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Lady Anna Belle - the perfect dog

Our precious little girl crossed Rainbow Bridge

This is very difficult for me to write. Our story is on the forums at dachsie.org. The support from our friends there has been immeasurable. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Lady Anna Belle had a rough week. She stayed at the hospital for a few nights while they tried to diagnose her. Firstly they needed to stabilize her. She had a blood transfusion and some difficulties after that including a reaction to the transfusion. We moved her to our regular vet when Monday came. Immediately, he thought she had Cushings Disease. He ran tests to determine if that was the cause of her failing health. Cushings is related to a tumor in the adrenal or pituitary gland which then over-produces ACTH. There are some symptoms that point to the disease, but Lady Anna did not show any until she became suddenly ill.

We brought Anna Belle home Wednesday evening. Thursday was Thanksgiving and our vet wanted to see how she would do at home. We were to bring her back at some point Friday when the test results came back. When we brought her home, her platelets were back to normal, she was eating a bit, and her disposition had improved. We thought we were out of the red zone. We were realistic enough to realize that something was of course wrong with her to make her that sick. If the tests did come back as Cushings, there were treatments and she could still live a handful of productive years.

Thanksgiving was the most beautiful day with her - it will always hold a special place in our hearts. We heard her bark and growl, saw her run and lay in the sun, and of course smiled as she begged for morsels as we celebrated Thanksgiving. She gave us one more day. It was exquisite.

Friday morning she woke up fine. I went to work and her Dad had the day off. Shortly after I left, she started to cry... whine... howl. We thought perhaps she was having some separation anxiety. He took her to the vet and he couldn't necessarily see anything wrong with her. It didn't make sense, her blood work was looking better. He gave her some pain medication and said he would call us with the results. Daddy then took her to see me at work. She was very happy to see me... and of course, I was to see her. It was obvious that the pain medication was taking affect. Dad took her back in just in case. He left her there and the vet said that he would keep her overnight and start her first treatment for Cushings as soon as the tests came back.

I got a call a few hours later from our vet. She passed about 1:45pm. Her organs and heart were shutting down. He did everything he could to save her. Unfortunately, her little body was tired... her spirit never was.

We went to see her and say our goodbyes. She looked peaceful. Her coat as always was beautiful and those eyes gorgeous. She fought so hard, but it was too strong. It was her time. My heart is broken. I miss her more than words could say.

The test results came back... it was Cushings.

Anna is a very sick little girl

Our baby is sick. I’m not sure where to start, but I thought writing about it would be therapeutic. I don’t have any human children… just furbabies. When something is wrong, I am a wreck.

It started yesterday afternoon, November 18, 2006. Anna was lethargic and not responsive to food or treats… not even people food. That’s when I knew something was seriously wrong. I searched the internet and came across Bloat. If you know anything about Bloat, then you’ll understand why I was quickly panicked.

We took her to the hospital at about 8pm. It seemed that everyone around us was having a bad night… a couple was there and had to have their dog euthanized and another couple had their cat euthanized. We joke that good news was due and we were the ones.

Bloat was quickly ruled out. Her white blood cell count was very high and it was obvious she was fighting an infection of some kind. Further blood tests indicated that it may be Pancreatitis. They wanted to keep her overnight to give her fluid and antibiotics. We then discussed how the prognosis was good and we given advice about dietary changes. We went home and pretended that she was just spending the night with her beloved Grandma.

We called this morning at 7am and were told she had a good night, but more blood work and tests needed to be done. We thought we would be bringing her home this afternoon. However, around 2pm, I got heart-retching news that it was much more serious than was originally thought.

After more tests this morning and analyzing her blood, it was discovered that her platelets were dangerously low. Normal platelets should be around 250 thousand – Anna has 4 thousand. The good news is that she does not have any signs of internal bleeding… which can occur when the platelets drop below 20 thousand.

Our options were to euthanize her or try a blood transfusion. Typically, the prognosis is 50/50… however we were told hers is slim and guarded. The vet said he would hate to see her euthanized without trying – especially since she is not bleeding internally. Of course we chose the transfusion. I think our bill is at about $1500 at this point.

We visited her for a few hours before the transfusion. She was so happy to see us. Her little tail wagged and wagged. It was difficult to see her hooked up to an IV. We let her down from the table and she walked around a bit – while I wheeled around her IV to accommodate her. She was happy to be about, albeit a bit shaky… she wagged her tail some more and I think she was ready to forget it all and go home. Oh, how I wish we could have just scooped her up, brought her home, warmed up her favorite blanket in the dryer and called it a night.

Now we wait. Even if she makes it through this, we need to figure out what brought the episode about – cancer? Possibly. They were getting her ready when we were leaving. She was watching us with those big chocolate eyes. I hope that wasn’t goodbye.