makes a laughing stock of that written conversation from Mrs Reynolds about euthanasia.
Scroll down at my link.
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