Westie

Mr Pounder Esquire wrote:

cshenk wrote:
Mr Pounder Esquire wrote:

cshenk wrote:
Mr Pounder Esquire wrote:

cshenk wrote:
cshenk wrote:

Mr Pounder Esquire wrote:

cshenk wrote:
Mr Pounder Esquire wrote:

9 year old female, coat going a bit dark in very
small areas. Should I worry?

No, normal aging there

Thanks. Google has not been very helpful.
Getting an appointment with the vet is like asking for
the holy grail.

Yeah, I have to wait 3 weeks for an end of life review
for my 16YO dog from my vet.

Well, Iowna (my 16YO blind dog) passed today. Sudden
massive stroke and a series of seizures. Family got her to
the vet and he said best not to wait. The seizures were
causing a lot of pain from her arthritis.

I'm so very very sorry.
I've been there, and I was probably the worst day of my life.

Thank you. I lost Cash 2 months ago and now Iowna. Frankly
Iowna, we were prepared for. Thats why she was scheduled for
end of life assessment.

Smile with me as you read of her life, for that is more
important than her end.

Iowna was born Iowna Link to a very prestigeous line of beagles
and show winners. She was no backyard breeder product but from
a line of show winners. She'd have been on the ring to show
best of breed except she was slightly smaller than classic so
was instead tested for agility and came up in spades as good at
it, making a lot of money for her first owner who loved her and
let her just 'be a dog with a mission'. She lived a golden
puppyhood and young adulthood. Spaying ws delayed as she had
high potential to breed show winners. Then adversity hit. She
developed Glaucoma at age 9.

The first owner tried to deal with it but could not. She lost
the sight in her left eye fairly fast then the right eye set
in. He fond her a safe spot with a no kill facility that had
the finances to treat her and they did. During that time, one
eye had to be removed and the blind one was treated with
ablation (Gentimycin treatments). Placing a 1 eyed blind dog
isnt easy but she was in a good rescue and if there was a
problem, it was they had to block the cat tree because they
were afraid she'd fall out when she climbed it to snooze with
the resident cat.

Yes, she was a climber, agility dog champ, and she loved cats
who loved her back.

Enter Iowna age just shy of 11 to our home. Her birth records
show she was born 2 July 2002 and would have turned 17 this
year.

It was almost like having a curious toddler who wants to climb
*everything*! Endless amusement as we'd find we had to bolt
bookshelves to walls because she'd climb them. She'd knock the
books out to get higher so we tried bungee cords and dang if we
didnt find her 5ft up then! We set up a camera and caught her.
She was using them to climb!

Ever found your dog IN the Xmas tree several feet up? LOL, the
fix is cup hooks and 100lb test fishing line. We have wood
beams up there so we'd tie the tree up at the top to the beams.
We also had our local Xmas tree guy special cut the bottom
branches so they were well above her eye level.

We learned that the dog house has to be 18 inches from the fence
because othwewise, she used the fence to the dog house beams to
climb it and lay on the warm top (Yup! Snoopy!)

She also taught our other dog (sighted, passed 2 months ago) to
climb the woodpile as it's nicely sun-warm up there. Great, now
I had 2 dogs 4ft up on a wood pile!

Iowna was also a fantastic ambassador for blind dogs locally.
I'd walk her around and the kids would argue who got to walk
her a bit next (we used a rotation) and they learned about
blind dogs. Sadly many people assume a blind dog should be put
down but around my streets, they learned better from her. They
called her the 'Snifflilator' and learned that is how blind
dogs 'see the world'.

Iowna, ya done good girl. Play now at the rainbow bridge and
I'll be there eventually when my time is done.

I don't know what to say.
Except that I cried.
I wish you all of the best.

Sad to see my little girl go, but she had a good life and gave us
much joy in the time she gifted us with.

My last dog was called Lucy. Cross Labrador and Collie. She was very
intelligent and used to sometimes give me the creeps with her
behavior. She was extraordinary. I know that everybody thinks that
their dog is the best, but Lucy was a one off. When she was 14 in
2004 I had to say yes to the vet. I cried like a big kid. It still
hurts. My Westie is 9, I'm 67. My executors know what to do if I die
first. She loves me to bits and would not settle with any new owner.

BTW, as we get ready for the Jellicle Ball (13OCT will be the 24th
Ball), I entered Lucy, House of Esquire.

Feel free to watch or join in at rec.pets.cats.community
- RPCC is a friendly place where pet lovers pretend to be their pets
and have lots of adventures. They especially gather at a new place
once a year at the first full moon in October to celebrate life, and
also memorialize those who have passed. This is called 'The Jellicle
Ball'. We picked Big Cedar Lodge (bass fishing and hunting place in
the Ozarks) to pretend to be at this time. Dogs welcome but they have
to at least pretend to be cat friendly (grin). After reading a couple
of messages you will kinda get the swing of things. Speaking in broken
'Kat Speek' is optional!