I got Sheeba when she was exactly 8 weeks old. It was July 26, 1992. She was an adorable, but mischievous sable colored german shepherd. She was the light of my life…even over my former husband! Sheeba was fine until she was 18 months old. She started to have seizures. She was diagnosed with epilepsy, put on medication and did okay. She continued to have seizures, however, they were under control most of the time. My husband at that time and I decided to divorce when Sheeba was 3 years old.
She was there for me throughout the divorce and all of the tears and pain. She was my baby…my rock. I proceeded to move on with my life and ended up remarrying my present husband. He never complained once about how much it cost us to keep Sheeba on her seizure medication…It was about $50.oo per month.
In July of 1999, Sheeba started acting strange and would not eat. We took her to the local Vet where she stayed for 5 days. She did not get better. We had her transferred down to Bostons Angell Memorial Hospital in Massachusetts, where she stayed for 12 days in the Intensive Care Unit. I was 9 months pregnant at the time, but made the 2 hour trip to the hospital every day so that I could see Sheeba.
My sister was kind enough to do all the driving, as she had put in for an Emergency Leave of Absence from her work so that she could go with me. The Drs. did not think that she would make it through the first night. She did. She surprised all of them by slowly getting better daily…or so we thought. The big day came when we could finally bring her home!!! It was July 17th 1999. We were all so happy!!! We had bought her a big round 52″ dogbed so that she could rest comfortably. She progressively got better at home, or so we thought. She was eating better and slowly got to go out for very, very small walks, usually just up our 150 foot driveway and back. The morning of July 26th, 1999, which was also my due date of my firstborn baby, I got up with Sheeba and she seemed ok.
She went out into our backyard around 11:00 am. Now, to get to our backyard you had to go down 13 stairs off of our deck. Sheeba needed help going both up and down the stairs because she was so weak from her sickness, which by the way the Drs. never did pinpoint what was wrong with her. However, she had lost about 25 pounds in a 3 week time period…1/3 of her body weight.
Anyway, I helped her down the stairs to the yard, she went under the deck, to her favorite spot and rested. I went out to get her around 1:00 and she would not come in. So, I went back in to do a couple of things and I turned around a few minutes later and she was walking across my kitchen. She had made it up 13 stairs with NO help!!! That itself was a miracle. So I talked to her for a few minutes and told her how proud I was of her for doing the stairs alone. She went to my bedroom and laid on her bed as I took a shower. When I got out of the shower, she had messed on the floor and I noticed that her breathing was very labored. Her pupils were dilated and her tongue and gum coloring was not good. Just then, my sister called…God Bless her. I told her what was happening, she said “I am on my way”.
I called the Vet and told them I was bringing Sheeba in and to expect me in about 10 minutes. Just as my sister pulled into my driveway, Sheeba collapsed in my hallway. Both my sister and I carried her down a flight of stairs put her into my sisters car and raced to the vet…and I do mean RACE!!!! She was going 70 mph, passing vehicles, and going through red lights when it was safe, as she drove around the cars in front of her. She had her horn blaring and lights flashing. A normal 10 minute ride took 5 minutes. Sheeba was quickly deteriorating
in the back seat in my arms.
We got to the Hospital and the vet and one of the techs came out to get her. They rushed her into the back and tried so hard to save her. They started 2 IV lines and about 2 minutes after she was taken out back she went into cardiac arrest. The Drs. did CPR on her for almost 20 mins. They all loved Sheeba and they were all very aware of the extent that my husband and I went through to get her better in the weeks before. Even with all of their efforts, she passed away at 3:00 pm on Monday, July 26,1999. My Angel Girl went home to Heaven. The entire Veterinary hospital staff was devastated. The Vet himself had teared up.
I still miss her so much and since her death I have had 2 children. She would have loved the kids and would have been wonderful with them. I know that I did all that I could and I think that she does too. She was truly an Angel sent from Heaven, only in the form of a dog. And they say that 1 day in Heaven is equivelant to 1 year on Earth. I hope so…That way she has only been away from us for 3 1/2 days…not 3 1/2 years.
I know that she is watching over us and is taking care of me and my family. She is still with us every day. We had her cremated and she is on top of our entertainment center in a beautiful cherry urn with her picture in the front of it. There is one very odd coincidence however.
As I told you earlier, we got her on July 26, 1992. She died on July 26, 1999. We had her exactly 7 years to the day. Also we had picked her up at the breeders at 3:00 pm that day. That is the same time that she died. Isn’t that strange? I think it is Gods way of telling me something. I don’t know what, but it is all too strange just to be a coincidence. So, now our “Little Angel Girl” is in Heaven having fun and will be at the Rainbow Bridge waiting for all of us when it is our turn to go home to Heaven. We Love and miss you Sheeba…you are, and will always be, in our Hearts,
my “Little Angel Girl”.
Love, Always and Forever,
| Carrie Lennon |