I can’t think of anything else to say that I’ve not already said about Shorti dying last Saturday, July 5th, 2003. I should atleast make an entry because now and again, I like to go back and read old entries that I’ve made over the years. So, without having to type everything over again, I’m cutting and pasting the contents of the homepage of my main site, Kellysville.com.
Shorti was adopted from the local animal shelter on June 14th, 2003. A day or so later, we noticed her having a dry, hacking cough and made an appointment with a local veterinarian. After the initial office examination, Shorti was believed to have kennel cough. A series of booster shots was administered and antibiotics were prescribed.
After the last dose of antibiotics (the 8th day), the cough seemed unimproved. Several days later, she began drooling occasionally while coughing. I called the veterinarian and was told to keep an eye on her but that she’d be fine. This became progressively worse and then a new symptom began. She would bear her front teeth and bite down repeatedly, drool, cough and sneeze. I again called the vet and was told to continue giving her Robitussin DM for the cough. What I didn’t learn until later was that the biting down repeatedly is a sign called “chewing gum fits” which is seen only in cases of canine distemper. The only reason I can think of why the veterinarian didn’t catch onto this problem was that maybe I didn’t communicate her actions clearly enough to know I was describing a “chewing gum fit”.
Saturday, July 5th, 2003, I got off-the-air at 10am and went home. Shorti had developed a full head twitch along with all her other signs and symptoms. I immediately loaded her into the car and went to the nearest animal hospital. Once there, one of the on call veterinarians (finally) came into the examining room and began the routine examination. I was explaining the signs and symptoms to him. He immediately noticed the drooling and twitching. It’s then that he broke the news to us that the only option for Shorti was euthanasia. He didn’t recommend taking her home because he believed the twitching was a sign that the virus had spread to the brain and nothing could be done. I wasn’t aware until he explained, there’s no cure for canine distemper. Once a dog gets it, they rarely ever recover. He expected Shorti to live maybe another 24 hours, but it would be painful for her.
We said our good-byes to Shorti, she was obviously miserable and in pain. Just before I left, the veterinarian wrapped her in the towel I brought and took her to the back. That was the last time I saw Shorti alive.
A day later, the animal hospital told me about a service here in town that provides memorials for your pets, such as cremations, caskets, urns, memorial stones, etc. In the past, I’ve always thought this was very odd, until now. I called this organization, Companions Forever, and made the arrangements. Shorti will be cremated Monday, July 7th, 2003 and placed into a nice wooden urn with personalized engraved bronze plate. The epitaph that we choose is “Love Comes Walking Softly and Steals Our Hearts Away” because Shorti had this funny little butt wiggle when she walked.
When I picked up the urn on Friday, July 11th, I placed it in the passenger side backseat, which still had quite a lot of dog hair scattered about. This was her favorite place to ride in the car.
NEW YORK (CNN) — Famed violinist Isaac Stern died Saturday. He was 81.
