| Kansas Citys Dolly RN, CGC, TDI, HIT "Casey" 1992-2009 |
| Sixteen years. What can happen in that time? In that time a teenager became a mature woman. In that time there were births, deaths, marriages, divorces, career changes; hurricanes.......all the ups and downs we experience in this life. Throughout this journey from childhood to adulthood I had the honor of sharing my life with an extraordinary little dog. I had no idea that our journey together would last so long or end with her becoming part of medical research for a disease I had never heard of. |
| Unlike many who have to give up beloved pets when they graduate High School I got to take mine with me. For the next sixteen years she went everywhere I did. She was there for the good moments and the bad, the happy and the sad. Throughout the years she did more than just go places with me as my special friend. She did a little herding, obedience, agility, she accompanied my boss on his bird watching trips when I worked a few summers at the sea lab, she was a therapy dog for the local nursing home, she served as our demo dog for many events that I attended with my local kennel club. |
| I knew one day I would have to say good bye but being caught up in life and all it's drama it was easy to forget that time was not standing still and Casey was getting old. I am blessed that Casey was a quality Sheltie and passed all her genetic testing. She produced two litters of puppies and those puppies have produced puppies and so on. I am blessed that Casey lived sixteen years, many Shelties do not live this long. I am blessed that throughout her life Casey had relatively no health problems and the same is true of her offspring and their decedents. |
| During the summer of 2008 Casey began having trouble walking. Two veterinarians diagnosed her as having Degenerative Myelopathy. Treatments were started to slow the progression of the disease. One month after her sixteenth birthday Casey became the first Sheltie to be diagnosed with this disease by the University of Missouri. UM is doing research on this disease and a DNA test has been developed to identify affected, carriers and non-carriers of the gene in dogs. Prior to Casey no Sheltie had ever tested affected. This disease is similar to ALS & MS in humans and the things UM learns will benefit more than just dogs I am sure. |
| No one wants to be the first to say my dog has a terrible genetic disease. By standing up and doing so I wonder if people will avoid Casey's decedents. I hope not. I hope that by standing up and saying my dog has this disease that other owners will come forward and more Shelties will be tested. I hope that people will remember Casey not just for being the first of her breed to be diagnosed with this disease but as one of the tools used to help us breed away from this disease and develop new treatments for those who have it. I hope that people will remember that Casey had good genes, genes worth passing on and will not ostracize her decedents. I hope that my breeding program will continue and that I will indeed be 80+ one day with a decedent of Casey in my life. |
| Casey's long life and contribution to science would not have been possible without the compassion of two veterinarians, Dr Hightman of Jacksonville FL and Dr Windley of Cantonment FL. Dr Hightman treated Casey while I was in Jacksonville and because of him, and help from the Duffeys, I was able to get her back home. Dr Windley put up with countless phone calls and tears and made it possible for me to help the University of Missouri get the samples they needed. I would also like to thank the University of Missouri for all they have done to assist pet owners and breeders who have dogs with and decedents of dogs with this terrible disease. |
| For more information on Degenerative Myelopathy and to get your dog tested please see UMs website Back to Casey's Page |
