A week ago yesterday, I took Willie to my vet and for the life of me I can't remember why. Oh, now, I remember why. Willie was wetting on the floor, which was totally out of character for him. Lori did a blood test and said it wasn't his kidneys. She thought from the shape his body had taken, it was Cushing's Disease.

On Friday, Willie and I made three trips to Lori's office for bloodwork to test for Cushing's. On Sat. morning Lori called me to say Willie had Cushing's and I should come in for medicine that would kill off part of the adrenal gland. It seems Cushing's is caused by an overactive pituitary gland which in turn causes the adrenal gland to produce too much cortisol, or it can be caused from a tumor on the pituitary or adrenal gland. From the results of the tests, she didn't suspect a tumor. I gave him his medicine at 12:30 PM and spent the afternoon with him until my husband and I had to go to pick up out camper from the repair shop. Willie didn't want to go. He didn't want to get in the car. I thought he was probably nervous thinking he was going back to the vet, so I left him at home for a little over an hour. When I returned home, Willie was stumbling over his front feet and his back legs gave way. Lori had given me some prednisone to give him in case he developed any of the following; not eating, vomiting, lethargic... I can't remember them all now, but he didn't fit any of the symptoms. I tried to call Lori at home, but she didn't answer. I was in a panic, so I took him to the Emergency Clinic, which I absolutely hate. They gave him the prednisone and said I would have to leave him for at least 8 hrs. They told me he was in guarded condition and I had to sign a paper saying I wanted him resuscitated if need be. I told them about his heart block problem. He was very nervous, but didn't look like he was anywhere near the point of death. I didn't want to leave him and told them I would call and wanted to bring him home even if it was in the middle of the night.

When I got back home, Lori called me and when I told her the trouble she said to go back up the the Emergency Clinic and get Willie and meet her at the office. My son was visiting and he wanted to go with me. The Emergency Clinic had shaved both front legs and said Willie had pulled out two catheters. They had put one in his back leg and given him fluid. They left the catherter in his back leg. We met Lori at her office and she did an ultrasound. She couldn't find anything abnormal. She gave him more fluid and told me not to give him any meds. The stumbling had stopped. We brought Willie home, but he wouldn't eat. He stood over his water bowl, but wouldn't drink. We went to bed at 11:00 PM, but Willie was having a very difficult time breathing. He was breathing 124 times per minute, very shallow, and every now and then he would cough a little.
I called Lori at 1:00 AM and she told me to give him 1/2 of a Valium. It didn't help. I called her again at 5:00 AM and she told me to meet her at the office. Lori took x-rays and his stomach full of food. He had only eaten about a tablespoon of canned salmon. She also found a fuzzy area in his lungs. She did an EKG and found a very bad arrhythmia problem. Lori said his liver felt hard. She said the only thing we could do was send Willie to the University of Ga, and I REALLY didn't want to do that. As we were standing there facing some terrible problems. Willie was standinig on the table and a bloody fluid started dripping from his nose. Lori said, "Oh, Ginga, this is very bad." She smelled his breath and said he smelled very sick. She said the words I couldn't stand to hear. I held that dear trusting face in my hands, looked into his velvet brown eyes and continued to tell Willie how much I loved him. "I love you Willie. I love you Baby." Lori was crying so hard she could hardly see how to put the needle in his front leg. She gave him one drop and Willie relaxed. He very peacefully went to sleep Sunday morning. My husband and I brought Willie home and I laid on my bed with him and cried myself to sleep while my husband went to find a cooler.

How do you live without the sunshine of your life, your shadow, the purest soul you have every known, your bed fellow, your constant companion?
We placed Willie in an Igloo Cooler that was much too large for him, but better too large than too small. We buried him in our pet cemetary in the back yard. He was resting on the mattress pad and my old flannel robe that he loved to scratch into a puppy nest, and his pillow from his favorite bed dressed in a new quilted pillow sham and I covered him with a small comforter I had made into a puppy comforter from an old comforter that used to be on my son's bed. I also placed his favorite tennis ball and toy by his side.

1998-1999 LPLIST

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