Opal's StoryThis is Opal; Opal Marie to be exact. A beautiful Catahoula Leopard Dog, with the kindest, gentlest soul. In just 365 days she captured our hearts and took us on the greatest emotional adventure we had ever embarked.
The Opal Fund is her namesake, with the mission of helping pets just like her. We wanted to share our story with you. Our wish is that she will live on forever. |
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The Night We MetFebruary 21, 2019.
We (John and Jaime) were volunteering for the Monmouth County SPCA, tasked with transporting over 20 dogs from Project Safe Pet in South Carolina, to New Jersey where they would be placed for adoption. We loaded up the transport truck and hit the road to South Carolina at 1:30 am. |
Jaime & The MCSPCA Transport Truck
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February 22, 2019 7:00pm
We made it to the "Pick Up" location, a parking lot outside of Carowinds in South Carolina. Project Safe Pet's focus was pulling dogs like Opal from high kill shelters, and placing them in foster homes until relocation was available. So we got to meet all the wonderful foster families as they handed us their beautiful pups, trusting we would get them home safely. Enter Kendal and Thomas, Opal's foster family. They handed me Opal and with one look at her sweet face, my heart melted quicker than my breath in the cold. I thought to myself as I handed her off to Jaime, "Uh-oh, she's gonna want to adopt her". I passed her off and Jaime gave me a look.. one of those nonverbal agreements.. yup, we just adopted a 3rd dog. |
Opal and her foster family, Thomas and Kendal, moments before we met.
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The drive home went exactly as you would have expected..
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Welcome Home
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Opal entered the MCSPCA just long enough to be medically cleared, before she made her second freedom ride of the week, home with us. Opal was just 10 weeks old, and this was our first experience with a special needs dog; Opal was born with micropthalmia, a condition where her eyes did not fully develop before birth. But she was brave, and it was contagious. She met her big brother and big sister, Oaklee and Pudge.
She quickly bonded with Oaklee like I had never seen two dogs bond before. They became inseparable best friends. |
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You Had So Much Fun
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You smiled. You snuggled. You played. You went out on the town. You met new people. You met new dogs. You went to the beach and played in the water. You felt the wind in your hair riding in the car. You walked around the neighborhood with your pack. You taste tested food. You learned tricks. You sun bathed. You dug holes. You bayed out of joy. You listened to music. You played rough with your brother. You sat outside and enjoyed the smells passing in the air. You taught lessons. You stalked mom in the kitchen. You blocked the hallway with your long legs. You stole hearts.
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You were brave. You were kind. You were gentle. You were loved.
Onset - Losing Our Grip
On October 03, 2019
Seemingly out of nowhere, our radiant, healthy puppy suffered her first seizure. We were terrified, and heart broken. We took her in to see her favorite Vet, Dr. Mammen at the MCSPCA, who recommended getting labs done to rule out some potential causes. Her labs came back shortly after and ruled out several causes - but didn't answer many questions. It became a watch and wait situation. It takes her a few days to get back to being herself.
October 26, 2019
Opal suffers from two seizures, two hours apart. We take her back to Dr. Mammen and learn she experienced cluster seizures. We start her on a low dose of Phenobarbital. She has forgotten her potty training, and needs to relearn the home. It takes about 2 weeks to relearn everything.
November 19, 2019
Opal suffers from four seizures, all 3 hours apart. Dr. Mammen has a prescription for Valium filled at our local pharmacy. We administer the valium and the cluster stopped. Opal has forgotten her potty training, her commands, the map of the home, even her own name. It takes her a day to relearn her name, 3 days to start playing with her brother and her toys, about a week to relearn the house, and about 3 weeks for her to be house broken again.
December 14, 2019
Opal suffers from 7 seizures between 7:00 am and 12:50am. Several doses of Valium had been administered with no success of stopping the cluster. Dr. Mammen recommends we take her into the Hospital. She is administered IV Valium in the hospital and we were prescribed a stronger liquid valium to be administered rectally. She is also put on Potassium Bromide, or, KBr. It was recommended we get an MRI to better understand what's going on in her brain. We are sent home with Opal after a few hours - about 3:00am. The medical bill was tremendous. We put it on a credit card, but had no idea how we were going to pay it off. But we would do whatever we needed to do for our baby. We were warned she was administered a large amount of Valium and would be heavily sedated for some time, but the cluster should be stopped.
Just 2 hours later, Opal suffers 2 more seizures, and its recommended she be admitted into the hospital. She needed to be placed on a constant valium drip for almost 36 hours, this time the clusters were successfully stopped. We were told if she had anymore seizures it could kill her. The estimate was several thousand dollars. Again, we swiped our credit card and prayed. We got home and learned our sister-in-law had set up a fundraiser in Opals name, and within 2 days it raised enough money to cover her two vet visits. I don't know what we would have done with that financial assistance - we're eternally grateful to everyone who contributed towards Opal's medical bills.
