Introductions

So I've finally caved and started this blog.

I actually meant to start one awhile back when my dog Bondi got diagnosed with Protein Losing Enteropathy (PLE) last year, as I was struggling to determine the cause and a solution, (more about that later, maybe) but, I never did find the time.

I suppose that part of the reason I didn't do this sooner is because I regularly update and maintain a blog as part of my full-time job at Epoch Design. But after months of following friends' blogs, it seems I've been converted! We'll see how this goes...

Anyway, a little about me: I was born and raised in the greater Seattle area. Went to college at Duke University. Wasn't too fond of the whole "East Coast" thing, so here I am. Living and loving life in Seattle, Washington.

Bondi's Story: I have an amazing dog Bondi - he's a pretty lucky pup. I adopted him from the animal shelter when he was just 8 weeks old. Apparently his mom was a papered Doberman who got knocked up by the neighborhood tramp, so Bondi and his littermates got dropped at the pound when they were just 5 weeks old so the mom would go back in heat. UGH.. Anywayyy so Bondi was my special bastard puppy, named after Bondi Beach in Australia where I lived for several months in college. He was such a cute puppy!! Don't you think?

He got very sick last year and lost about 40 lbs in just a few months. Vets quickly determined he had "PLE" but thought the cause was irritable bowel disease, triggered by severe food allergies. So I bought all the expensive foods, etc. etc. but Bondi just kept losing weight. Months on a RX diet, multiple blood panels, an endoscopy, plasma blood transfusion, and several thousand dollars in cumulative vet bills later, Bondi looked like this:

Now I've left out all of the gory details of Mr. Bondi's affliction, but lets just say it wasn't fun. He couldn't keep anything in him and it was coming out both ends pretty violently about ten times a day. Vets all told me it was time to put him down, but I wasn't ready. As luck would have it (or the Grace of God?) I chanced upon one specialist who said it was a "long shot" but he just might have Lymphangiectasia, an intestinal disease that is a rare cause of PLE.

Anyway, long story short she was right! What does this mean for me? Bondi can't have ANY FAT in his diet. He can eat only a combination of chicken breast, turkey breast, tuna, non-fat cottage cheese, tofu, rice and potatoes. Now I shop at Costco and Cash & Carry pretty exclusively. It's pretty expensive, but it's worth it to have a happy and healthy and alive dog!

Well, that's the background on Mr. Bondi. More about me and my life later!