RIP Macy-Dog :(

Today is a very sad day for us. We had to say goodbye to our sweet dog Macy :(  Everything happened so fast that I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Last Tuesday, Macy wouldn't eat her dinner. This was nothing new - she's a picky eater by nature and sometimes just refuses to eat for whatever reason. Wednesday she was acting rather aloof and anti-social. But again, she does this from time to time. Wednesday afternoon, Paul got ready to take her for a walk. Usually, when you pick up her harness and leash, she starts to dance around and get excited. This time when he picked them up, she turned away and walked back inside. This is when we got really worried and Paul called the vet to see about getting her in for a check-up. They had an opening that evening, so he took her in while I stayed home with Nathan. They examined her, ran some bloodwork, and did x-rays. The diagnosis: immune mediated hemolytic anemia. Basically, her immune system randomly started attacking and destroying her red blood cells, resulting in a whole slew of problems. It is an acute onset disease, and in dogs, they aren't really sure what causes it. It literally came out of nowhere.

We left Macy at the animal hospital that night to begin treatment. They put her on an IV for fluids and started her on high-dose steroids in addition to antibiotics and a stomach acid reducer. On Thursday the vet called to say she appeared to be responding well and was starting to perk up. On Friday, they said she was doing even better and was ready to come home. She would need to go on long-term steroids for a few months to ensure a full remission. We brought her home, along with a bag full of meds. She seemed to be feeling better initially, but still didn't have much of an appetite and spent most of the evening and night downstairs or in the garage. Saturday we got her to take her meds in the morning and then were gone all day taking Nathan to the pediatrician and to meet one of his great-grandparents. Saturday night, she took her meds but still wouldn't eat or leave the garage to come inside.

Yesterday (Sunday) was Paul's first day back on shift - and my first full 24-hour shift alone with Nathan. I managed to get Macy to take her meds in the morning, but she still wouldn't eat. Then last night, she refused to even take her meds (which we usually bury in a spoonful of peanut butter - one of her favorite treats). She was outside, sitting under her favorite tree in the side yard, basking in the snow (she's a Siberian Husky). When I called her to come into the garage, she only made it as far as the dog house that is attached to the garage, where she laid down and started to cry back at me. Every time I tried to reach inside the opening and help her through, she turned away and whined. That was the point at which I knew how this was going to end. I called Paul, crying, a little after 9:00 p.m. I'd just spent an exhausting hour and a half getting Nathan fed, changed, fed again, and put to bed. And I had to call him at work and tell him I thought it was time.

Our vet clinic is not a 24/7 operation, so being that it was a Sunday night, the only option would have been to take Macy to an animal emergency hospital in another town. My father-in-law had been on stand-by all day in case it came to that. But after talking with Paul, neither of us felt good about that option. We knew the outcome wasn't going to be good, and we didn't want to have her in a strange clinic with people we didn't know doing the procedure on a night when Paul was on shift. So we decided to wait until this morning when Paul would be home and our regular vet would be available. He got home around 8:00 and took her to the clinic where they confirmed that she was crashing. The only "treatment" option would have been to transfuse her, which might have stabilized her but not guaranteed that she would start responding to treatment. Paul came back to get me and our other dog, Gibbs. We dropped Nathan off to stay with Grandpa for an hour or so until we got back. They gave us a room to sit with Macy and say our goodbyes. The procedure took less than 5 minutes and she was gone. We wrapped her in an old red fleecy blanket and Paul loaded her into his truck to take back to his parents farm for burial.

I'm glad that she is not in pain anymore, but I'm still in shock that this happened. Two weeks ago, I was giving birth to Nathan in the hospital and Macy was the same happy, healthy, frisky dog we have always known her to be. I'm heartbroken that she is gone, and I'm especially sad for Paul since she was "his" dog. I am, however, very glad that we have our sweet little boy to distract us. And I'm glad that Macy and Nathan got to "meet" before she was gone. In tribute to Macy, I will close with a few pictures:

 Big yawn!

 Having a "conference" with the cats...

 Doing the annual Cancer Survivors' Celebration & Walk in honor of my Nana.

 She loved to play in, and eat, the snow :)

 Licking out the empty peanut butter jar...

 The first day we met Macy and decided to take her home.

 Meeting her "baby brother" Gibbs for the first time.

 Pretty girl after a trip to the groomer's.

 Frolicking in the snow!

 On her first road trip with us to Wisconsin for 4th of July 2009.

 Silly girl liked to sleep upside down.

 Curled up on her pillow.

 Her favorite spot in the yard - under the apple tree.

 Exploring in the Blue Ridge mountains.

 

"Helping" my mom unwrap birthday presents.

Hiking in the Appalachian mountains with Paul and my dad.