Sadie - Part II

A dog's purpose in life is simple to live in the moment pleasing you.  They are there to do nothing more than love unconditionally.  They are faithful beyond measure and don't see any of the faults that us complex humans do.

As I had talked about in a previous post, our dog had become sick.  For nearly a year, she has been suffering from seizures.  To see a tiny 10 pound body shake and jerk around uncontrollably is heartbreaking.  The post-seizure times were just as hard as Sadie would look lost, stunned, had a temporary loss of vision and often relived herself on the floor.  As time went on, it was taking her longer to recover.  In addition to the seizures, Sadie was incontinent.  She was having accidents at least once, often more, in a day.  This was humiliating for her and frustrating for me.  In every attempt to help Sadie, we put her on anti-seizure medications, a surgery to try to help the incontinence and then hormone pills for the urinating.  It seemed that she was not going to be the textbook case where the medications work for 95% of dogs.  It baffled the vet as well.

Yesterday, I took Sadie to the vet again.  We talked for well over half an hour of what to do.  It sounded like she no longer though Sadie was epileptic which meant that the anti seizure medications would not work.  This is why she was still having 15 or more seizures a month, even though she was on meds for them.  The vet had suggested that Sadie possibly had a brain tumor which had a 30% chance of being discovered through a CT or MRI.  There was also the 70% that nothing would be found out.

At 5:10, I made the heartbreaking decision to end Sadie's pain.  (and the tears come again)  It was very painful to sign the release form... my hands shook terribly and my signature was hardly mine.  I will be forever grateful to my mom-in-law for driving me there, staying with me in the room and in the end, holding Sadie on my behalf.  I really couldn't do it.  So I sat in the car, cried and waited for it to be over.

.............
On November 11, 2007, my dad's dog Misty had a litter of puppies.  Being the dog lover that I am, we frequently visited their house, playing these pups.  There was one girl.  She was fiesty, spunky and let it be known that just because she was a girl, her brother were not about to push her around.

It didn't take long for this sweetheart to wiggle her way into our lives and become a member of our family. 

• She loved to chase her pink Kong.  In a book we read about her breed was that if you threw the toy 100 times, they would retrieve it 101.  She was extremely playful and *fetch* was her favorite game.
• She needed to lay on your left side.  Even if there wasn't really room on the chair, she would worm her furry little behind in and get comfy.  
• She was kennel trained and I have never regretted that.  She loved being in it to sleep and it was nice to know that she (and my house) were safe when we went out.
• Andrea was her favorite kid.  And Andrea adored her.  In the end, Andrea faithfully and without complaint cleaned up the messes.  She is a dog person and I can see her doing something with her love of dogs in the future.  
• Sadie wasn't fond of Sarah.  Perhaps Sarah's inability to be gentle (tight muscles due to CP) was intimidating.  Maybe it was Sarah's poor balance that made her to be unpredictable.  Whatever it was, despite Sarah doing her best to love Sadie, it was not a wonderful two-way relationship.
• Me?  I was the one who picked her out of the litter.  I did 95% of the housebreaking and training.  I did most of the vet appointments as well.  In addition to loving her as a dog, I was her "mom".  I did the mom things for her.  Feeding, shelter, medications, doctors, groomer appointments.  Her and I were usually the first awake in the mornings and she'd often finish my coffee if I left it where she could reach.
• She didn't like to eat much off the floor.  Nothing soft or mushy.  Except Kraft dinner.  And as of about 2 weeks ago, she suddenly liked bananas.  Go figure. 
• She was faithful to the end and I know how disappointed in herself she was after she had an accident.  
• She will be forever missed by us.

The vet told me that we had done more for Sadie than many people do.  Including a surgery right before Christmas.  We tried medications.  We tried diapers.  I feel like we tried it all.  She had a wonderful four years with us and we will continue to dwell on the happy memories she provided for us.