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My precious little Gracie lived the first 8 years of her life in a puppy mill producing 16 litters of puppies, living in a 2' x 2' wooden crate. As you will notice on the photo, they crudely tattooed "10" on her ear. When she had been bred to produce litter 17 and did not deliver puppies, reluctantly the puppy mill owner took Gracie to the vet for the first time. After examining Gracie, the vet advised the owner that she wasn't pregnant but did in fact have an enormous hernia that had to be removed. And, because of her age and the number of litters she had produced, spaying her was strongly advised. The puppy mill owner said to destroy her since she wasn't worth anything anymore. Fortunately for me, I got little Gracie a week later.
Though she was blind and deaf, had no idea how to play, grass was something she had never walked on and when she finally barked, it scared her. I was so priviledged to have added her to my family. Several weeks ago, Gracie's appetite wasn't what it normally was, and her obvious weight loss was surprising. I knew she weighed 26 lbs in July. When I took her to Ft. Wright Pet Hospital, she had lost 6 lbs. Dr. McGlasson did a thorough exam trying to explain why she was vomiting blood and ordered blood tests. He also x-rayed her did an ultra sound with no obvious determination. He gave her 4 different medicines with the instruction he wanted to see her the following Friday. By that Friday, Gracie had lost an additional 4 lbs., still vomiting blood and was barely eating. Dr. McGlasson ordered yet another blood test to see if it could be pancreatitis, test results were negative. He asked me if I would be receptive to an exploratory surgery on the next Friday, only if Gracie didn't respond significantly, which I agreed to. I took her back to Dr. McGlasson the following Friday. By that time, I was feeding Gracie babyfood (chicken) with a syringe as well as her water. That day her weight had been reduced by another 3 lbs.
I was privileged to be able to hold Gracie in her favorite white blanket and whispered into her ear how very much I loved her and how sorry I was that she was so sick. I told her Dr. McGlasson would make her feel so much better. I also told her that she just might get to see Granny Pelfrey and if she did, she'd love her until I can join them both. I told her to always remember, she's never alone that my love was tucked inside her heart. Though she was blind and deaf, she actually looked at me like she understood.
Her surgery revealed her stomach was encased in an enormous tumor and there was nothing Dr. McGlasson could do to help her. Loving her so much, I asked him to euthanize her while she was already asleep. |
