Sunday, September 22, 2013

Ivy, the last page

On May 31, 2013 we made the painful and difficult decision to end Ivy's life. She had been vomiting and had stopped eating several days before.....very unusual for a Lab. The emergency vet had determined she was in severe liver failure. She was listless and her gums were yellow. We called our regular vet in Chesapeake and he agreed with our decision.
It was such a long drive to his office. They quickly got us in a room and our vet's wife came in and told us how sorry she was. We were all in tears. We were with Ivy when she passed as we wanted her to know how much we loved her. I had my hands on her and felt her last breath. We signed off to have her individually cremated and, with heavy hearts, drove home.
We picked up her cremains several days later. Always the skeptic, I went through the ashes, and came up with the TPLO surgical hardware. I knew it was Ivy and that provided a strange source of comfort.
Her TPLO surgeries gave her an excellent quality of life. She would be considered a "senior" dog by many at the time of her surgeries. I would not change a thing. TPLO was the right choice for our Ivy. It gave her a great quality of life. She never limped again and was able to run and swim until a couple of weeks before her death, at age 11. Fly on your angel wings, sweet Ivy!
Ivy, the day before she died.