Dapper Dan 


  • Male
  • Age:  8 (DOB 1/14/2013)
  • 16.5# 
  • Mitro-valve Disease, displace trachea, dry eyes
  • Hospice Placement  



  Brookhaven, Georgia

We sprung Dan out of an Atlanta area shelter after he was found abandoned and confiscated by animal control. Upon pick up it was apparent that Dan needed medical treatment and are so thankful to our wonderful veterinary partners who agreed to see and treat him with virtually no notice - a big shout out to Loving Touch Animal Center and Atlanta Veterinary Eye Clinic đź’ś

We did detect a microchip on Dan and while we reached a “dead end” on the ownership front, we did obtain his date of birth - 1/14/2013, making him 7 years old. Dan’s tear test revealed that while his right eye produces a normal amount of tears, his left does not. In fact, right now his left eye is producing ZERO tears. This complete lack of lubrication has caused a pretty nasty secondary infection and inflammation. We have started Dan on antibiotics and anti inflammatory eye drops as well as a tear stimulant to help boost his tear production. Additionally, we are using a lubricant around the clock to keep his eye lubricated and as comfortable as possible. Once the infection and inflammation is resolved, we hope to be able to effectively stimulate his tear gland and see improvement of his tear test. “Dry eye” is a common congenital Cavalier issue and when it is left neglected and untreated, this is exactly what happens. As long as Dan responds to the medication, we should get this eye in FAR better shape in the coming weeks.

Thankfully Dan rested negative for heartworms and tick borne illnesses, his fecal test was negative, and his bloodwork was normal! His urinalysis did reveal a bad urinary tract infection which he is now receiving treatment for. Dan also has severe dental disease and is in need of a dental cleaning, along with a neuter surgery. Lastly, a significant heart murmur was detected so he is scheduled to undergo a full cardiac evaluation with our veterinary cardiologist on 4/2. Thank you so everyone who so generously donated yesterday to Dan’s medical care đź’ś

Dan is ecstatic to be out of whatever situation he was in and out of the shelter environment - rightfully so! He has been bouncing around joyfully and playfully since he arrived! Despite his current medical state, he is happy, happy, happy đź’• We look forward to sharing more of him with you from his foster home in Atlanta, Georgia. 

 

UPDATE March 11, 2020: A week ago we sprung Dan out of an Atlanta area shelter after he was found abandoned and confiscated by animal control. He arrived with several medical issues including a cough that we felt at the time likely originated from the shelter environment (kennel cough) and/or the bordetella vaccination that he received there.

Over the past few days the cough did not improve and we moved forward with chest xrays, mostly to have a look at his lungs. While his lungs looked okay, his heart was huge. We had detected a significant heart murmur at his intake vetting and had scheduled his cardiac evaluation and echocardiogram for the first available appointment in the beginning of April, but the new findings and concerning symptoms called for more urgent care. We were able to go through the emergency department and get Dan seen by a cardiologist who performed a full cardiac evaluation and echocardiogram.

The evaluation revealed that while Dan is not in heart failure, he does have severe mitral valve disease and some substantial secondary changes to his heart’s structure including enlargement with displacement of the trachea and compression of the bronchi. In short, his enlarged heart is pushing on his trachea and the compression causing coughing.

While this is not curable, it can be medically “managed” with cough suppressants. We have also started Dan on heart medications to help stop any further progression of the mitral valve disease. We certainly hope he will respond well to medications so we can get this guy much more comfortable đź™ŹđźŹ»

No dog loves a cooling mat more than Dan-Dan đź’śđź’ś

UPDATE AUGUST 2020: In February, just before the whole pandemic was getting crazy, The Cavalier Rescue was asked to pick up Dapper Dan at Fulton County Animal Services after he was abandoned and confiscated. We knew immediately he was in rough shape and we thought we were going to lose him that first week. Thanks to our amazing vet, Dr Rosie, he stabilized.

Over the past couple of months, he’s been rough. His heart is very enlarged which means his trachea is displaced and he coughs terribly, sometimes unable to catch his breath.

He also has back and leg issues from a previous accident and an eye that is enlarged and doesn’t produce many tears.

His prognosis isn’t good so we’ve made the decision to keep him with us as a hospice placement and give him the best we can for the time he has left.

The rest of his day are to be the BEST of hs days! We will make sure of that.

 

Getting lots of love đź’śđź’ś

DanDan and the rest of us here at The Cavalier Rescue hope you had a spooktacular Hoooowwwloween 👻🧛‍♀️🧟‍♀️🧙🏼‍♀️

SUMMER Fun for Dapper Dan! 

Nothing like a poolside day under his own umbrella. Living his best life!

December 2021: 

Dear Santa,

I want ALL of the bully chews.

Love,

Dapper Dan

UPDATE January 26, 2022: 

Lots of vet care for sweet Dan Dan over the past week. He had a very sore back which is a result of an old injury. He had an impacted anal gland which has been zero fun for anyone and his smelly mouth hurts. Vet appointments, meds, warm compresses and TLC appears to have him on the mend đź’śđź’ś

UPDATE April 27, 2022: 

Dan Dan went to the cardiologist last week and we found he’s gotten a bit worse. He’s in mild heart failure but don’t tell him he’s sick. He thinks he’s perfect and so do we. He adventired out to the garden store with his foster Mom and charmed everyone 💜