Sunshine Daydream
I've been avoiding writing this post. But Maggie deserves her story be told to the very end... and that's what this is: her end.
On Tuesday, June 27th Josh and I noticed Maggie was kinda sluggish later in the afternoon. She didn't eat her dinner. No cause for serious alarm yet. We said we'd see how she was at breakfast.
Wednesday the 28th, no change. As a matter of fact her sluggish behavior had escalated to lethargic. Again, she didn't want her meal. When she and I went outside to toss the frisbee around she lay down in the grass and didn't want to play. This had NEVER happened before. Ever. I thought, "Maybe it's a doggy cold" so I took to Google to look up symptoms. One tip was to check the color of her gums - if they are light pink or white a vet should be sought immediately. Her gums were white. Off to the vet we went. Kids in tow.
We couldn't see our usual vet, Dr Williams, but Dr Feller was in. She proved to be just as kinda and thorough as Dr Williams. She found reason for blood work, and that, along with an x-ray, showed us two masses on her spleen - one large, one smaller. It was recommended to be removed asap.
At this point I'm calling in Josh to hear the Dr's advice over speaker phone. We agreed to do as the Dr was recommending. Maggie went into surgery to remove the masses. They would be sent off to biopsy to see what action was to be taken after recovery.
We picked her up around 7pm that evening and she was groggy and medicated, but that is to be expected. Dr Feller said she came through beautifully, and as far as she could see was recovery better than expected.
Josh worked from home the next day, the 29th. He was concerned for her as I was. The boys went off to Elitch Gardens with the Bayons.
It was a lovely, sunny day, so Josh and I had our coffee out back on the patio. Maggie wasn't up for running but was happy to come outside with us and sniff around, keep an eye out for squirrels and just enjoy the cool grass on her paws.
I looked at her laying in the grass and thought, "I should get a picture of her sitting there, happy and smiling." I didn't.
Just after that thought Maggie got up and slowly walked inside. She lay down at the bottom of the steps, near the front door. Josh and I followed in and started to futz, making lunch. She was panting and couldn't seem to control her tongue hanging out of her mouth. I offered food and water, neither of which she was the slightest bit interested in.
As I turned away to help make lunch Josh noticed she put her head down. A moment later I went to walk downstairs and noticed she wasn't breathing. We called the vet in a panic. She said to take her to Aspen Meadow Emergency Vet here in town. Dr Feller called ahead for us to let them know we were on our way.
Josh drove as fast as he could across town. I sat in the back with Maggie, talking to her and trying to get some response from her. We arrived and the Drs and staff rushed her back to a table all ready for her. The first thing they looked for was a heart beat... there was none.
My Maggie was gone.
Maggie came to us when she was just 12 weeks old. I was 12 weeks pregnant with Van. She was easy to train, a great travel dog, loving and protective. She was the first one to greet us at the door when we brought our babies home. There were a million little things that made Maggie so special - the harrumph we'd get in the mornings to get up, the "kisses" she gave after she pinned down your hand gently with her paw, the "crazy dog" she'd do at the same spot on our regular hikes, her little stub of a tail in the air when she was happy... to name just a few.
It's been three months now, and I still have moments where I miss her so much it hurts. Just like they say, it gets less painful with time. We built this little family with her love and wiggly butt. But now... life goes on ... Oobla-di, Oobla-da.
On Tuesday, June 27th Josh and I noticed Maggie was kinda sluggish later in the afternoon. She didn't eat her dinner. No cause for serious alarm yet. We said we'd see how she was at breakfast.
Wednesday the 28th, no change. As a matter of fact her sluggish behavior had escalated to lethargic. Again, she didn't want her meal. When she and I went outside to toss the frisbee around she lay down in the grass and didn't want to play. This had NEVER happened before. Ever. I thought, "Maybe it's a doggy cold" so I took to Google to look up symptoms. One tip was to check the color of her gums - if they are light pink or white a vet should be sought immediately. Her gums were white. Off to the vet we went. Kids in tow.
We couldn't see our usual vet, Dr Williams, but Dr Feller was in. She proved to be just as kinda and thorough as Dr Williams. She found reason for blood work, and that, along with an x-ray, showed us two masses on her spleen - one large, one smaller. It was recommended to be removed asap.
At this point I'm calling in Josh to hear the Dr's advice over speaker phone. We agreed to do as the Dr was recommending. Maggie went into surgery to remove the masses. They would be sent off to biopsy to see what action was to be taken after recovery.
We picked her up around 7pm that evening and she was groggy and medicated, but that is to be expected. Dr Feller said she came through beautifully, and as far as she could see was recovery better than expected.
Josh worked from home the next day, the 29th. He was concerned for her as I was. The boys went off to Elitch Gardens with the Bayons.
It was a lovely, sunny day, so Josh and I had our coffee out back on the patio. Maggie wasn't up for running but was happy to come outside with us and sniff around, keep an eye out for squirrels and just enjoy the cool grass on her paws.
I looked at her laying in the grass and thought, "I should get a picture of her sitting there, happy and smiling." I didn't.
Just after that thought Maggie got up and slowly walked inside. She lay down at the bottom of the steps, near the front door. Josh and I followed in and started to futz, making lunch. She was panting and couldn't seem to control her tongue hanging out of her mouth. I offered food and water, neither of which she was the slightest bit interested in.
As I turned away to help make lunch Josh noticed she put her head down. A moment later I went to walk downstairs and noticed she wasn't breathing. We called the vet in a panic. She said to take her to Aspen Meadow Emergency Vet here in town. Dr Feller called ahead for us to let them know we were on our way.
Josh drove as fast as he could across town. I sat in the back with Maggie, talking to her and trying to get some response from her. We arrived and the Drs and staff rushed her back to a table all ready for her. The first thing they looked for was a heart beat... there was none.
My Maggie was gone.
Maggie came to us when she was just 12 weeks old. I was 12 weeks pregnant with Van. She was easy to train, a great travel dog, loving and protective. She was the first one to greet us at the door when we brought our babies home. There were a million little things that made Maggie so special - the harrumph we'd get in the mornings to get up, the "kisses" she gave after she pinned down your hand gently with her paw, the "crazy dog" she'd do at the same spot on our regular hikes, her little stub of a tail in the air when she was happy... to name just a few.
It's been three months now, and I still have moments where I miss her so much it hurts. Just like they say, it gets less painful with time. We built this little family with her love and wiggly butt. But now... life goes on ... Oobla-di, Oobla-da.
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| One of our first pictures from the breeder. |
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| The day we brought her home. She loved Josh from the very start! |
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| Sneeze! |
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| Snow was her favorite season. |
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| She'd play frisbee as long as we'd throw it. |
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