North Star Foundation

Wow, I am seldom left speechless, but this review did the trick... It is just filled with lies and deliberate deception. I think I know who wrote this by certain clues this post reveals, but I refuse to enter a war of words with someone who hides behind anonymity and slander. Patty Dobbs Gross Executive Director North Star Foundation

There are many inaccuracies in this "review," most of which are easy to prove...one is that we at North Star never paid for Moxie's training and vetting for her first year of life...this is untrue and I have all the cancelled checks in case anyone wants proof. Next, Moxie is an extremely well bred dog that has zero history of diabetes or seizures in her carefully bred line. Her trouble with seizures and diabetes began after she ingested FOUR brownies, and as chocolate is poisonous to dogs this is where I (as well as Moxie's vet) trace to the beginning of her seizures/epilepsy. It is the vet bills relating to this "indiscriminate eating" that we didn't cover, but we did cover the bill to have Moxie's hips cleared as one of the complaints Natalie had was that Moxie had hip dysplasia, which she does not as proved the the x ray they took of her hips at Texas A & M. Here are the words from Texas A & M's report on Moxie, followed by Natalie's own words of how well this placement was doing before Moxie ate the brownies (Moxie also ate part of a plant that caused her to "shake" and Texas A & M notes Moxie's history of "indiscriminate eating.") We do not have the funds and nor is it in our contract to cover vetting for dogs that suffer illness or disability based on indiscriminate eating; our contract is clear we will only cover routine vetting for our dogs' first year, unless a vet determines the cause of the disability is genetically based. This clearly is not the case here, and although I personally like this family very much, I can not take responsibility for what happened when Moxie ate the brownies and perhaps poisonous bush...either one of these documented incidents could have caused the resulting diabetes/seizures. I am not taking any steps to take Moxie away, but cannot certify her as a North Star dog due to her seizures and the necessary medications she must now take to prevent them. I am happy Natalie and her son clearly love Moxie and have no complaints on her end save her seizures/diabetes, and I hope and trust she is working well with Natalie's son inside their home. What happened was clearly an accident, but one where we cannot and will not take financial responsibility for; due to the fact that Natalie won't take any responsibility for what happened with Moxie we will not be making any new placements with her as I would be afraid of history repeating itself, but I do wish her and Moxie well, as I continue to care about Natalie's son and as I understand that he does love Moxie, my hope that at least something positive is coming from this placement. REPORT FROM TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY ON NORTH STAR MOXIE "About 10 days ago, Moxie ate a small portion of brownie. Later that night, noticed that Moxie was polyuric, polydipsic, and began vomiting her water. She brought Moxie in to Dr. Kemble the following morning, where Moxie was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis and pancreatitis. Moxie has since been on 12U of NPH every 12 hours and has not had any further issues with polyuria or polydipsia. She has also been on amoxicillin every 12 hours for her pancreatitis. This past Monday, Moxie was not given her evening dose of insulin to see if her diabetes had resolved after the treatment of her pancreatitis. Her blood glucose was 150 in the morning, and after missing her PM dose, was 326 with signs of polyuria and polydipsia. Her normal insulin regime was then resumed. Moxie is an indoor dog that has a cat as a housemate. She is current on heartworm prevention, and up until the beginning of this month, has only had a medical history of ear infections. She eats Royal Canin Gastrointestinal formula twice a day. Other than the medical issues stated above, Moxie is doing well at home (eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating normally)." From: "Natalie Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 12:33 PM To: "Patricia Gross" Subject: Moxie Good Morning Patty: Moxie is doing wonderfully. She is learning quickly and potty training issues are under control for the most part. I have a couple concerns - Paulie is increasingly frustrated with Moxie living away from us and is saying that she is not his dog since she doesn't live with us. The best bonding time they have is at night during the sleepovers - this is when Moxie is most apt to snuggle and she enjoys a treat on Paulie's bed. We would obviously have more of this time if she were with us full time. As a family I think we are ready for Moxie to live with us full time if you think it is the right time "big picture." It would give me greater opportunities for training during the day and more bonding times for Paulie. Kim is a FANTASTIC puppy raiser and I would love to keep her on as a puppy Aunt if possible :) If you think