Talula R.I.P
Click to viewTalula had the odds stacked against her from birth, and she hung on
tight until the end.She'd been somewhat sick for a few days, but it
was typical of her to get diarhea and she was on a low dose of
steroids to boost her system, but Talula started to get severely ill
on Wednesday, and her body wasn't responding to her medication at all.
She went downhill incredibly fast (Fever, diarhea, stopped
drinking/eating, so weak she couldn't stand) I was up with her during
the night, until I decided I had to take her to the doggy emergency.
They put her on an IV to receive fluids and antibiotics as she was
severely dehydrated.
At this point they decided to keep her in ICU and monitor her, and do
bloodwork to see what was going on. I went home and tried to sleep, a
few hours later the vet called back with very bad news.
Unfortunately, she has so many genetic problems...her liver doesn't
produce the right enzymes so she can't get the nutrients out of her
food, there were complicated problems involving the synthesizing of
the proteins in her blood. They discovered her red blood and white
blood cells were completely out of balance- it was just too much for
her little body and despite antibiotics and fluids her fever was at
106. The vet told me point blank that there was no treatment that
would save her, the problems were just too great- and shortly she
would suffocate due to her lungs filling with fluid and die a painful
death.
So the decision was completely clear- I had to put her sleep. .So my
dad, brother and I went to the hospital and got to spend a little
time with her one last time. We told her goodbye and how much we love
her and will miss her.
Needless, to say I'm so sad to lose her- she's been my little shadow
for the entirety of her short 2 1/2 years of life. It's been rough and
she's at peace now. I've been prepared for her death for a long time
because she's had many close calls, and getting to say goodbye and
seeing her go without pain was the best I could have possibly asked
for..There were no "if onlys" or regrets, and no "hard" decisions to
make as there was nothing more I could do for her. It was her time.
I want to thank everyone who has touched my life and cared for her,
especially, the Vicari's,. Bernice, Trisha, Mady, Jeremy, Mom, dad,
Ryan, Matt and Nate, and all my friends. She was a very special dog
and I loved her so much. I will miss her warbles and chirps, her
greeting me at the door, dressing her up in outfits, and her cuddling
with me at night. She was always happy even with her many handicaps,
she never let them bother her.
I decided to have her cremated, and I'll be receiving her ashes in a
week to have a little memorial. I was going to scatter them outside,
but then I remembered that she hated outside, (except to lie in the
sun occasionally) so I think I'm just going to keep them, because she
was the most content and peaceful when she was with me, and I feel the
same for her.
So next time you eat some chicken think of her- she really loved chicken.
Rest in peace Talula,
PS: Never get a pet from Petland, Talula's story unfortunately isn't unique. Many unhealthy pets come from Petland which gets puppies from puppy mills- these people Solely care about profit and cost efficiency, and not about the life or suffering of the animal at all.