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Brindal: Living Life to the Fullest
Brindal has seen a lot of life and America in his nearly 17 years. Rescued
from the Atlanta Humane Society in 1991, the mostly Cairn Terrier had only
one word on his tag: “brindle.” His owner Andy Mack quickly named
him Brindal, like brindar in Spanish and Portuguese. It means to enjoy life
to the fullest. Since then, Andy and Brindal have lived in Miami, Manhattan,
and Washington, DC, where they moved in 2002 with Andy’s new wife, Amy.
Andy says: “For the first 14+ years of his life my dog had been the picture of health. … Then, one day, almost out of the blue, something was wrong. Brindal was suddenly very ill.
“We took him to the vet, but they had no idea what to do. He had shakes, and wasn’t himself. He did this funny sneezing thing. He was suddenly not indestructible, and we were terrified. It was recommended that we speak to a specialty vet.”
That’s when the Macks connected with Dr. Kathy Arrington, a small animal internist at Dogs and Cats Veterinary Referral in Bowie, Maryland. Dr. Arrington quickly suspected Brindal was suffering from an uncommon neuromuscular disorder called myasthenia gravis (MG). Since MG is fairly rare, it's not the first disease a veterinarian will suspect when a pet seems less mobile. The Macks took the doctor’s advice and began treatment immediately.
“Brin stayed in intensive care,” Andy explains. “We visited
him, and it shocked us both how frail he looked. He had IV’s and casts,
and it scared me a lot to see my bounce-through-life alter ego suddenly looking
weak and afraid. The hospital put him on medicine, and he came back—literally
from the brink of death.”
Brindal is happy, well, and living in Washington, DC, with Andy and Amy. He’s in full remission—and still hikes for hours at a time with Andy in a park close to their home.
In Andy’s words: “We will always be grateful for the amazing work the medical team did and continues to do, but we were lucky. I know that not everyone can afford the treatment, and I know a lot of research is needed to beat this disease. That’s why, in honor of our miracle dog, we wanted to support the ACVIM Foundation and hope other people will, too. More research and more resources will help the ACVIM Foundation get everyone’s miracle dogs back in the park—where they belong.”
