sadness

Sparty died yesterday at 6:15pm. He was born on April 1, 2009 and was just about three months old. He is survived by his parents, Karen and Mike Combes, siblings Kaitlyn (Michael) Smith, Nicholas, Timothy and Julia Combes. He was a great dog. No funeral arrangements are being made.

Yesterday was a tough day. Here is the back story:

In the early morning hours of Friday, Cincinnati had a terrible storm blow through; intense lightning, thunder, rain and wind. We lost power for about 7 hours. Sparty awoke during this storm and I took him out; he awoke an hour later and I took him out. With no power, I wasn't sure of the time, but I knew it was later than usual for him to wake up. At 7:45, I checked his cage, and he was just lying there on his side, totally limp, eyes bugging out, and unresponsive. He could not stand and his head was flopping to one side. I took him immediately to the vet hospital and left him there. They determined that he was hypoglycemic and dehydrated. (he had eaten at 8pm). This caused him to have neurological seizures. They did everything they could, but he was too critical. The Vet (who I just met yesterday; I saw the other one the previous week on Sparty's first visit) determined that this was a secondary condition and that he had a congenital problem with the shunt to his liver. It didn't detoxify the byproducts to his liver and it caused him to become hypoglycemic. There is an expensive surgery that could be done, but there is no guarantee that it would work. Too many unanswered questions and the best decision was for him to be euthanized.

Tim, Julia and I went to visit him at 5:30pm. We were hoping for good news. The assistant brought Sparty into the room wrapped in a white towel. She said he was still very critical. He looked so sick in the towel....BUT when I started talking to him, he opened his eyes and looked at me. He kissed my chin. He wanted to feel good. HOPE? He then rested again. I began to cry...this got Tim crying. Julia remained hopeful. (Loss is something she has had to experience too many times) Sparty had a pretty bad seizure while we were with him. It was very sad. The vet came in and talked to all three of us. Explained to us and told us that the best for Sparty was to be put down. He gave us some time to say goodbye. Tim held Sparty and I held Julia. We all cried. Julia realized the magnitude of it all. We talked about the guilt Tim was feeling; It was no one's fault. He was loved very much. We each took time to hold him and say goodbye. He eventually gave each of us a kiss goodbye. Dr. Bercz took Sparty out...Tim held Julia and she cried on his shoulder. It was at that time they gave me the "bill" to pay. (I guess there isn't a good time to do that part???) They brought Sparty back in still wrapped in the towel, eyes open. Tim and Julia each kissed him....I knew he was gone.

Back at home...still so many memories of the little guy.

This morning, I swear I could hear him crying. It will take time. I never knew or understood the grief of losing a pet. I don't think I ever let myself get so attached. Tim has talked about how things happen for a reason and one day we may know why. It's made him think about death and death of people close to him. We had a family sleepover last night. He didn't sleep so well.

We'll be okay....

Karen