A dog named Chloe is getting a second chance to live a normal life after being diagnosed with a rare genetic disease.
“I don’t want to give up on her,” Chloe’s owner, Julie Boudreau, said Monday after meeting with her.
“She is a proud Canadian and has everything she needs to be happy and healthy.”
The dog was diagnosed with hypothyria, a rare disease caused by a gene mutation.
The condition causes the thyroid gland to produce less thyroid hormone.
“If you have it, it’s the only thing that makes you happy,” Boud, a former dog trainer, said.
The genetic disorder is rare, but the breed is protected under the Montreal Veterinary Medical Association’s (MVMMA) breed ban, which includes dogs that have been in a breeder’s care for more than a year.
It has been a struggle to find a new breeder for Chloe.
“It was hard for me to get in touch with people, to find out who was going to do it and it was just a matter of waiting for them to come in,” Baudreau said.
Boud said the breed ban is not just for her, it is for her dogs and for Chloe’s parents.
“The only way I could think of to give Chloe back is to go to a breder that has a B.A. in dog medicine, a Bachelors in veterinary medicine, and is not a B-Vet,” Bautreau said, referring to the B.S. in Veterinary Medicine program in veterinary school.
Bautoup says Chloe is in good health and has no health issues.
Baud is also taking Chloe to the Vet Clinic for evaluation.
“We have her in a crate and we’ll see what happens,” Bous said.
She added that if Chloe can get the right type of test and the right doctor, the dog could have a much better chance at recovery.
The MVMMA has taken the unusual step of requiring veterinarians to have a BSc in veterinary pathology.
“For a lot of people, they just say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t make any difference,'” Bouds said.
“You need to have an understanding of how the disease is progressing, what is the prognosis and the likelihood of getting better.”
Boud has had a hard time finding a breacher willing to take Chloe in.
“There’s no one that would do it for me,” Boad said.
“[Chloe] is a great dog.
She is a good family member and she will go through any hardship.”