Nizhoni Koda (Beautiful Friend)
10/16/89 to 7/20/97

Nizhoni Koda ("beautiful friend") was indeed a beautiful Saint Bernard and a friend to all, and she died from a toxic reaction to Rimadyl on July 20,1997. It has been too painful to write her story until now - it is still painful because we miss her terribly and her death was so senseless.

As with many large breed dogs, Koda had hip displasia. She had a total hip replacement when she was 5 years old. That helped her immensely but she was still in pain with the other hip, although she would never admit to it. We needed to make her comfortable until she could have that hip replaced, too. So my sister and I thought we were doing her a favor by giving her this new 'miracle drug' for arthritis which was supposedly safer than aspirin. The intent was to provide temporary relief until she had the final surgery.

Koda was started on Rimadyl on June 3, 1997. By July 4th she was in ICU at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Teaching Hospitals. In only about one month our girl had gone from healthy and happy to excruciating pain and fighting for her life. With no previous liver or kidney problems, she was now in liver and kidney failure and DIC. She fought hard and we thought she was winning. Her liver was responding and she was out of DIC. After 14 days in ICU she was on the way to recovery and was sent home only to return to the hospital the next day where she went into cardiac and respiratory arrest and died early Sunday morning July 20,1997. An autopsy was done which showed that she had died of a massive perforated gastric ulcer. Her stomach and intestines were filled with ulcers. So not only did the Rimadyl almost destroy her liver and kidneys, it also destroyed her gastro-intestinal lining.

To give you some idea of what we lost, I want to tell you about Koda. She was a gentle giant - at her prime she weighed about 145# and stood over 6' tall (and she still tried to be a lap dog!). She was the caretaker of our whole household. When I got Sophie, a Lhasa Apso puppy, we introduced her to Koda and there was an immediate bond. It was precious watching this enormous dog care for that tiny, 7-week-old puppy who weighed only 2-3 pounds. We had a mattress on our living room floor for Koda to help protect her joints. Koda would lay very still and let Sophie romp on and around her, chewing on ears, hanging on lips or whatever - essentially, Koda willingly gave her whole body to be Sophie's own personal "jungle gym." When Sophie got a little older Koda sensed that she could take a little discipline and would place a paw over Sophie's back whenever she got out of line and immediately Sophie would settle down. It was a long time before Koda would even get on her feet while Sophie was present. Knowing Koda, I'm sure she didn't want to risk stepping on the puppy. Sophie has since become an AKC Champion.

When Sophie had 2 puppies, Koda mothered them, too. One of the boys, Mac, suffered a head injury while racing around the backyard with his brother and developed a seizure disorder. That was when we discovered that Koda, ever the caregiver, was also a "sensor." That means she could predict when Mac would have a seizure before it happened and would bark in that bark that could only mean "come here right now!!" She would be so concerned that she would hover close at hand and would even have worry lines in her forehead until the seizure was over. Since Mac's seizure disorder was quite severe, in that he had cluster seizures, it was important to prevent the clusters from even starting. Koda's sensing ability and warning behavior allowed us to intervene with medication before the clusters began. While Koda was there, Mac's seizures were under control. Then the Rimadyl killed Koda. Without Koda to sense and warn, we had no way of knowing when Mac would start seizing and his condition worsened. The only substitute for Koda was higher levels of Phenobarbital, which is very hard on the body. Mac died 16 months after Koda. He was only 3 1/2 years old. Prior to this, Mac was a show dog on his way to becoming a champion like his mother and his brother (who had just finished as a champion).

Even when Koda was in the hospital in critical condition she continued to care for those around her. One night a little Yorkie was brought into ICU, unconscious. Koda, fighting for her own life, nevertheless focused immediately on the Yorkie. She would bark to alert the staff whenever the Yorkie needed help. Finally Koda just kept barking until the staff put the Yorkie on a blanket next to her. Koda stayed awake all night nursing and caring for that Yorkie. The next morning the Yorkie was much improved and could be put back into its own cage. That is just one of many stories the staff would tell us about when we went to visit Koda several times each day. We were not surprised. That was the Koda we knew and loved.

Koda loved to go for rides in the car and every evening I would get her into our old Jeep that we kept just for her and off we would go for a ride around the neighborhood. I still haven't had the heart to wipe all of her Saint Bernard drool off of the windows. It has been so hard to deal with her death. She was one of the most gentle and caring creatures God every put on this earth and we all, including Sophie, miss her still. On the day we buried Koda, Sophie was entered in a dog show (it was our Lhasa club's specialty weekend). This was Sophie's debut as a finished champion. She showed her little heart out, showing the best she had ever shown, and took Best of Breed over almost 40 Lhasas from all over the country, including the #1- and #5-ranked Lhasas in the country! That meant Sophie would be in the Group competition. So we went to the pet cemetery (about 4 miles from the show site) for Koda's burial and then back to the show in time for Sophie's debut in the Group ring. She was amazing and took a Group 2, beating out 4 dogs that were the #1 of their breed in the country. While many may think we're crazy, we're convinced that she did it for her 'mom' and inseparable companion, Koda.

Just a few months ago we had Sophie at the University of Minnesota Vet. Hospital and she happened to see a Saint Bernard walking across the lobby. She just about went crazy, lunging on her leash, wagging her tail and just about turning herself inside out. We walked over to the dog and when Sophie saw that it wasn't Koda she was so devastated. Her head and tail dropped - it was as if her whole little being just shriveled. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen.

When Rimadyl killed Koda it didn't destroy a piece of property, as the legal system would have us all believe, it killed an important and valuable member of our family.