To my Montana, my furry angel I love you and miss you so much !!! I was blessed to have you in my life, and you will always be in my heart.

Montana was my soul puppy, my best friend and now he is my angel.

From the first time I saw him in a pet shop window on my way to work, my life had changed. I just knew I had to bring him home, he looked like a big, giant, fluffy, stuffed animal with the most soulful blue eyes and the biggest paws you could ever see. I knew buying from a pet shop was not something to do, but I could not resist him. I called the day before to ask if the store could hold him for me, I had to put a credit card down and I did. When I got to the pet store the next day a man had just left who wanted to buy him and I was so happy he was already mine. So on February 21, 1994 I brought my best friend home. They called him' Smokey' in the pet store, because they said he loved to sing and they would miss him, they said they felt like they were in a jazz lounge. Montana did sing all the way home in the cab and made us all laugh. He was the most beautiful dog, with such a beautiful personality.

Montana loved to play, he loved the park and the lake and to jump under the water falls. I used to fill up a small pool for him in the summer so he could cool off. He loved kids and playing hide and seek and a game we called fishing. He just loved being around people. Montana also loved getting his paws rubbed and massaged, he would howl (woo wooo) and give me his paw and just lay there while I rubbed them. He always knew when I was down and always made me smile. Montana would always give the greatest hugs. I would just lay on the floor with him and he would wrap his paw around my neck and just pull me in. I miss his hugs so much. People always stopped me on the street to tell me how beautiful he was, and his sweet personality made him even cuter.

Montana was a big husky he was a little over 27” tall at the shoulders and 95 pounds, he grew very fast as a puppy. Which is way my Vet said his back leg was bad. She had said he grew to fast for the blood to circulate through properly, so it was a little weak. She said give him Bufferin when he is in pain.

As Montana got older he would favor his hind leg more, especially when the weather got bad. When I took him in for his annual check up at 6 years old, my Vet said he was in great shape. How I wish I would have left it at that. Instead I asked about his hind leg, I told her how he favors it once in a while especially going up and down stairs, or if the weather was bad and if there was something I could give him to make it more comfortable for him when he needs it.

My Vet handed me a small envelope with the words 'Rimadyl' written on it and a 100 mg twice a day. I asked if there were any side effects or anything I should worry about and my Vet said "no, its perfectly safe." The only thing I had to look for was if it didn't’t seem to work call her and she will give me something else.

I did not get any warning of side effects, no client information sheet, and no blood test was done.

I gave Montana the first weeks supply of Rimadyl and he seemed like he was doing well, I called the Vet, and told her he was almost out of the pills she told me to come in and pick up some more. I went in and the Receptionist had my packet of Rimadyl in an envelope again, no warning, no client information sheet nothing. The receptionist took my money for the pills and I was on my way.

One night Montana woke me up in the middle of the night to go outside, I let him in the yard and he took a long time. I went to check on him and I saw he was eating leaves and threw up. Montana did not eat earlier in the evening or want treats. I stopped the medication thinking maybe it’s too strong for his stomach. Montana seemed to be better. I stopped the medication and figured he would be ok and he seemed better.

Then Montana just got worse and very quickly. It all happened so fast.

He was lethargic, had trouble walking than went completely paralyzed, he was vomiting yellow and his eyes were yellow and he was urinating on himself. It was Labor Day weekend, my Vet was closed and I was home alone with him. I called the emergency hospital and they said to get him in right away, I asked them over the phone about the Rimadyl and they just said get him help. I don’t drive and Montana was 95 lbs and could not move on his own. I called pet ambulances begging for help on there message services. Just than my mom and stepfather had come home and we carried Montana out on a comforter to the emergency hospital.

It was there that I first learned about Rimadyl and the effects it could have. I thought once Montana was there he would be ok, but that’s when I learned that he might not make it! I was DEVASTATED, we all were. They told me to go home and they would give him fluids and to call in and check on him and that they would call me if anything had changed. I called when I got home and before I went to bed and they said he was the same but stable.

At 2:34am the phone rang and my heart fell. Montana was getting worse, he had several seizures and they said I can come in. We all went to see Montana and I brought his favorite stuffed Monkey. In my heart, I knew it was time. When we went in they said he had two more seizures by time we got there. He was breathing hard and not fully conscious, but he knew we were there.

We knew it was time to give him peace, and we all held him while he crossed the bridge.
My life had just changed forever.

My stepsister looked up Rimadyl on her computer at work and that’s when she found all these stories on the Senior Dog Project website. I didn't have a computer at the time, or have any Internet access. I was shocked at all that I was reading.

In the days and weeks that followed, (besides my terrible loss) was one of the longest, hardest battles of my life.

My vet has treated me terribly....... refusing to perform the necropsy. The emergency hospital said they could not do it either. They were refusing to do an autopsy and told me "things happen, get over it" and offered me grief counseling. I insisted and fought hard and got them both done. I could never get the autopsy results writing, though to this day.

Pfizer tried to offer me a check when this first happened, as a gesture of goodwill;
all I had to do was sign the release form.
I never signed.
The Adverse Reaction form that Pfizer filed with the FDA for Montana has wrong information in it, that I have been trying to get changed as well.

Part of my experience was in The Wall Street Journal Article by Chris Adams. "Drug Bites Man: Most Arthritic Dogs Do Great on This Pill, Except Those That Die" on March 13, 2000. The fight still continues, as so many of us try to inform dog owners everyday, so no one has to experience a loss like we have.

It was the most painful way to see my Montana suffer and my life is not the same since.
The guilt I feel for giving him these pills, especially when he did not want to take them, it was like he knew.

I want to thank Jean Townsend and her wonderful Doghealth2 list at Yahoo groups, Senior Dogs Project and this site, for all the hard work they do and to make sure our dogs did not die or suffer in vein. For all the wonderful support they have given me to get through this. Through this tragedy I have met the most wonderful people and this is how I got through.

To my Montana, my furry angel,
I love you and miss you so much !!!
I was blessed to have you in my life,
and you will always be in my heart.

Angela Giglio – Walker