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Donna
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« Reply #23 on: April 12, 2007, 04:29:29 AM » |
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Makenzie became my son’s dog, I affectionately called her, Girlie, and she gave birth to my daughter’s dog, Dee. Like the many stories I have read on the forums, hers, too, is terribly sad, excruciatingly painful, emotionally devastating and all too unbelievable to fathom.
Makenzie’s saga began the day of the ice storm in Massachusetts on February 14, 2007 when she came in from the pen limping, unable to use her right hind paw. I thought she might have taken a tumble on the ice, or Dee had roughhoused with her too much again. The next day, she was able to put a little more weight on her paw, so I figured it was healing. However, that Saturday morning, Makenzie’s right hindquarter was noticeably swollen and my two kids rushed her to Tufts Small Animal Hospital in Grafton at 7:30 am – no, they didn’t mind, even though it was the weekend!
The hospital recognized this as an emergency and she was seen immediately. Fluids, an anti-inflammatory and sedation were administered. Blood tests and x-rays were ordered. Hours later we received a phone call to pick her up. She had been diagnosed with a torn tendon in her leg and would need to be sedentary for a few weeks. She would be coming home with Rimadyl, an anti-inflammatory, which needed to be taken with food so the stomach would not become upset and she would need to see an Orthopedic. Being the good Mommy, I ran right out and got a variety of wet dog food. Makenzie was not really eating that well at this point, and I knew she fancied wet food and would ALWAYS eat it, so I purchased a variety, including Beneful, though I did not know about the melamine/wheat gluten in the food at this time. All I knew is that I always fed my two dogs and one cat (yes, my cat eats dog food) Purina One with an alternate bag of Purina Beneful when Makenzie would get finicky, as I had done a couple weeks prior to her becoming ill.
On Sunday, February 25, 2007 Makenzie’s urine was laden with blood, so I caught Monday’s specimen and brought it to her Vet. A culture confirmed she had an UTI, with “numerous” bacteria in her bladder. How could she have an UTI, I thought, she drinks plenty of water and she goes out enough. I wracked my brain trying to recall the previous weeks and Makenzie’s behavior. From the recesses, I remembered her incessant whining, and how she wanted to be let out every ten or so minutes after she had just come in, and the piles of bile I would find spattered on the kitchen floor two or three times a week during that particular time, and wondered if this had anything to do with Makenzie’s issues and no, I did not know about the pet food at this time.
We were informed on Tuesday, February 27 that Makenzie’s x-rays were read and the doctor had received the report. The news was grave and we found out Makenzie did not have tendonitis, or any other orthopedic condition as suspected, but rather a tumor. She had Cancer. Cancer? How could she have cancer? She did not exhibit any signs or symptoms of being sick: no weight loss, no hair loss, no bloody vomit or stools. NO anything! She was full of vitality up until a couple of weeks ago when she could not walk. Now you’re telling us, she has Cancer? This doesn’t make sense, we thought!
Makenzie’s life from that point basically became sedentary and went down hill rapidly. We set up “comfort stations” around the house. Her movement and breathing became labored, and it was evident just how hard it was for Makenzie to expend energy. Any trip outside always ended up with a collapse on the floor the minute she made it through the door and each episode lasted about 30 minutes. It was heart wrenching to see this otherwise healthy dog so brutally beaten down, as she would look up with her big brown eyes as if to question what was going on. Still, I had no knowledge of the pet food contamination.
During the last weekend of February, Makenzie took a turn for the worse. Her breathing became increasingly labored and “congested” and she panted incessantly, which told of the pain she was in. She was no longer getting up and walking from room to room. On March 2, 2007, I called Tufts for pain meds, as I was not going to let this faithful, loving dog suffer - I would be damned before I would let that happen. Elimination and defecation were miniscule and I began to force feed her, making batches of white rice and mixing the wet Beneful in, so I could get meds into her, especially the pain pills and, no, I still did not know about the pet food.
Makenzie drank copious amounts of water. In fact, that is all she wanted, water, water and more water. I noticed that her chest began to swell and she began to clear her throat more and more, as if she had a bad cough, or phlegm were caught in her throat. She no longer felt comfortable in a prone position and would force herself to sit upright as long as she could, despite the pain in her hocks. Her paws showed signs of swelling and I thought to myself, these are all signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure.
On March 6, my daughter who routinely came home at 3 am to take Makenzie out told me Makenzie would not get up that morning. As well, she would not get up and go out for me at 6 am, not going that day at all, and I knew renal shutdown had begun its course. My son, who had been in denial this whole time with respect to Makenzie’s condition, came home and tried to coax Makenzie into his room from the living room. Normally, Makenzie would follow, wagging her tail, beaming like the beautiful, faithful dog she was! However, this time, she just followed him with her eyes, happy to see him, of course, but unable to follow him and he knew as he walked to his room, crying his heart out, that it was time to let his companion go.
We had three weeks to spend time with, continue to love and to prepare ourselves for the death of our family member.
Makenzie was 11 years old when our Vet was called on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 and she was put to rest.
We will always love and miss her.
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