Part one: In my last post I spoke about our pets over the years. Today we are about to lose another. Today is Tia’s day. As I mentioned in my last post, Kieran loved our pets, and adored Max and Tia who arrived bountiful into our home in 2013, the year of our darling son’s death. Kieran had 5 months with Max and 3 months with Tia before he died, and today, our hearts heavy, is the day we become executioners and wave goodbye to Tia as she crosses Rainbow Bridge into Kieran’s arms. She will be able to wag her tail again, all 4 legs will work and she will be pain free and Kieran will be giving her belly rubs and rolling on Heaven’s floor, chasing stars with her. So to Tia’s story- well what I know.
Tia was rescued, along with about 5 other dogs by the RSPCA and German Shepherd Rescue Elite. I remember being told that she was GSRE’s first true rescue- most dogs are given up, rehomed… but Tia was rescued from a house where she had been neglected, had a chronic skin condition and kept for breeding puppies to feed the man’s drug addiction.
She was 5 years old and this had been her life, if you could call it that! She was fostered with Allison, one of the founders of GSRE where she was nursed back to health. Whilst she was there Tia met Max- who was about 15 months old and had been dropped off my his previous owner. She was still being nursed back to health there when we adopted Max. About 2 months later she was ready to be rehomed and we went and walked her with Max to see how they got on again. We were going to have her for a “sleepover” the second time but actually there was no need- I brought her home and we felt honoured to be her chosen owners.
When we walked into the house for the first time there was no need for careful introduction with Max- they greeted each other like long lost friends and tails wagged as they settled down to the next 22 months together. They played a lot. Max was boisterous but Tia, having been a mum so many times, recognised Max for the adolescent he was and put him in his place if he tried anything too much. Tia loves her food too and gobbles it up in half the time it takes Max!
When Kieran died she was there to lick the tears away, to lie by our feet, to get us up in the morning. She is a lovely dog, despite how she had previously been treated, she is beautiful. Her ears might have been on the large side, her legs on the short, and her body on the long- but to us she is perfect, adorable and wonderful.
Last June, when we came back from a week in Germany, having left her and Max in the very wonderful kennels, NAPTHHA (they look after the dogs well and board some of the GSRE dogs waiting to be rehomed- but they actually work with them and help them and spend time with them to assist in making them ready for rehoming) – well anyway- when we arrived to pick them up they were very enthusiastic to see us. Tia took a flying leap into the back of the car. The next day she became lame. Initially we thought it might be sprain- short legs overstretching themselves jumping in the boot. We took her to our fantastic vet- she was quite new to the surgery and has been great with both Tia and us throughout. Vibrant, enthusiastic, willing to try all things for the best for Tia-but not afraid to tell us her prognosis.
We had x-rays where it was discovered she actually had terrible hips- hip dysplasia- that awful progressive joint disease more prevalent in German Shepherds. We were shown the x-rays and her hips were so worn that it was a surprise that she hadn’t had any issues before really. Well our vet thought given her young age (she was 6 when she was diagnosed) that she might be a candidate for a hip replacement so we went off to see an orthopaedic specialist (thank goodness for pet insurance). It was disappointing because of her underlying skin condition- well controlled but still a long term condition- the risk of bone infection would be too great- so we came back and she was started on Rimadyl.
Well within 3 weeks she was like a new dog again- back to playing with Max, back to walking- in September we went down and moved our oldest son (only son now- but always our oldest- for there will always be 3 in our hearts) and his fiancée down to Cheshunt in Herts for him to start on his graduate training scheme with TfL. They are living only 5 minutes’ walk from the huge Lea Valley Park and so Max and Tia went on a very long walk with Kevin and she was absolutely fine. She started to deteriorate again in November time I think- just a bit limpy if she went too far- but always willing, always wanting to go with Max- always first out the door if we’d let her!
Her medicine was changed in January- I guess the cold and damp of winter had been taking its toll- she was still up for it but we had to moderate her exercise. Only one walk a day now for about half an hour- and that was enough for her, though she still enjoyed it. If she had 2 walks then we had to rest her the next day. 2 weekends ago we went to see our daughter, in her final year of university. Max and Tia came with us- we stopped off at the Red Kite centre and let the dogs have a half hour potter then later on we took them to the beach- again just to potter- Max chased balls but Tia pottered next to us and seemed perfectly happy doing her usual trick of picking up the ball Max discarded, as we threw him another.
That night we were stopping in a dog friendly b&b outside of Aberystwyth. Tia would not settle- she was in pain- she was whimpering all night, restless, couldn’t get comfortable- and we sat up half the night with her. We took her to the vet when we got home- not our usual one- but another at the practice. He gave her Tramadol and not a lot else- told us to go back. So this last week we have watched to see if she improves. Her pain has improved, we just get gentle whimpers when she wakes up stiff now, and she has gone from holding her leg completely behind the other to it coming slightly lower down and touching the ground slightly. You look for the signs of improvement, waiting, hoping. But then the last 3 days you realise that her tail is now limp and she has woken up in her own urine.
She has to be helped out into the garden – lifted up and down the step- and when she does her business cannot move her leg or tail at all. We took her to our vet last night. I knew that it would come to this at some time in the future but my head and heart had not yet given up on some recovery- our vet took one look at her and knew she was much worse. She said she could do more x-rays but it wouldn’t change the outcome. I mentioned hydrotherapy that had previously been mentioned but she said that she wouldn’t benefit form that any more- that she had nerve damage, her spine was unstable and that whilst she might recover a little in about 8 weeks- it would only be very temporary again and there were no guarantees. She was so king- she has really seemed to care for Tia and followed her story- but she said the prognosis was not good and that her quality of life now was such that she thought the time had come! We could not do it there and then- I had not taken her to have her put to sleep- I had taken her to hope that something else could be suggested or to be told that we could try another medicine and that would improve her for a bit longer. But there we are. We were going to have today with her- one final day- but it now seems cruel to keep her going all day. We will be phoning g the vet shortly and looking at some time today. For now she will breakfast like the Queen she is, have a fuss- and then we will stroke her as she goes to sleep one final time. She will emerge from the sleep to be greeted by Kieran, bathed in heavenly light. He will call her and she will run to him, free and bountiful again.
Dawn's Journey 