Yesterday my best friend closed her eyes,
As her head was in my hand.
Hopes for a cure had been in vain,
And she could no longer stand.
The thoughts that scurried through my head,
As I cradled her in my arms.
Were of her funny puppy traits,
And Oh ... her many charms.
Today, there was no gentle nudge
With an intense "I love you gaze",
Only a heart that's filled with tears
Remembering our joy-filled days.
But an Angel just appeared to me,
And he said, "You should cry no more,
God so loves our canine friends,
He's installed a 'doggy-door'."
author unknown
ECHO'S STORY...
Echo was the newest addition to our Border Collie family...she came to us after a short trip to Edmonton...we went there to pick up some parts for my VW Beetle.
Mark and I were on our way home and during one of our pitstops I noticed a poster on a bulletin board..it had a photo of a basket full of BC puppies; it was so adorable. I quickly called the number before we got back on the road and the breeder, Sylvia, told me she had one puppy left...a tri-color female. I asked her a couple more questions and then told her that I would call her back once I got home. Sylvia lived in Barrhead which was about two hours in the other direction, so we couldn't go have a look at the pups because we had to get home.
"Poster photo"
Echo is the one looking at the camera on the left...12 weeks old
As soon as I walked in the door I called Sylvia back...I asked her if she could email me some photos, within the hour they were there for the viewing...I love technology! She sent me the same photo that was on the poster and some of the mom...she is a tri-color too.
The next day, after I talked with Mark and the girls, we decided to take her...I called Sylvia right away and as it turned out her husband was just about to leave for Fort McMurray...YEAH, soon we will have a little tri-color BC.
The name game was not as hard this time...I had already decided months before that my next BC was going to be a female and her name was going to be 'Echo"...no reason really, I just liked it...so Echo it was.
When I met Sylvia's husband to pick up our new puppy I ask him if he thought Sylvia would mind if I changed her name...he told me, "no she won't mind, we have been calling her Tina"...WHAT?! That's hilarious...destiny strikes again.
Echo was quite shy when we bought her home...she had a very bumpy ride from Barrhead, so she was a bit nervous at first. However, she soon came out of her shell...at one point I was thinking of changing her name to Diablo (Spanish for devil) because she is always into something...but that's a puppy for you.
After a few short months with Echo, I discovered she was having seizures. I promptly took her to our vet and had a blood test done. We then found out that she had hypoglycemia and very low liver enzymes...I was overcome with emotions. What would Echo's future be...years of adjusting medications? My vet and I discussed several options and then we decided to try a couple of simple things first...change her diet to an all-natural food and monitor the seizures. It was both our hopes that she might even outgrow this condition. After doing some research on my own, I discovered that hypoglycemia can be related to having dogs spayed so young...afterall, it is like us women have a hysterectomy. I guess time will tell.
It took about two months but we began to see some changes. For the first several weeks she had a few small uneventful seizures and then they just stopped...at least for a while. She would go months without one and when she did have one it was nothing to write home about...we could live with that! Thank God...controlling this condition through diet is much more acceptable than with meds...at least for me. Going through months of deciding whether or not the meds are working, while watching my sweet girl continue to seizure more and more, is a major issue for me.
I realize now that I had observed some health changes in Echo earlier in the year; over a several month period; but because the symptoms were not that frequent, I didn't think they were anything to worry about. Things like behavioural changes, sudden onset of unexplained vomiting and diarrhea, pale grey feces, increased water consumption and urination, and orange colored urine were all conditions I had noticed, however, I wasn't always sure which dog was responsible...the downside to owning multiple pets.
Then I noticed that Echo was seizuring again, but this time they were alot worse...it was awful to watch. I began to monitor her more closely which was when I discovered that she was the one having all the other health problems. It was time to make some decisions about quality of life. I made an appointment with our vet to discussed Echo's condition and we both agreed that her liver was probably shutting down...so sadly we made the dreaded decision to euthanize our beautiful Miss Echo on August 29th, 2002. We miss her deeply!
"Miss Echo"
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF OUR BEAUTIFUL GIRLCLICK HERE.
What's in your pet's name?
ECHO...Your pet is bright, extremely vocal, and very active. This animal loves to communicate, and doesn't want to grow up. This is a curious, loving pet who's a real 'people' animal. Your pet is loyal and takes his/her responsibility as a family member very much to heart. Your pet has a highly developed sixth sense, especially when it comes to home and family. This animal is very tenacious and intensely loyal.
This beautiful card was made by our good
friend Arlene...if you click on the graphic it
will take you to a wonderful memorial page...
thanks so very much Arlene.
