Live Like Loki!

To read Loki's full story, scroll down.

Loki was adopted at 7 months old with a swollen toe and missing hair on his tail. NBD. After an amazing 10 months of adventures, weird things began to happen. 

We went from vet to vet, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.The muscles in his face atrophied, making it difficult to eat and drink. He was covered with sores, and at one point went blind. Although they thought it was autoimmune, no one knew what was wrong with him, and treatment was mostly experimentation.

Twice we were told he had a week to make significant improvement, or we’d have to say goodbye. Each time, to everyone’s amazement, he did - coming to a near full recovery and sight a year later. 

In the beginning of November, our luck ran out. He’s gotten a complication which, alone would have been difficult to manage, but combined with his current care was impossible. 

Loki left us at 2.5 years old. We’d had him for less than 2 years, much of it filled with ups and downs - but it was a year he got to paddleboard, hike, play and love. 

It wouldn’t have been possible without the care and commitment of so many people, but especially the vets, vet techs and other employees at multiple hospitals. 

Loki's last year was made possible because of North Shore Animal League, who gave us much financial help, and Cornell University’s Veterinary Specialists Dermatology Department, who are without a doubt some of the best you could ask for. 

That’s why we’re partnering with Cornell Cares; to help families afford expensive testing, diagnostics and treatment for pets who could really have a chance, as well as fund research in hopes to save a life we couldn’t. 

 

Loki's Story

When we adopted Loki, we had no clue as to where the depths of our love for him would take us. How we’d sacrifice our lives, work, time and finances, and, if I’m honest, the super gross things I would do that my parent-friends would say more than prepared me for children. 

Two years ago when we went to the shelter, TJ was mostly placating me. I’d been bugging him daily for months and he didn’t expect to leave with a dog (I, on the other hand, knew I was leaving with whatever they would let me take. Hopefully in multiples. And maybe some cats.).

TJ expressly said no pitbulls, nothing over 30lbs, wanted a new puppy and a doodle of some sort (And I had to force myself not to take the first animal I saw). It was surprising when he was the one who chose Loki, a 7 month soon to be 50lb pitbull terrier afraid of walks, men and didn't understand how to play with toys. When I asked if he was sure, TJ said there was something special about him, Loki would be a great dog. He was right.

Loki stole ours, and everyone’s hearts. He loved hikes, sprinklers, stealing my socks /gloves especially when I was wearing them, solved the hardest treat puzzles we could find in 30 seconds, and went nuts when he saw baby carriages, demanding to stick his nose in and smell them. Most dogs will make you smile, but Loki could light up more than a room with his energy - he could light all of Buckingham Palace.

When 10 months later, things started to go downhill, we all fought for his life. Twice doctors said we will give this a week, and to everyone’s astonishment he came bounding back.

During this time we spent hours feeding him through an esophageal tube. He lost 17lbs and the perscribed weight gainer caused an allergic reaction, which led to severe corneal ulcerations that went through his eyes and made him go blind. At one point, his body was covered in sores and rashes and he lost much of his hair. 

But we were attentive, and the rashes began to heal, his sight returned and so did our happy puppy. 

By November 2021 however, the rashes were back and truly thought we had reached the end of the line. Even though he was being treated at some of the country’s top vet hospitals, he remained a mystery. 

With the help of TJ’s incredible document, I elbowed our way into Cornell Veterinary Specialists ASAP and Loki became personally cared for by the head of dermatology herself. On her maternity leave, without our knowing, she continued to check in on Loki- he was the only one she did that for. She didn’t want to let him down. He had that effect on people.

In fact, there wasn’t a dog or person he considered a stranger. He greeted each day with love, hope and big doofy smiles. He trotted everywhere he went, looking more like a show dog than a patchy street ruffian. At his many vet visits, everyone was a friend, and even after we moved away from North Shore Animal League, their staff continued to check up on him - from the doctors to even the part time weekend receptionist. 

Early in 2022, he was showing big improvements. By Aug 2022, Loki was doing great. He was paddleboarding and romping, and using all of his fluent pet buttons to talk to us (he loved to hit Meatball and Mom over and over and over again). His jaw still didn't work great but he loved chewing bones and would kiss his best pitty friend, Lina, by putting his whole mouth over her muzzle and flapping his tongue. She, too, was one over by Loki - adopted deaf and dog aggressive, he was her first friend.

By now, he showed no signs of his semi-formal diagnosis - Systemic Lupus. It’s rare in dogs, but didn’t even show up as it normally would in Loki and while a lot of things did get better, some things just would not. 

In October, the rashes came back with a vengeance and we could not beat a bacterial infection called actinomycetes because Loki, on top of everything, is antibiotic resistant. We’d tried all of them, and they’d stopped working one by one. He suddenly had trouble keeping down food and water. It turned out he had a dilated oesophagus - a complication which would be difficult to manage on its own, but impossible with everything else going on. 

To let go after fighting for so long and coming so far was heartbreaking for us. He had wanted to fight, and so we helped him. There was so much life waiting for him, and yet here was this mystery disease that was just impossible for anyone to crack. 

One thing is certainly clear - although letting go was sad we wouldn’t have made it here without friends, family, neighbours, co-workers, amazing vets / vet techs / employees, help of North Shore Animal League and financial aid. We stopped tallying the money we were saved by free or at cost care at 50k.

Without that aid and being in a financially good position ourselves, we wouldn’t have the option to fight. We want to give other people without our resources or sheer forceful stubbornness aid so that they can give their pet who deserves it a fighting chance.

We are going to be working with Cornell Cares, as well as Loki’s vet there, to aid dogs similar to Loki's case. Donated funds will help their families afford expensive testing, diagnostics and treatment for pets who could really have a chance, as well as fund research in hopes to save a life we couldn’t. 

Before Loki, TJ and I didn’t know how much we could love. There had just been no comparison. We are heartbroken to say goodbye, but would do it all over again to give Loki a chance at a wonderful life and to know what it feels like to love, and be loved by him.

Lastly, if you are in the situation where you must say goodbye to your pet, we highly reccomend Lap of Love. The vets come to your home and, while the task was difficult, it was made easier than I imagined. The love and care both Loki and we were treated with was second to none, and Loki was able to leave this world in a pile of his blankets, chewing bones and slurping whipped cream before leaving us forever in my arms.

Thank you for all your donations. If you wish to learn more about Loki or how you can help, email urgocreative@gmail.com