]In 2009, my beautiful Little Bit passed away. Here is the story of how it happened. Little Bit and I had a schedule. Every day during the week we would watch the early weather and then the Early Show and then I'd leave and come in the office to read the e mail, but I'd stop at 10:00 and come back to watch "Matlock" with Andy Griffith and then at 11:00 there was "In the Heat of the Night" with Carroll O'Connor. Then it would be time to order (or fix) lunch and we'd eat lunch. Then in the afternoon, there were other programs and then it was time for supper and I'd order supper in or fix supper. Then it would be time for the evening news and then the evening television programs which we'd watch until time for bed and then we'd go off to bed.
That was how it went every day except for one day last September. Here is what happened then. We had watched the early weather and the Early Show and I said to Little Bit, "I'll go and read the e mail but I'll come back for Matlock." Then I got up and came in here and turned on the computer and the e mail started to download. After awhile I was reading the e mail and I heard Little Bit call to me. She had a sound that she made when she wanted to know where I was. It was a half bark, half whine and it sounded like, "Where are you?" When I'd hear that, I'd always call back, "I'm in the office (if that was where I was). You can come in here." Then I'd hear her coming along the hall and when I could tell that she was almost to the door of the office, I'd spin around in my chair and say, "Hi, Little Bit." when she came in here. When she came in here, she'd go over and crawl in her doggy bed which was right by the computer desk. Then she'd lie there and look up at me and I'd talk to her some and sometimes I'd read e mail to her. She'd stay there until she thought that I had read e mail long enough and then she'd ask me to go into another room with her and this always worked.
However, this day, the half bark, half whine didn't sound the same pitch that it had before. It sounded impatient I thought and it kept getting louder. I called to Little Bit, "I'm in the office. You can come in here." Still she continued to whine at me. At the last, she sounded like she were being beaten by somebody. Now, there was nobody else in the house. The doors were locked, but when I hear the yelping, I shut down the computer and hurried back into the living room where Little Bit sat calmly looking at me. She didn't seem in pain at all. I wondered about the whining, but I decided that she had simply wanted me to come back in the living room even though she hadn't ever acted like that before. I decided, "Well, there's always a first time. Maybe she just wanted you to come back in here." I sat down to watch "Matlock" and I did, but I watched Little Bit too and I talked to her and she seemed fine. Then we watched "In the Heat of the Night" and she continued to seem fine. Then it was time to order lunch. Now, whenever I had had lunch delivered, Little Bit would come to the door and peek around me and bark at the delivery guy. However, this time when the delivery guy came, Little Bit didn't get up and follow me to the door. I thought that this was strange, but I thought that maybe she just didn't want to come to the door that day. I paid for the lunch and took it and came back to my easy chair and sat down to eat my salad.
I had bought Little Bit a ham and cheese sub. I know now that I should never have started with the people food, but at the time I thought that this was a treat for her and she thought so too. I took the top slice of bread off for Little Bit, so that the meat would cool some and she could get to it and the cheese which she loved and then I set about eating my salad and talking to Little Bit. I continued to watch her and she seemed fine. We sat in the living room all day. Then that night, I asked her, "Do you want to come in my lap:" Before when I'd ask her that, she'd come and stand in front of me so that I could pick her up and put her in my lap and stroke her, but that night, she wanted to come, but she seemed like she didn't think that she had enough room to turn where she was and so she didn't come to me, but later on, I asked her again and I was able to slide her toward my chair a little and pick her up and when I did, I noticed her back legs. They were just hanging there.
However, she did not seem to be in any pain. I wondered about her back legs. I wondered if she had lost the use of them, but I was distracted by the television program. However, I continued to stroke and talk to Little Bit and I noticed that there was a warmer than normal spot on her back about the middle all the way back to right before where her tail started. She was in no pain when I touched this spot, but I wondered about this. However, Little Bit was in no pain and she seemed fine. We fell asleep in the chair. The next morning, when I helped Little Bit down, her front feet landed like they were supposed to, but her back feet folded up under her and that's when I knew that she had lost the use of her back legs. I waited until the vet's office was open and then I called the vet and told him that Little Bit had lost the use of her back legs and I wondered how that could happen so quickly. Dr. Slappey said that this could happen "in the blink of an eye." (his words) and he also said that Little Bit was too heavy and she had strained her back someway and that was what was wrong. He said that he would give her steroids and I should bring her in to see him. Now, I couldn't drive and Mama was out of the state in Arkansas visiting my brother. I did get in touch with a friend of mine and she took Little Bit and me to the vet the following Monday which was the soonest that I could get her there.
When we got there, I went in to ask the techs to come and help us to get Little Bit out of the SUV. Little Bit had been put in a carrier by her groomer (Judy had been able to put her in without hurting her. Judy was her groomer.) I told the techs that we had Little Bit outsie and we needed help to bring her in and one of them said, "We'll bring her in." Then they left. About that time, the door leading back to the exam rooms opened and another tech came out and she said to me, "Come with me." I followed her into a white room with a steel exam table and two black chairs. I sat in one of them and my friend Louise sat in the other one. Then the vet came in to say "Hi" and then Little Bit was wheeled in still in the carrier. When the vet tested her pawa for feeling, he said to me, "This is not good. She's lost all sense of pain." Then he said that the only way to save her was to take her to the University of Georgia Vet Clinic for surgery which could make her worse, or to let them put her to sleep. I was stunned when I heard the choices! Poor Little Bit! Not my Little Bit! I never wanted to have to give permission to put her to sleep! I asked the vet about the price of the surgery, and it was between $4000 and $6000. I didn't have that kind of money, but I would have borrowed on my house to get it if I'd had a chance to get to the bank. Then my friend Louise said, "You'll have to find a way to get her to Atlanta and then you'll have to find a place to stay while you're there and you'll have to go several times." The vet confirmed this. I also knew that the surgery could leave Little Bit a lot worse than she was. The vet said to me, "You can take her home. She'll still be the same dog that she was but now you can't take care of her properly because she's lost all control of her backside (she had lost control of her kidneys at the vet's) and now she won't be able to use the bathroom like she's supposed to and because of that her kidneys will shut down and she'll go into kidney failure which is quite painful."
I thought about alll the vet had said as I looked at my sad little darling and I thought tht the kindest thing that I could do for her was to tell the vet that I wanted him to put her to sleep. I saw in Little Bit's eyes that she wanted me to let her go and I did, even though it was the harest thing that I have ever had to do. He put her to sleep that Monday. I am having her cremated and she is coming home next month. [/color]
It is good to write about our Fur Kids have gone on the Rainbow Bridge where they will wait for us to go with them across the bridge together. Little Bit can rest in peace now no more pain.
Your tribute to Little Bit was hard to read since the color of the font is almost the same color.
Quote from: papbouv on April 03, 2010, 03:45:33 PM
It is good to write about our Fur Kids have gone on the Rainbow Bridge where they will wait for us to go with them across the bridge together. Little Bit can rest in peace now no more pain.
Your tribute to Little Bit was hard to read since the color of the font is almost the same color.
yes we are so sorry. But I couldn't read it at all. Hit modify and you can change it and we can all share your story. God Seed Lil Bit, :heart:
How heart broken you must be. I hope it was therapeutic to write your story. My sympathies to you.
I am so sorry for your loss.... it is never easy to let them go - no matter what the circumstances are....
(I broke up your tribute and bolded the print to make it a little easier to read)
:comfort:
I am so so very sorry for your loss of Little Bit...God Bless you!
We are so very sorry for your loss. God speed, Little Bit.