Well, the day I thought was going to happen several times over the past 12 months finally happened. Our 13 year old dog Sandi passed away Tuesday morning. She had Cushings Disease, which is basically from an excessive amount of cortisol being produced. There are treatments, but when you weigh treatment success and cost vs. age of the dog, we made the decision to just make sure she was comfortable and not in any pain. She never was in pain (which anyone who has seen Sandi since her diagnosis could attest to).I knew something wasn't right Monday when she didn't touch her food. She wouldn't even take the snausage treat that I gave her with her medicine- and that really told me something was different. She was like that most of the day, then Monday evening her hind legs began giving out on her, and she started to have a glassy, lost look in her eyes. She was drinking a whole lot more, and then rather than going through the dog door, we'd have to let her out ourselves because she couldn't make the little hop. I stayed downstairs that night, since she was lying on the tile and I didn't want her to hurt herself if she tried to get up that way and slide on the tile.
Tuesday morning she didn't look any better, and finally she went outside to the oleander she always liked to dig under and laid down there. When I couldn't get her to come out, and she became totally unresponsive to anything, I called my neighbor next door and we got her into the van so I could get her to the vet. Unfortunately at this point I knew this wasn't a trip to save her. She passed on the way.
She was such a happy dog, always wanting to play and bruise you with her long wagging tail. That was the reason we got her. I'll never forget looking at the Shar Pei that just peed on the floor when I pet it. Then we saw Sandi, the cute little beagle/doberman puppy with the biggest ears you'd ever seen. After romping around on the floor of Petsmart for a few minutes (much to Bret's embarrassment I think), I knew she was ours. She was always gentle too, both girls as babies would be all over her, and she never growled or snapped.
We were very lucky we got a little more time with her when we returned home from vacation. Sandi will definitely be missed, we all ready notice how quiet it is when we walk in the door. I'm really going to notice Monday when the girls go back to school.
Thanks everyone who has called with their condolences, even though I haven't returned phone calls yet, they are all very appreciated.
