Sadie

We have a little black dog.  She's a Havanese poodle cross.  She has been part of our family since she was 9 weeks old.  Like any animal, Sadie has become a member of our family and we are all quite fond of her.  Earlier this spring, Sadie had a seizure.  We had kind of hoped it was a bit of a fluke but over the course of time, she was having more and more of them.  After numerous trips to the vet to sort out her phenobarb levels, it seemed like we had them under control.  So we thought.  She is recently began having at least one seizure per week and sometimes more. 
About three weeks ago, we noticed that she was having lots of *wet* accidents on the floor.  Not just the odd one but multiple times a day.  We were beginning to think this was a neurological response to the seizures and that we would possibly be thinking about her quality of life.  One morning, she had four accidents before 11:00 and so I called the vet.  Thankfully, our vet was in and could see Sadie that afternoon.  After doing an examination and taking all my concerns into consideration, the doctor went to take a urine sample to see if Sadie had a bladder infection.  Because she had gone at home, there was nothing to sample but the vet requested an x-ray because she could feel something in that area.  As it turns out, Sadie has a stone in her bladder.  This stone is the size of a large cherry.  Now inside a little 11 pound dog, that is a pretty good sized rock.  Our options were few.  One being surgery to remove it (not a cheap fix let me say) or a more... final procedure. 
I came home with Sadie and explained it to the kids.  Three sets of tear filled eyes looked at me and Andrea finally voiced "well, you ARE going to do the surgery right Mom?"  I told her that I'd talk to Dad and get back to them about what we thought.  Lying in bed that night, Doug and I talked about our options (few as they were).  Since we determined that the peeing in the house is most frustrating and that we feel we can manage the seizures, we decided to go ahead with the operation.  Sadie is still really young and as I said before, a member of the family.  I also told the kids that because of the cost, we would have to give up all extras like eating out, coffee runs and other treats.  They were all very eager to comply. 
Although this surgery will fix the bladder problem, it won't cure the seizures.  She is still an epileptic dog and we will (for now) continue to medicate and manage this issue. 
Who knew a little bundle of black fluff would work her way into our hearts so deeply...