Big Dir

Our Izzy died on Father's day -- still can't believe she's gone. She was just about nine years old and still lovin life and kickin the ass of every shadow that moved.

On Saturday the girls, the dog and I were outside -- it was super hot and I had the hose out. I gave water to the dog and after she drank it she walked away with drool hanging to the ground and I thought-- that ain't right, she needs to cool down. I hosed her down and took her into the air conditioned house. She was a bit out of it and I had to push her into the house because she was just standing there in the door, kind of off in space.

I called Rich and told him I thought the dog was overheated and might be about to have a stroke. It was one of those situations as a pet owner where the pet isn't acting right, but isn't all bad either -- does she need to go to the vet or just chill a little bit?

When Rich got home from work, she still wasn't right. Then she tipped the scales to yes, vet, now! She drank some water then puked it up -- I think all the water she had drank all day was still in her stomach -- there was a lot and there was blood in it. She went out to the back yard when we let her out and by the time Rich had the car started, she collapsed. We had to put her on a blanket and carry her. I thought she would die before she got to the vet -- I could barely tell she was breathing.

He said she was up on her side and looking at him when he got the doggy ER, but she needed to be carried in. They hooked her up to fluids and did blood tests which came back normal, she had a fever and her stomach was tender.

Next day she was not any better -- I guess if it was heat related, dogs either snap out of it or die faster than overnight -- so overnight with no change they started looking for other problems (puking up blood can be heat related). X-ray revealed fluid around her stomach, they did surgery and found a perforation and abscess at the beginning of her large intestine -- an area they can't remove and we had to let her go.

I don't know why her bloodwork was normal, they said her white counts could have been high and then were on the way down because her body could fight no more. Her blood pressure was low -- they were not even sure she would make it out of surgery, but we had to try. Something was said about her blood being septic I think -- from normal to septic? I don't know...Something bad and she died.

We did all get to see her before surgery -- she didn't even lift her head when we came in. It comforts the girls to have seen her though (all of us).

The girls are heart breaking -- Winnie yelled, "Izzy No! I want this to be a dream, I wish this was a dream...". Sunday night Lizzie saw shadows on the ceiling and said one looked like a body and another looked like and arm with fingers and it made her think of petting the dog. She also said, "Mom, I can't bear to look at the sky because it makes me think of Izzy in Heaven".

Winnie cried, "I want my big dog back!"

Yep.

Losing a pet is never fun, but this one really sucks -- she was one of a kind. We have non- family cryin over this one -- the Big Dir had personality! It's too quiet and still around here. She wasn't an obnoxious barker -- but she was in on all the action. Anytime there was commotion (all the time with kids around) -- she would grab that tuggy toy, hold it in her mouth and whip her head back and forth and just whip the crap out of that thing. We were all victims of a tuggy toy welt at one time or another -- you had better stay out of the way when she was whipping that thing around.

Don't get me started on her outdoor antics...

Frankie said, "I guess this is one of them growing up days."

Yes it is -- it's one of those days which suck.

My Big -- sad.

*Dir = girl.