Life is an adventure. Sadly, death is a part of it. A month ago, my dog Toby died in Doha. I believe that the circumstances that led to his death were preventable and I hope I can help prevent this tragedy from happening to others. A few days ago I wrote a piece for my personal blog as a warning to dog owners in Doha. Here, I’m going to summarize the story, as it’s a long one, because while writing the long piece was cathartic for me, the important warnings are brief.
The conclusions I have drawn are based on circumstantial and anecdotal evidence, and the following opinions are just that - my opinions.
About 45 days before our move from Doha to Dubai I contacted the pet relocation agent who had handled the import of our dogs to Doha the year before to do the export. An international move with pets is complex, so I also hired an agency in Dubai to facilitate things in the UAE as well. The agent in Doha would handle the final pre-flight vet check, arrange their flight and take them to the airport and get them checked in.
Timber and Toby were each seen by 3 different veterinarians (at one clinic) to ensure that they were healthy enough for the trip, that their vaccinations were current and to have their weights checked.
We didn’t want to have the dogs in a boarding kennel for long, either in Doha or Dubai. I found the only hotel in Dubai to accept large dogs. The dogs would be kenneled in Doha for three days after we left, then fly to Dubai. The pet relocation agent has boarding facilities, and they would stay there.
When the agent came to the house to pick up the dogs we learned that the airline she had anticipated flying them on had rejected the shipment as the travel crates were too big. The agent said she would check other airlines and if she couldn’t get them a flight, she would arrange to have them driven from Doha to Dubai the next week.
We left for Dubai confident that the dogs would be joining us soon.
Three weeks passed and we lost confidence in the agents ability to find transport for the dogs. During the time our dogs were stranded in Doha, most airlines instituted a ban on flying short-nosed breeds, and Boxers were on the list. Since it was only an hour long flight, and the dogs had made the much longer trip from the U.S. a year before, we petitioned several airlines for special permission and offered to waive any liability in the event of injury or death. We were turned down unless we were willing to wait until the end of October.
A friend in Doha offered to drive the dogs to Dubai. We had been asking the agent to move forward with procuring the necessary documents and to make arrangements for ground transportation for weeks, to no avail. As I started researching the requirements, I contacted our relocation agent in Dubai to find out if they had any experience with getting dogs through KSA. They referred me to a vet in Doha who might know more.
When I emailed this vet, he didn’t give me any information, just said that he could get the dogs to Dubai. I had heard that before and let him know that we had exhausted all other avenues, thank you very much. He replied that he still thought he could get them to us.
Mali, our former housekeeper, visited the dogs periodically. Each time, she’d call in tears - she didn’t like the people at the kennel, it was too hot (although supposedly air conditioned), the dogs hadn’t had a bath - and we contacted the agent about these reports and she reassured us that the dogs were being well cared for. She was actually quite offended. Mali tends toward the melodramatic and we thought that she was over-reacting. We also knew that the dogs wouldn’t be getting the same sort of attention she was used to lavishing on them - baths twice a week, long walks, and the like, spoiling them, really - at a boarding kennel.
But when Mali called again in tears saying she’d had to tighten Toby’s collar because he was “too skinny” and that he wouldn’t make a “happy face,” I had had enough and told my husband that we should contact this vet and find out what he could do.
The vet was out of the country, so we corresponded via email. He said would get the dogs to us, either by plane or he would personally drive them to Dubai. He wanted the dogs moved to his facility until he was back in Qatar and could make arrangements.
Friends in Doha picked them up from the kennel and took them to the vet clinic. Late Thursday afternoon the dogs checked in. Although we had applied Advantix and Preventic collars to the dogs prior to their boarding, as instructed by the agent, the vet was adamant that the dogs be tick-free to enter his facility, as he was aware that the kennel had a tick problem and he didn’t want to bring that problem to his place. I had asked the agent to make sure the dogs were treated for ticks before our friends picked them up. Nonetheless, Toby had a couple of ticks on arrival. They were removed and both dogs treated with another dose of Advantix.
