The owner of a service dog that died after a stay at the PetSmart hotel in Etobicoke is learning more about her health.
As of July 20th, lab results have come back indicating definitively that Aspen, a four-year-old black lab, had a pre-existing condition known as Myasthenia Gravis which is an autoimmune disease.
"The clinical symptoms are often difficult for an owner to first start to spot. There are two forms of Myasthenia Gravis, a congenital form and an acquired form. In this case it would be acquired because it wasn't there from birth. Basically, what you see is a weakness, for a large part, in the muscles. Largely, you'll see it in the back legs. They'll get weaker, stiffer, and you'll actually see this clinical symptom get worse as the day moves on. They'll actually have weakness in their neck and around their head, they'll have a weakened gag reflex. Most importantly, they'll actually have a weakness in their esophagus; this is the tube that leads from their mouth to their stomach and it's made of some muscle and that tube will start to bow out. Instead of it being a nice tube it will start to bow out and as food passes down to it, it will actually collect in the tube rather than go into the stomach," explains Dr. Clayton Greenway, veterinarian and host of Animal House on NEWSTALK 1010, who was not involved in Aspen’s care.
Greenway says it causes regurgitation and can cause serious problems."When the food comes up from the esophagus it will be breathed into the lungs and they can get Aspiration Pneumonia."
The lab report showed Aspen also developed Aspiration Pneumonia. "In 50 per cent of cases that can be fatal," says Greenway.
Greenway says Myasthenia Gravis can be treated. "Even just resting a dog will improve it a little bit. Eventually you have to treat it with either medication to control the immune system from attacking these areas or it's treated with medication to improve the function of the muscles, neurologically. The problem is the treatment is often not implemented until late because the symptoms are so subtle, they aren't really recognized, and it's an uncommon disease process so it's very hard to diagnosis or think of as a rule out for a veterinarian. You will often see chronic vomiting but you often don't get around to this diagnosis for some time."
Aspen was left in the care of PetSmart for a week and was given a routine examination by a vet four days before being dropped off by her owner, Corey Dixon. He says there were no signs of any issues and the vet declared her a "healthy dog."
It was while he was away that Aspen became ill, Dixon says, and claims PetSmart never contacted him or their on-call vet despite its Services Agreement declaring “that “in the unlikely event your Pet becomes ill or injured, … we will attempt to notify you (the owner) or your Agent at the telephone numbers you provide..”. If none can be reached, PetSmart "at its sole discretion, may engage the services of a veterinarian and/or administer medicine or give other necessary attention" to the animal. If the situation is considered critical by PetSmart, the agreement authorizes PetSmart to take the animal to a veterinarian first before contacting the Owner.
Dixon claims he was advised by PetSmart staff that Aspen began vomiting two days before she was picked up by him and that PetSmart never contacted him or a veterinarian.
PetSmart failed to respond to numerous earlier requests by Newstalk 1010 but told other media that an internal investigation was underway and initial findings indicate that its employees followed all policies and procedures. PetSmart also later indicated that vets have determined that the dog had a pre-existing condition unrelated to the week long stay at PetSmart. That finding was confirmed on July 20, 2018.