Yesterday was a really,really hard day. We had to say goodbye to our dog, Kalli, who has been with John for 11 years and myself for almost 10 (ever since I've been with John!).
We started seeing symptoms that something was wrong on Monday evening at dinnertime. Kalli has always been a snarfer (not sure if that's even a word!). You could hardly get the bowl of food on the ground before she had it eaten. On Monday night she wasn't interested in her food at all. By Tuesday our usually energetic border collie was moving a little slower when we took her outside and still not eating well. By Wednesday she was having trouble walking the 2 steps into the house and actually fell down trying to get up them. I took her to the vet just after lunch on Wednesday and they did a full blood workup and physical exam. The diagnosis: auto-immune disease. It seems that her red blood cells were dangerously low, she was running a fever, and her gums were almost white. I knew it was bad when the vet told me the diagnosis with tears in her eyes. She gave me a steriod pill to give Kalli and a recommendation to see a specialist but not a whole lot of hope.
By that afternoon Kalli couldn't even stand up to go to the bathroom, she was so weak and I was terrified as John was away on a business trip and wasn't going to be home until that evening. We are so thankful that Alice is now living just across the street and could be here to help! By the time John got home that evening and had consulted several times with our vet, we realized that our dear friend was probably not going to make it through the night. We made the tough decision to take her to an emergency pet hospital and put her to sleep. We know that it was the right decision - but it was still a hard one. Luckily we got to hold her in our arms as she took her last breath. She didn't suffer and really seemed at peace.
So...it is really quiet around our house today. The reality of how fast it happened is still sinking in. It will take a while to get used to not hearing the "click, click, click" as she walked across the hardwood floors and as I swept the floor today, I found myself wondering how long I will find her black hairs on the broom. She was a great dog and a faithful companion and we will surely miss her. We love you Kalli!
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