Our first baby, Jodie, left us at about 4.20am this morning. It'll be a night we'll remember for a long time. I apologise that my first post of the year is starting on such a dismal note... this has been the mood in the house for the last 2 weeks since we first noticed that she was looking lethargic, and very weak. It came to a point 2 weeks ago when she was limping so badly, we had to take her to the vet, and admit her. She was anaemic, and found to have the tick-borne bacteria ehrlichia in her blood. After the first night hospitalised, the vet decided she needed a blood transfusion. Thanks to Buddy, his blood matched hers, and a transfusion was done. This gave Jodie 1 more good week, before we noticed that she started to weaken again. At the next blood test, her blood cells had reduced to lower-than-ever levels. Dr H concluded that she might have had the infection for a long time, since we had noticed some of the symptoms about a year ago, but was not picked up at the visits then. She thought that the chronic infection had destroyed the bone marrow, and thus Jodie was not producing her own blood cells. We could have done more blood transfusions, but that would just prolong her poor health... so we took the last option, which was to let her live the rest of her days as she pleased.
Jodie's health deteriorated at such a rapid speed. Within 1 day, she was weak, unable to walk, and just struggling... We knew last night would be her last. We decided to spend the night as a family beside her, staying up with her as much as possible.
At 3am, Jodie started taking long, laboured breaths. K decided that it was time to put her down, as he didn't want to see her suffer longer. We drove to the 24hr animal clinic. Along the way, with the windows down, Jodie wanted to feel the wind blowing in her face. The sight of her with the wind blowing her ears, was so heartwarming! She looked so happy again, it even seemed like her breathing had calmed down slightly. She even looked like she was flying! (if only I could have taken a pic of her) When we got to the clinic, we felt that she still had a few hours to go, and wanted to spend the rest of the time with her, so we brought her home again. She seemed to insist on being left alone, as she kept walking to the corner away from us, but we just wanted to be near her, and watch her. Eventually, she took her last walk into the house, went to sniff at K1, daddy K carried her to K2, and then laid her down on her bed in the house. She struggled slightly, let out a low-pitched moan, and breathed her last...
We cried over her body, mourning her loss, but were really happy that she went peacefully, on her own.
Many things we'll remember about Jodie...
we'll remember her sad eyes and endearing look at the window of the pet shop that stole our hearts, only to realise that she was a good actress when we brought her home. Super hyper, playful, yet very loving. The time spent toilet training, obedience training; the frustrations and moments of anger when she messed the house, the sofa, scratched or bit any of us, or showed her jealousy and lack of attention when the children arrived; her irritating barking every time someone said 'bye' and wanted to leave the house (apparently she didn't like people to leave). She left token memorabilia on the hands of some of the guests at our house. We will miss the beach swims, the long runs and walks, the ball games... We will miss having to constantly watch out for the little scavenger under the table, waiting to pounce on our unattended food. We will miss the cuddles we shared in bed; she was our little foot warmer and electric blanket all rolled into a furry bear-like perfect companion.
K1 put it very aptly: The house will not be the same again, right?
Rest in peace, Jodie, we love you...
