I’m not going to try to be eloquent about this, but I thought I should write something here, just so everyone is on the same page…
Last night, my family went out for supper. When we got home, we found Sunshine, one of our dogs, in severe distress in our front hallway. We rushed her to the emergency veterinary clinic, where we found out that she had had a grand mal seizure. The vet told us that sometimes this can happen only once, sometimes it will happen every few weeks or months, and sometimes it will happen effectively continuously unless it can be managed. They did blood tests, and kept her there. We went home.
This morning the vet called us at 7am and told us that Sunshine had had 2 more seizures during the night. We rapidly dressed and went to see her. When we got there, she was quite doped up, but we did get to pet her and talk to her. The vet told us that the blood tests had all come back negative, and that given her age, it was likely not epilepsy. The doctor felt that whatever was causing the seizures was probably something intrusive, like a brain tumor, and that although it might be possible to control the seizures, her life expectancy was low.
As a family, we decided that we wanted to save Sunshine from the pain and confusion that she would have to go through, just so that we could keep her with us for a few more weeks/months, so we had her put down.
She will be sorely missed by all of us, but we take comfort in knowing that her legacy lives on in the many sons and daughters that she had, and that we gave her a good life despite the very rough times she had before we got her from the humane society. She was a very good dog.
The rest of us in the family (Deb, Dennis, Lucky and I) will be sad for quite a while, but we know that the love we feel for each other will pull us through. If you would like to commemorate Sunshine’s passing, please donate something to the Humane Society; they gave us a good friend for eight good years. Thanks.
Sunshine in her favourite spot
Some more words from Deb here: Sunshine – 1998 to 2007
Sorry to hear about Sunshine. Although i don’t have much interaction with your extended family, whenever I come over the dogs (and cats for that matter) are always friendly and welcoming. “Welcome to our house..” (banging into something) “going to the basement?” (tail clips me somewhere in the thigh) “man we’re excited to have company” (obediently stays outside music room). Anyway, just to say your other friends are remembered happily in our minds (and sometimes even in our music – Ursa for example). They won’t be forgotten.