Brandy, my dear friend

My dear little friend is gone now after a long battle to work her way back from illness. She was 15 years old this past spring , a long life for a larger dog.
Last night, these things seem to always happen in the night, Brandy became dizzy and disoriented , throwing up and eye popping out of her head, rolling back in her head uncontrollably.
I took her to the Lakewood Emergency Vet.
I thought it was a stroke but the vet told me it was something with the vestibular area of the ear causing uncontrollable vertigo and misery for her. It was something that could clear up in days but might return again and again. It happens in elderly dogs but with her cancer history could be a symptom of it's return.
She was suffering from hip dysplasia, Lyme disease and a whole lot more and had just overcome a severe form of cancer.

She had stopped being able to walk almost completely about a few months ago and the last week was almost unable to stand without help and though she was not in pain her muscles were atrophying from lack of use. She was going blind and deaf and was easily alarmed. She would cry if no one was around her. The list goes on of things that needed attention.



So late last night the vet put her to sleep. The battle she was fighting was just too overwhelming anymore for both of Brandy and me.
We were both(she and I) seriously sleep deprived and worn out from trying to help her make a come back. For the past several months I had to carry her everywhere or assist her in what little walking she could do, but she was trying so hard, so interested in life and those around her that it would have been wrong to let her go just yet. I tried every avenue to help her live a bit longer.

This added problem was just too cruel and ugly for her to handle anymore.



I miss her terribly

I hear her in the room still. I keep expecting to see her in the house.
Her kitty pals, Garfield and Sandy were waiting this morning when I got up sitting side by side staring at me, something they just never do.
I stared back but had a clue what they wanted.
As if to clarify they walked over to Brandy's empty bed and sat on it together for a long time looking at me over and over.
I said, "She's gone boys".
They laid down together on her bed for a few hours and once in a while both coming to sit by me in tandem.
And today they are quiet and subdued.








Sandy had adopted Brandy as a surrogate Mom when his own rebuffed him before he was fully weaned. He went in to Brandy and slept by her from then on and they were good friends. He is very lonely today and so am I.
Sandy and his brother Garfield are both about 13 years old .

Hard on the heels of another blow last month that left me devastated this is just hard to take.

Anyone who has had a dog knows that they are companions like no other kind of animal. Faithful, loyal, loving and kind they stick when others are gone. They endure a lot and are quiet in pain. Brandy endured pain from her dysplasia and arthritis without any fanfare. Always happy for a hug or a pet, always there to be a friend inspite of her own hardships. Even when recovering from her bout with cancer she never complained but was happy all the time and shared that with me.
I find them to be an inspiration in that way.
You step on a dogs foot accidently and there's no hard feeling or recrimination. They just endure and give love all their lives in that patient way they have.
Patience, endurance in hard ship and joy in living....
We humans can think on that and try to emulate that more I think. Maybe that is why God let us have them as friends.








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