The next day I got a call from the clinic that Toby was very ill. He was feverish and dehydrated and tests indicated a severe kidney infection. There was little change over the next day, and on Sunday morning I was informed that the latest test results showed pancreatitis. They began treatment for that as well. Late Sunday afternoon, Toby died. He was too ill to respond to treatment.
Within a week of Toby’s death, Timber was on a Qatar Airways flight, and finally made it to Dubai.
About 2 weeks after her arrival, Timber got sick. No appetite, wasn’t drinking, fever, lethargy. I took her to a clinic in the neighborhood and initially they suspected that her allergy medicines were upsetting her stomach. When she didn’t improve, she was admitted to hospital for IV fluids and more tests. The test results indicated pancreatitis and a low white blood cell count. It was the one month anniversary of Toby’s death.
A couple days into her hospitalization, the pancreatitis was improving, but the WBC count wasn’t. The doctor ran a test for a tick-borne illness. It was positive. Treatment was started. The doctor believes that the tick-borne illness and it’s affect on the blood is the likely cause of the pancreatitis. After a 5-day hospitalization, Timber will be coming home tonight.
If you are relocating a pet to or from Doha, or you need to board your pet there, I’d like to offer my observations and opinions. I would hate for other pet owners to go through the emotional trauma and financial expense that we’ve been through.
If you use a relocation company for import or export, make sure that they make the necessary arrangements well in advance. I thought that with more than a months notice, the flight arrangements would be made well in advance. We should have known before the dogs were picked up that there was a problem.
If you need to fly a short-nosed dog, be sure to look into the airline regulations. Some change seasonally.
There are a number of serious tick-borne illnesses. When animals congregate, these ticks and the diseases they carry are easily transferred. Although our dogs were treated with preventatives, the tick situation at this boarding kennel is obviously such that close inspection for and immediate removal of ticks is required. Ticks can also carry diseases which can infect humans.
Ask your vet for a referral if you need to board your pet. Had I known that the boarding facility had a reputation, things may have been much different.
I find it hard to imagine that a caring staff, knowledgable about animal care, could have missed the signs that Toby was in distress - fever, lethargy, laboured breathing, no appetite, not drinking water. If they didn’t see it, I don’t think they were paying attention. Toby suffered. His was not a quick, painless death.
Judging by my direct experience of Timber’s illness and it’s parallels with Toby’s, I believe that he was infected by a tick bite at the kennel, which may have led to the pancreatitis attack. The staff should be more vigilant in keeping the dogs tick-free. They obviously know that there is a heavy tick-infestation and they should know how dangerous it is to the animals in their care.
I learned that when Toby was admitted at the vet clinic he had lost 6 kilos in three weeks. He had been put on a diet by his regular vet. We gave instructions that he should be fed according to that plan, hoping for a loss of about a kilo per month. He lost 2 kilos per week, a clear, obvious indication of something wrong, and no one there did anything. No one other than Mali said anything to us, and by then it was too late.
The cascade of events leading to Toby’s death couldn’t be predicted. But looking back there are clear points where disaster might have been averted. This story is full of if-only moments. If only the agent had tried to book the flight sooner...the delay in Doha might not have happened. If only the tick problem was handled better...Toby and Timber may not have gotten sick. If only someone had said to me “Your best friend isn’t feeling well” in time for me to help...
In Timber’s case, a series of serendipitous coincidences may have saved her life. A large dose of antibiotic in Doha. A course of antibiotics and steroids in Dubai. Things which, at the time seemed unrelated, have turned out to be small miracles.
For more information about this, or if you’d like my personal opinion about where to board your pets in Doha, please see the full story on my blog. I can be reached through the comments section of the blog - http://daringadventuregirl.weebly.com/1/post/2011/10/a-warning-for-people-with-dogs-in-doha1.html