We finally brought our baby home. She had suffered 9 seizures in about 24 hours. She had forgotten everything, and it would take almost 30 days to be herself again. We were armed with new meds, a new rescue valium, and ready to push forward. We do not have the money for an MRI but are hoping the new interventions would change everything.
January 16, 2020
Opal suffers 4 seizures, each progressively worse than the previous. We administered her rescue meds, as well as a double dose of her Phenobarbitol. The cluster was stopped but the damage was significant. It will take another 30 days before she is herself again. We begin to feel we're losing our grip on our little girl.
February 18, 2020
Opal suffers from 3 more seizures, all 18 hours apart. After each seizure we administered the max dose of interventions. But the seizures were less intense this cluster, and the damage was seemingly minimal. She recovered quickly and only forgot her map of the house. We were almost out of the cluster when a 4th seizure came, and took everything. Opal could no longer walk, she was knuckling her paws and falling everytime she tried to get up. She forgot her commands, her name, the house. Even in therapeutic range, her body was no longer responding to the medicine.
We let our sweet angel go on February 22, 2020, at 8:00 am. Exactly 1 year from the day we fell in love with her.
Seemingly out of nowhere, our radiant, healthy puppy suffered her first seizure. We were terrified, and heart broken. We took her in to see her favorite Vet, Dr. Mammen at the MCSPCA, who recommended getting labs done to rule out some potential causes. Her labs came back shortly after and ruled out several causes - but didn't answer many questions. It became a watch and wait situation. It takes her a few days to get back to being herself.
October 26, 2019
Opal suffers from two seizures, two hours apart. We take her back to Dr. Mammen and learn she experienced cluster seizures. We start her on a low dose of Phenobarbital. She has forgotten her potty training, and needs to relearn the home. It takes about 2 weeks to relearn everything.
November 19, 2019
Opal suffers from four seizures, all 3 hours apart. Dr. Mammen has a prescription for Valium filled at our local pharmacy. We administer the valium and the cluster stopped. Opal has forgotten her potty training, her commands, the map of the home, even her own name. It takes her a day to relearn her name, 3 days to start playing with her brother and her toys, about a week to relearn the house, and about 3 weeks for her to be house broken again.
December 14, 2019
Opal suffers from 7 seizures between 7:00 am and 12:50am. Several doses of Valium had been administered with no success of stopping the cluster. Dr. Mammen recommends we take her into the Hospital. She is administered IV Valium in the hospital and we were prescribed a stronger liquid valium to be administered rectally. She is also put on Potassium Bromide, or, KBr. It was recommended we get an MRI to better understand what's going on in her brain. We are sent home with Opal after a few hours - about 3:00am. The medical bill was tremendous. We put it on a credit card, but had no idea how we were going to pay it off. But we would do whatever we needed to do for our baby. We were warned she was administered a large amount of Valium and would be heavily sedated for some time, but the cluster should be stopped.
Just 2 hours later, Opal suffers 2 more seizures, and its recommended she be admitted into the hospital. She needed to be placed on a constant valium drip for almost 36 hours, this time the clusters were successfully stopped. We were told if she had anymore seizures it could kill her. The estimate was several thousand dollars. Again, we swiped our credit card and prayed. We got home and learned our sister-in-law had set up a fundraiser in Opals name, and within 2 days it raised enough money to cover her two vet visits. I don't know what we would have done with that financial assistance - we're eternally grateful to everyone who contributed towards Opal's medical bills.
We finally brought our baby home. She had suffered 9 seizures in about 24 hours. She had forgotten everything, and it would take almost 30 days to be herself again. We were armed with new meds, a new rescue valium, and ready to push forward. We do not have the money for an MRI but are hoping the new interventions would change everything.
January 16, 2020
Opal suffers 4 seizures, each progressively worse than the previous. We administered her rescue meds, as well as a double dose of her Phenobarbitol. The cluster was stopped but the damage was significant. It will take another 30 days before she is herself again. We begin to feel we're losing our grip on our little girl.
February 18, 2020
Opal suffers from 3 more seizures, all 18 hours apart. After each seizure we administered the max dose of interventions. But the seizures were less intense this cluster, and the damage was seemingly minimal. She recovered quickly and only forgot her map of the house. We were almost out of the cluster when a 4th seizure came, and took everything. Opal could no longer walk, she was knuckling her paws and falling everytime she tried to get up. She forgot her commands, her name, the house. Even in therapeutic range, her body was no longer responding to the medicine.
We let our sweet angel go on February 22, 2020, at 8:00 am. Exactly 1 year from the day we fell in love with her.
LegacyWe couldn't afford an MRI, and from what our Veterinarians have told us, Opal's situation was unique and an MRI likely would not have changed her outcome. But there are so many pets in need of MRIs who's families simply can not afford them. MRIs give invaluable insight into whats going on in a pet's brain, and allows the medical team to accurately diagnose the Neurological Disorder.
We're certain this would be Opal's wish. Thank you. - John Caponetta Executive Director, The Opal Fund |
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