[Gpdd] Rainbow Bridge: Liberty: July 2, 2005 - November 11, 2009

[ME]

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my little  
Peruvian.  It did not come as a surprise as she had been sick for the  
last couple months, starting with a couple UTIs in mid-September to  
October, then decreased mobility in mid-October.  The vet believed it  
was caused by a back injury and put her on Metacam.  I supplemented  
her with hand feeding since her UTIs, but by the end of October, I  
was hand feeding her every 3-4 hours from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.  I was  
starting to suspect something else was going on as she seemed to go  
downhill each time she seemed to be getting better, but I also felt  
that she was too weak to survive a trip to the vet, so I made the  
decision to keep her as comfortable as possible and try to get her  
strong enough to make the trip.  She seemed to be getting much  
stronger the first week of November, but took a turn for the worse  
over the weekend.  She started to eat less Monday night, and by  
Tuesday evening, I knew the end was very near.  Between 10 p.m. and  
4:30 a.m., she took her final breath.

Necropsy showed that she had a few things, cystic ovaries and hepatic  
lipidosis, but the vet believes cause of death was from a weak  
heart.  It was approximately twice as large as it should have been.   
Obviously, there was no cure for that, so I suppose I made the right  
decision keeping her at home.  I was feeling pretty guilty about not  
bringing her to the vet after she died, but my intuition told me not  
to move her and just keep her comfortable and try to give her body a  
chance to heal.

I don't know what else to write right now.  Deaths after prolonged  
care seem to hit hardest.  At least I have her five friends to get me  
through.