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On the 31st December I found my gravid double het snow female dead in her cage. We cut her open and she had a snow, some anery, albinos and normals in her, fully developed, and even out of their embryonic sacs. One baby had gotten stuck in her and she could not give birth to any of the others, and they died, started rotting and caused her death. It was heart breaking as I have spent 3 - 4 years raising her, and since breeding, she developed such a character and she really didn't like me checking in on her when I was expecting babies.
A few days later my other double het snow female left me several slugs, and that's all. Luckily she survived and will hopefully breed again some day. Not the best start to the year, but the worst was still to come.On the 17th January my dog woke up with a nose bleed. We took her to the vet as soon as their doors opened and they admitted her. They did x-rays on her head as well as a stomach as she showed pain when they pulpated her stomach. The prognoses was that she has cancer in her nose, but they couldn't confirm it 100% as she had an infection in her nose. The vet also informed us that her liver was enlarged. We decided to treat the infection and then go for further testing. Her nose did not bleed again after these tests for a few days and when it started up again we could get the bleeding stopped by applying ice / cold pack to her nose.
On Thursday 23rd January her nose started bleeding and we would get it under control only for it to start again half an hour later. We got a referral to go to Onderstepoort and she was admitted there for further treatment. They did a sonar on her belly,, CT scan and a scope in her nose. They could not find anything wrong in her nose, but said that she has cancer in her liver, spleen and lymph. They later confirmed this as Multiple Myeloma. It's a cancer of the blood plasma cells. With treatment her life expectancy is 1 year, and only 50% of the dogs react to treatment.
On Monday 27th Jan she was discharged with some cortisone. We felt that we would give it a try and see if it helped. We decided that should she be in pain and discomfort we will have her put to sleep, but she still had a will to live and we were going to give her as much time as we could. Her nose did not bleed since she had been admitted at Onderstepoort, so we were positive. In the early hours of the 30th we rushed Jesse through to Onderstepoort as we were struggling to get the bleeding to stop this time. They sprayed a mixture into her nose which stopped the bleeding and we brought her home again.
On the 1st February, around 11pm I was in Fourways at a friend's party and received a call from Bushviper that her nose had started bleeding again and it was worse than before and it wouldn't stop. Being stranded away from my vehicle I could not come home, but Bv took her to Onderstepoort. Unfortunately they said it would just get worse, even if they stop it again. It was because of the cancer. I received the call to say it was time and she had been taken away. My heart was broken, and coming back to an "empty" house was not something I could ever imagine doing, but had to face it. My rottweiler cross went dashing out the door when I came home, looking for Jesse, thinking I had her with me.
This was heart breaking not only for us as humans, but for our dogs as well. I did not know that dogs could grieve to such an extent, but I am still struggling to get them to eat. The rottweiler still looks sad, and even though she now has taken up a new sleeping place, guarding us, she is still sad. Who would have thought that animals could feel so deeply. I didn't.
Missing my Jesse every day. Days have gotten easier, but she'll never be forgotten.
