Vodstok
08-30-2007, 09:35 AM
I have not posted anything about this yet, but some of you may remember that I had a dog for a while named MJ (short for Mary Jane, not the name we gave her). We adopted her almost 3 years ago, and she was sweet little old beagle; she would have been 10 on Oct 28th.
However, as things happen, she came down with a rare condition called "chylothorax", and is rare enough that our vet said MJ was the fourth dog he had ever seen with it, out of over 15,000 over the course of 10 years. basically, her lymph system was draining fluid into her body cavity. We tried for about 4 weeks after she was diagnosed to treat it. She had been throwing up weird mucassy stuff for about a week prior to that.
After a special diet, plus steroids, rutin (a natural capilary strengthener) and antibiotics, she just couldnt take it any more, and neither could Bree, so we had to put her down. It was awful, she was such a nice little animal.
By a complete coincidence, Bree had been over at a friends house earlier in the week, and had me one of her dogs, named Happy. She hit it off with Happy right away. Two days later, we had to have MJ euthanized.
That following weekend, we found out that Happy was being neglected by the girl who owned her, and her family (our friends) were going to have to give her away so that she would actually get taken care of.
And it just so happens that we no longer had a dog. I met Happy, and I have never hit it off with an animal so well in my life. She is awesome, she plays and kisses (MJ had spent her life until we got her as a breeder, so she didnt do regular doggie things, no playing, no kissing, no fetching)
Happy is DOG. she is big (80 lbs) and black, the best our vet can figure is that she is half black lab, and half pitbull. before anyone cringes too much, apparently this mix has only the best of both worlds, and never inherets the "inherent" aggressiveness of the pit side. Basically, Happy looks like a brawny black lab with shorter ears, and smiles ALL THE TIME.
I figured it would be nice to apprise everyone of our pet situation. we miss MJ a lot, but Happy has done a great job of fitting in. And now we have a dog that can rip and intruder's leg off :)
However, as things happen, she came down with a rare condition called "chylothorax", and is rare enough that our vet said MJ was the fourth dog he had ever seen with it, out of over 15,000 over the course of 10 years. basically, her lymph system was draining fluid into her body cavity. We tried for about 4 weeks after she was diagnosed to treat it. She had been throwing up weird mucassy stuff for about a week prior to that.
After a special diet, plus steroids, rutin (a natural capilary strengthener) and antibiotics, she just couldnt take it any more, and neither could Bree, so we had to put her down. It was awful, she was such a nice little animal.
By a complete coincidence, Bree had been over at a friends house earlier in the week, and had me one of her dogs, named Happy. She hit it off with Happy right away. Two days later, we had to have MJ euthanized.
That following weekend, we found out that Happy was being neglected by the girl who owned her, and her family (our friends) were going to have to give her away so that she would actually get taken care of.
And it just so happens that we no longer had a dog. I met Happy, and I have never hit it off with an animal so well in my life. She is awesome, she plays and kisses (MJ had spent her life until we got her as a breeder, so she didnt do regular doggie things, no playing, no kissing, no fetching)
Happy is DOG. she is big (80 lbs) and black, the best our vet can figure is that she is half black lab, and half pitbull. before anyone cringes too much, apparently this mix has only the best of both worlds, and never inherets the "inherent" aggressiveness of the pit side. Basically, Happy looks like a brawny black lab with shorter ears, and smiles ALL THE TIME.
I figured it would be nice to apprise everyone of our pet situation. we miss MJ a lot, but Happy has done a great job of fitting in. And now we have a dog that can rip and intruder's leg off :)