Petey has gone to the Bridge

On July 28, 2009, just before nine o'clock, our Cattle Dog Petey stepped on a rainbow. His health had been failing over the last few months and everyone knew it was time to say goodbye.

The last twelve months had not been kind to him. It started last summer with a back injury that resulted in several months of rehabilitation with a wonderful veterinarian, Dr. John Sherman of Vethab in Raleigh. Dr. Sherman would play an even bigger role in Petey's life a few months later.

About the time Petey finished his rehab, he ran head first into a bout with Vestibular Syndrome. He lost control of his motor functions and couldn't walk without help. He also quit eating for almost two weeks. We thought we had lost him but we learned that while very frightening, Vestibular Syndrome usually passes in a couple weeks with no long term effects. An so it was with Petey.

The came the Big One. While chasing our Weimeraner mix Tater Petey fell backwards and dislocated his hip. After consulting with the surgeon we decided that Petey probably wouldn't live through the 3-6 month recovery period. We called Dr. Sherman to let him know what we had decided and he asked that we talk to him first.

He had been thinking about an experimental procedure that he thought could be used to help dogs with hip dysplasia and thought it would help Petey. We consented and Dr. Sherman, despite being sick to the point of spending the next few days in bed, stayed late that night to perform the procedure.

He placed three steel pins in Petey's back, one on the top of the relocated hip and two positioned on the opposite hip and pelvis which were triangulated to hold the relocated hip in place for the next month and then used Therabands to apply enough pressure to hold the hip in place.

It worked! One month after the procedure the pins were removed and Petey was walking under his own power and with no pain. So we owe Dr. Sherman for giving us another seven months with Petey that we didn't expect to have.

But age finally caught up with Petey. He had been going downhill over the last few months and today it was time to let him go. We sat with him in the yard for a while and when he went to sleep we took him to his vet and said goodbye.

We buried him next to his BFF Pork Chop, our lab mix who preceded Petey by about eighteen months. He was buried with his favorite frisbee, his Cuz, a few treats and a plush toy. He was three months short of fourteen years.

While we knew the time was coming when we would lose him it's still damned hard. I guess one of the things old dogs teach us is that while love can last a lifetime sometimes a lifetime is way too short.

So we said goodbye to a really good dog. He wasn't the best dog ever but he was close...

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