it is too soon or these issues are minor in the big scheme of things i understand. Natalie= From: "Natalie Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 9:15 AM To: "Patricia Gross" Subject: Re: Moxie > Patty: > Paulie and Moxie are doing well. He likes to have her in public but she is getting too big for him to control. Under adult supervision she does great but she still needs a lot of verbal prompts. So I let him take her to show her off when he wants to and I generally lead her through stores, restaurants, etc. Paulie likes to have Moxie in is room at bedtime and she sleeps in her crate next to his bed all night without any problems. He feeds her all her meals. She will go and nudge him in the morning to get him moving if he doesn't move to the food bowl right away. She sits patiently and waits for him to say "release" before eating. She is a WONDERFUL dog. Definitely still a puppy! She has her puppy moments - eating a hamburger out of Nate's hands (gently of course), we are still working on hopping (not quite jumping up anymore), and general mouthiness. But making great progress. She is a joy. From: "Natalie Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2011 1:02 PM To: "Patricia Gross" Subject: Moxie > Hi Patty: > Here are some photos of Moxie and Paulie at our friends river house. Moxie is a fish! She was in the water at Paulie's side the entire time - it was wonderful. She is such a blessing. > > Natalie From: "Natalie Sutto" Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 8:41 AM To: "Patricia Gross" Subject: Re: Moxie > Patty: > Next week will be great for me to take Moxie to A&M. > > Moxie only ate 4 little 1in by 1in brownies - that is all that was cut and she licked the top. My husband threw out the rest of the pan. > I will cover Dr. Kemble's bills. > > Natalie > On Dec 22, 2011, at 4:05 PM, Patricia Gross wrote: > >> Hi Natalie, >> >> I finally touched base with Dr. Kemble...she is very nice. >> >> She thinks the pan of brownies that Moxie ate is responsible for the diabetes/pancreatitis stuff as her bloodwork from the week before was normal; chocolate is actually poisonous to dogs and this may solve part of the mystery... >> >> She also said she wanted to switch Moxie from Phenobarbitol to a different medication due to her sleepiness, but I don't want this to happen with her at your home due to the incident you described of Moxie snapping when she was seizing...I can't take the chance that Paulie will be scared or hurt if this happens again, so what I'd like to propose is to slowly wean her off the pheno over the weekend and have you take her to Texas A & M early next week to have a second opinion regarding the seizures before we continue to give her monthly medication for these. My vet of a decade plus here in Bolton CT is also going to take a look at her records to see if there is something Dr. Kemble might be missing...I do need to ask if Moxie had any injuries in the time you've had her, including any head injuries but also any incidents that might be relevant to the review that will be taking place in the coming week... >> >> Please let me know if you think these plans sound ok with you, and what day you can take her to Texas A & M next week. >> >> Regarding finances, we will cover the hip dysplasia should they confirm this at Texas A & M, and also cover Texas A & M's bills; you will need to cover the bills from Dr. Kemble related to the appointment after the brownie eating including the bloodwork and any treatments resulting from this episode, OK? >> >> Please let me know your thoughts... >> >> ~ Patty >> From: "Natalie Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 9:07 AM To: "Patricia Gross" Subject: Re: Moxie > Patty: > Any word on an appointment? This week is best since it is a 3 hour drive each way and the boys are off school this week. Dr. Kemble has forwarded all info and spoken with T A&M. > > I am cc-ing Malinda, our trainer so that you may dialogue with her about any questions you may have. > > Dr. Kemble has been a great partner in caring for Moxie the entire time we've had her. Any incidences are documented in her chart. She nibbled on one of our bushes a while back and vomited, had a play date and later in the day started shaking - it is all in her chart. If anything, I call Dr. Kemble too often! > > I look forward to hearing the date and time of Moxie's appointment. > > Natalie From: Natalie Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 3:22 PM To: Patricia Gross Subject: Fwd: Moxie's Discharge Instructions Patty: Attached is Moxie's report from Texas A&M. I believe we are now at a point where we need to discuss next steps. Moxie will definitely require lifelong medical care to include but not limited to anti seizure medicine, insulin and a special diet. Because our son Paulie is so attached to her we feel it is in his best interest to keep Moxie and that it would be extremely damaging to disrupt the bond that they've formed. So we request a lump sum financial assistance for Moxie's future care of $2500. Her medical bills for December alone were over $600. We would take full responsibility for Moxie's future care. Natalie