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She is eating
a prescription food from the vet, plus chicken and rice that
I cooked for her. The only really bright spot is that she is
eating everything that she is fed. She gets several small meals
throughout the day, so as not to stress her stomach. (The first
day, she threw up the first meal she ate.) But we take our signs
of improvement as good, and keep hoping for the best.
February
28th
Lady was
seen by the vet, and he changed her antibiotic. She has gained
1 pound, 3 ounces, bringing her to just over 41 pounds. Improvement
is still very slow, but she does walk out to the yard now. She
does not have very much energy to walk, and sometimes needs
to be carried back in, when she exhausts herself.
Louie,
a very ancient Rough Coated Jack Russell, is Lady's constant companion.
He seems to know when she is not feeling well, and will stretch
out beside her. He snuggles with his back up against her for the
night, and with his head on her hip. She does not object to the
company, and does not react to the several cats in residence.
She is still
on prescription food, plus regular puppy dry, plus chicken and
rice that I cooked for her. She is offered several small meals
a day, and takes in a total of about 5-6 cups of food a day.
March
1, 2002
The pups
are growing rapidly. They continue to be more and more active,
staying awake for longer periods of time. They are inquisitive,
as all new pups are, exploring their environment, generally
getting into trouble, and challenging each other to mock battles.
In the process of these mock battles, they, of course, lose
their balance and fall over as often as not! This when puppies
learn bite inhibition, as the other puppies will squeal when
they bite too hard!
March
3, 2002
Lady stopped
eating today, and began drinking copious amounts of water. I
visited her in the early afternoon, and she had visibly lost
weight and seemed very lethargic. I called the vet, and he said,
as it was Sunday, to bring her in first thing in the morning
to do blood work on her. She will get an x-ray, specific blood
panels, fluids to stabilize her, and since she was refusing
food, an antibiotic injection of the same medicine she had been
taking. Then, on Monday I would bring her to my regular vet.
As the day
progressed, she seemed to be getting worse. After consulting
with the vet, I took her to the emergency clinic to have blood
work done, and to get a diagnosis. It turns out that Lady has
a closed pyometra, which is an infection of the uterus.
March
4, 2002
Lady was
brought in first thing this morning for surgery. She was very
weak and could not walk, so she was carried in. The surgery
went well, and, as of 2:30 pm is out of surgery and is stable.
I went to
pick up Lady at 6:00 pm. She looks like she's fading before
my eyes, yet she is holding her weight at 37 pounds. The vet
says that she is not out of the woods yet, but is doing "as
well as can be expected, given her emaciated condition."
I dropped her off at Sherry's house, where we made her as comfortable
as possible, covering her up with a warm blanket. Louie, the
Jack Russell, knows that Lady is not well, and snuggled up to
her. Her spent the night next to her.
March
5, 2002
I checked
on Lady this morning, first thing. She has walked a bit, drank
some water, but still has the dry heaves. She is gradually able
to hold down water, but refuses food. At 10 am, I called again,
and Lady is still refusing food. The vet will see her today,
and give her an antibiotic injection, since, as she is refusing
food, we cannot get her to take her pill. He will also give
her an injection to settle her stomach so that she might then
be more inclined to eat.
Lady was sticky
and dirty from having the dry heaves, so Sherry gently bathed
her this morning, and she was feeling better after her bath. All
we can do at this point, is watch her, encourage her to eat, and
pray.
March
6, 2002
Lady spent
a restless night, and Sherry reports that she would wake up every
few hours and check that Sherry was still there. I am very glad
I did not leave her overnight at the Vet’s office, as they
are not a 24 hour facility. Lady deserves to have constant care,
and it seems to comfort her to know that someone is there throughout
the night.
She is now
on restricted water intake. She is only keeping down about half
the water that she takes in, and has consistently refused food.
She is being force fed with a tiny syringe, about a tablespoon
every few hours, and again, only half is staying down. But she
is moving about, and this is a good sign.
She visited
the vet again today, and he is keeping her for this afternoon.
He is considering changing her antibiotic again, as this one apparently
does not agree with her. She will again get fluids, this time
with some nourishment in it. Dr. Setlock says that her color is
good, her temp is normal (no longer a low temp), and she continues
to get up occasionally and move around. All of these are good
signs, but she is still critical, and most likely tonight will
decide if she makes it or not.
Lady's
Last Night
March 7, 2002
At 10 p.m
last night Lady died.
She died with
little Louie, the Jack Russell, snuggled up against her, and with
Sherry and her father in attendance. When I left Sherry’s
home last night at 6:30 p.m., after helping me to carry her in,
Sherry and I made her comfortable, and covered her up with blankets
to keep her warm. Then Sherry lay down on the floor with her,
and was gently stroking her muzzle. I will keep that image in
my mind as the last time I saw Lady.
I suppose
it is stupid to cry for a dog that you have only had two weeks.
But in those two weeks, I saw the courage, and strength of heart
for which Pit Bulls are famous.
Lady had what
is most likely a terrible life. I can only guess as to what her
life was like. Her owner was not truthful with me, but let slip
some information. I know for sure she was kept in a basement,
for how long I don’t know. I know the basement was not a
clean environment, or she would not have developed such a terrible
abscess in one of her mammary glands. I know she was used for
breeding previously, and was not a cherished pet, as he referenced
that “the same thing happened to her when she had a litter
before.”
Her owner
claimed she was 5 years old. 5 years old is already very late
in life to have a litter. Her owner claimed that Lady had received
her vaccinations 8 months ago. When I checked with the previous
vet’s office, it was in August, 2000 that she had been given
her rabies vaccination, and treated for mastitis, so I know for
she had a litter then. He told the previous vet that she was 5
years old. So, she was at least 7, not 5. My vet indicated that
dog’s eyes begin to show changes in coloring at about 8 years
of age, and you don’t really see the changes until 9 years.
So, best guess, Lady was at least 9 years old.
4 out of 10
puppies survived. 3 out of those 4 are showing outward signs of
genetic irregularities. One puppy has a double dew claw, one puppy
has 6 toes, and another has 7 toes. So, I can only assume that
an elderly mom, coupled with who knows what kind of selection
of the male for the breeding, resulted in these genetic faults.
We can only wait and see if there are internal faults which may
affect the puppies’ health. It is probably a blessing that
the other pups died.
Lady was a
quiet, gentle dog. She would try her best to greet everyone who
visited, bringing a tail wag and struggling to get to her feet.
She never was well enough to play, but she seemed to draw comfort
from the fact that she was surrounded by lot of people who petted
and babied her, and offered her unconditional love. Sherry’s
house is often filled with visitors and family, who always had
a pet and a hug for Lady. And, I believe, she even drew comfort
from old Louie, the Jack Russell, who was her constant companion.
Lady was loved
and cherished for the short time she was with us. I dearly wished
for her to have recovered and to have had just a few years of
being a pampered pet. I wanted to see her run, I wanted to see
her play, I wanted to see her filled with the joy of life that
Pit Bulls so exuberantly express. But this was not to be. Lady
has gone on over the Bridge, and is now, at least, at peace.
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