Buccaneer State Park

Moving along the gulf, I'm now in Waveland, Mississippi, at the Buccaneer State Park, which had been devastated in Hurricane Katrina. Today it is mostly rebuilt, and beautiful and calm (for now). While in New Orleans I had a tornado watch, which made for a not-so-restful night. My emergency management experience ensured I made a plan for what I'd do if it became a warning. Stormy weather is expected to come through again, but it doesn't sound like the area I'm in will get the extreme storms other areas north of here have experienced. 

Right now I mostly hear birds of several varieties and the occasional plop of a fish jumping. Seems I've landed in "no-see-um" country too. 

It was a short and nice drive from New Orleans. I took the local highway, alongside and across the waterways. The view was varied with well-built-looking houses perched high on stilts, lots of pull-offs with people fishing at each one, a number of rotting boats carelessly tossed alongside the highway by previous storms, beautiful egrets almost as numerous as the seagulls back home (and roadkill ranging from bear to armadillo to domestic dogs. Looks like Louisiana doesn't bother with highway cleanup in the area.) Traffic was so light I could slow down to soar alongside and admire a hawk for some distance. 

Charley had a vet check today, and she was satisfied with his progress. He celebrated with the longest walk he's taken so far post-illness around the RV loop. When he's going at a good pace, it's a challenge for me to keep up, and that's such a great improvement. He doesn't have long-term stamina, but that will come in time.  

Charley's Getting Better

Bored & ready to play ball again

I've been in New Orleans for the week of Christmas and Charley, my dog, is getting better each day. He still has an extreme palsy that prevents him from fully controlling his limbs, but he can stand up when he wants to, and until he becomes exhausted, he can walk in a staggering fashion. He's getting bored with the sedentary life. When he has the energy he even tries to run, which often results in him going head-over-heels, either forward or backwards. I try to find a good, soft lawn for his outdoor time.

I haven't spent as much time exploring New Orleans as I had originally expected because of the dog not being well. There have been a couple times that I've put him in the carrier and taken him to Frenchmen Street or Bourbon Street or people-watching along the Mississippi River and outside of Jackson Square. He's small, and over my shoulder, the black bag doesn't attract much attention. In places that have music and don't sell food, I just bring him right in and set him on the floor under my seat. I can't tell if he likes live music as much as I do, but I know he likes to "get in the box" and go places better than being left alone.

A highlight of the visit is that Cheryl Armstrong, who I used to work with, came down to New Orleans from Baton Rouge with her father and we spent time walking and wheeling around the city.

Itinerary: I've got a follow-up appointment for Charley with a veterinary neurologist on Tuesday, then I'll be motoring eastward around the Gulf. New Year's Eve will be in Biloxi, Mississippi and a couple days later I should be on Florida's Emerald Coast.

A Terrifying Journey for Dog

My last blog post was all about the Padre Island beach and what a good day it was. That great day turned into a hellish night and days since. While I was preparing to go to bed I took Charley out for a walk, and once outside, he wouldn't move. There were a ton of crickets making noise in the dark, and who knows what else was out there, so I thought something had him spooked. At that time, I actually couldn't tell if he wouldn't move right or couldn't move right.

It wasn't long before I realized something was really wrong with him. He'd been quiet and clingy that evening, but after I put him up on the bed, he started drooling excessively and was restless and aimlessly moving around. He was stumbling, and I realized I couldn't have him on the elevated bed so I moved some blankets down to the floor. Looking into his eyes, though, I saw that he definitely "wasn't right." At the national park I didn't have an internet connection or reliable cell service, so I finally just decided to pack up and go in to Corpus Christi to see if I could find a 24-hour emergency vet. I'm so glad I did. By the time we arrived, about 40 minutes later, he couldn't even hold up his own weight and his eyes weren't responsive to light.

My best guess was some kind of shellfish poisoning since we'd been on the beach, and at one point I'd seen him pick up a crab with his mouth and I had to get him to drop it. Who knows what he actually ingested. He had also carried around two different pieces of seaweed on the beach. At the vet hospital, they were perplexed, admitted him, did blood tests, got him on IV fluids, and began a lipid treatment for exposure to an unknown toxin. That was Monday, December 7. On Wednesday, when his body and neurological responses weren't responsive to the lipid treatments, they began to discuss our "options." Not good.

The most hopeful (and expensive) option was to take him to a veterinary neurology center, which was expected to have more experience identifying and dealing with neurological disturbances. For some reason, they didn't conclude that his condition was related directly to beach exposure. They suggested imaging, spinal fluid tests, and tests to identify whether it was a soil-borne disease picked up while we were traveling through the Southwest, and talked about possibilities ranging from cancer to encephalitis. The nearest vet neurology center was in Houston. I ended up deciding to do that, and made arrangements to pick him up in the wee hours and make the four-hour drive to Houston in order to get there at 8 a.m. Thursday.

None of their tests showed anything specific, and he was still in really bad shape. They admitted him in their 24-hour care area, I found an RV park as close as possible, then I took a city bus back up to the vet clinic. The veterinarian and vet neurologist had been asking around, looking for potential answers, and were finally informed that there had been a red tide during the month of November on the beach I was at, and it was certainly possible that he could have ingested something that had been exposed to the brevetoxin previously. There weren't any tests to confirm it, and they'd not found it responsive to any specific treatment, they just provide supportive care to an animal if it survives the exposure. After a few more days he started getting a little better.

I'm happy to say that after picking him back up Monday afternoon (December 14) he has been gradually improving. They said it will likely take weeks for the effects of the toxin to fully work through him. He is responsive now and aware of what's going on around him. He's able to eat and drink by himself, though not in the quantity he needs, so I've been hand feeding him too. His episodes of extreme vertigo have tapered way off (originally it seemed like he was having seizures). He still can't support his weight with his limbs, but most of the time he has enough control to hold his head up now, and today he began "scooting" to get around when I set him down on the grass, and when he found a site he was happy with, he went to the bathroom outside. I think he knows what he wants to do, but his body isn't fully cooperating.

This has been a horrible experience, but I am hopeful for his recovery. Charley's days running on the Gulf Coast beaches are unfortunately finished - I can't let that happen again.

Living Room View of the Gulf at Padre Island

I'm at the Padre Island National Seashore for a few days, with off & on cell service (mostly off). It's beautiful here. The beaches here and at Mustang Island, where I just spent a few days, are so much nicer than the only other Texas Gulf beach I'd been to, in Galveston. Charley and I are lazing the days away, being beach bums. Not a bad life!

Living room view