Westie

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

9 year old female, coat going a bit dark in very small areas.
Should I worry?

[cshenk]

Mr Pounder Esquire wrote:

> 9 year old female, coat going a bit dark in very small areas.
> Should I worry?

No, normal aging there

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

Thanks. Google has not been very helpful.
Getting an appointment with the vet is like asking for the holy grail.

[cshenk]

Yeah, I have to wait 3 weeks for an end of life review for my 16YO dog
from my vet.

[cshenk]

Well, Iowna (my 16YO blind dog) passed today. Sudden massive stroke
and a series of seizures. Family got her to the vet and he said best
not to wait. The seizures were causing a lot of pain from her
arthritis.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

I'm so very very sorry.
I've been there, and I was probably the worst day of my life.

[cshenk]

Thank you. I lost Cash 2 months ago and now Iowna. Frankly Iowna, we
were prepared for. Thats why she was scheduled for end of life
assessment.

Smile with me as you read of her life, for that is more important than
her end.

Iowna was born Iowna Link to a very prestigeous line of beagles and
show winners. She was no backyard breeder product but from a line of
show winners. She'd have been on the ring to show best of breed except
she was slightly smaller than classic so was instead tested for agility
and came up in spades as good at it, making a lot of money for her
first owner who loved her and let her just 'be a dog with a mission'.
She lived a golden puppyhood and young adulthood. Spaying ws delayed
as she had high potential to breed show winners. Then adversity hit.
She developed Glaucoma at age 9.

The first owner tried to deal with it but could not. She lost the
sight in her left eye fairly fast then the right eye set in. He fond
her a safe spot with a no kill facility that had the finances to treat
her and they did. During that time, one eye had to be removed and the
blind one was treated with ablation (Gentimycin treatments). Placing a
1 eyed blind dog isnt easy but she was in a good rescue and if there
was a problem, it was they had to block the cat tree because they were
afraid she'd fall out when she climbed it to snooze with the resident
cat.

Yes, she was a climber, agility dog champ, and she loved cats who loved
her back.

Enter Iowna age just shy of 11 to our home. Her birth records show she
was born 2 July 2002 and would have turned 17 this year.

It was almost like having a curious toddler who wants to climb
*everything*! Endless amusement as we'd find we had to bolt
bookshelves to walls because she'd climb them. She'd knock the books
out to get higher so we tried bungee cords and dang if we didnt find
her 5ft up then! We set up a camera and caught her. She was using
them to climb!

Ever found your dog IN the Xmas tree several feet up? LOL, the fix is
cup hooks and 100lb test fishing line. We have wood beams up there so
we'd tie the tree up at the top to the beams. We also had our local
Xmas tree guy special cut the bottom branches so they were well above
her eye level.

We learned that the dog house has to be 18 inches from the fence
because othwewise, she used the fence to the dog house beams to climb
it and lay on the warm top (Yup! Snoopy!)

She also taught our other dog (sighted, passed 2 months ago) to climb
the woodpile as it's nicely sun-warm up there. Great, now I had 2 dogs
4ft up on a wood pile!

Iowna was also a fantastic ambassador for blind dogs locally. I'd walk
her around and the kids would argue who got to walk her a bit next (we
used a rotation) and they learned about blind dogs. Sadly many people
assume a blind dog should be put down but around my streets, they
learned better from her. They called her the 'Snifflilator' and
learned that is how blind dogs 'see the world'.

Iowna, ya done good girl. Play now at the rainbow bridge and I'll be
there eventually when my time is done.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

I don't know what to say.
Except that I cried.
I wish you all of the best.

[cshenk]

Sad to see my little girl go, but she had a good life and gave us much
joy in the time she gifted us with.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

My last dog was called Lucy. Cross Labrador and Collie. She was very
intelligent and used to sometimes give me the creeps with her behavior. She
was extraordinary. I know that everybody thinks that their dog is the best,
but Lucy was a one off.
When she was 14 in 2004 I had to say yes to the vet. I cried like a big kid.
It still hurts.
My Westie is 9, I'm 67. My executors know what to do if I die first. She
loves me to bits and would not settle with any new owner.

[cshenk]

BTW, as we get ready for the Jellicle Ball (13OCT will be the 24th
Ball), I entered Lucy, House of Esquire.

Feel free to watch or join in at rec.pets.cats.community
- RPCC is a friendly place where pet lovers pretend to be their pets
and have lots of adventures. They especially gather at a new place
once a year at the first full moon in October to celebrate life, and
also memorialize those who have passed. This is called 'The Jellicle
Ball'. We picked Big Cedar Lodge (bass fishing and hunting place in
the Ozarks) to pretend to be at this time. Dogs welcome but they have
to at least pretend to be cat friendly (grin). After reading a couple
of messages you will kinda get the swing of things. Speaking in broken
'Kat Speek' is optional!