A Promise, Kept.
My husband’s description of me is “She has three dogs, seven cats and one old man; and we were all strays”. Although we live on five acres in the country, where there are no restrictions on the number of pets a person may have, I figured I had my limit. Especially since I had taken in a new dog and 2 cats just three months earlier. Then I met Mac.
Jim and I were on the way home from taking BuddyBear, my half chow- half German shepherd, to the vet for a checkup. It was when we turned onto our road that I spotted him; a rottweiler. One of our neighbors has three rotties, so I concluded this one had gotten out of the yard. I had Jim stop so I could take him home. As soon as I petted him and felt all of his ribs I knew that he wasn’t my neighbor’s dog.
At this point, I figured that he had been abandoned. I planned to take him home for the night and call Animal Control to come get him in the morning. I sent Jim and BuddyBear on ahead and I started coaxing the skinny dog to walk with me. Even though I was quite sure that he had been abandoned, I checked to see if he had on a collar with some tags. That’s when I discovered a bloody, infected gash completely circling his neck. The scalloped edges of the wound told me that he had once had a chain embedded in his neck.
I continued to talk softly to the dog, coaxing him to follow me. By the time we got home I knew that Animal Control was out of the question. He obviously hadn’t had much of a life this far and I didn’t want it to end with strangers! I made an unspoken promise to him that I would do right by him. If he was to be euthanized, it would be at my vet’s office, where I could hold him, pet him and tell him that I loved him.
That night I cleaned his wound, petted him a lot and told him “goodnight”. He spent the night on our screen porch with fresh water, food, and blankets for his bed. The next morning he went to see Dr. Cheryl. He seemed happy; happy to ride in the car with me, happy to see the girls at the office, happy to be dry and fed. I left him with Dr. Cheryl for a thorough check up and went home to wait for her call. I rushed to answer the phone at about 5:00 and the news was better than expected. Dr. Cheryl had cleaned his neck wound and started him on antibiotics. She also started treatment for an eye infection, hookworms, roundworms and fleas. His heartworm treatment would have to wait until the infection was cured and he had gained some weight.
He weighed 73 pounds and should weigh about 110! But, she believed he could be cured!!!
He came home and we began the process of becoming best friends. He was so sweet, appreciative of any kindness and eager to please. He hadn’t been housetrained (if you were chained in one place your whole life, what would be the point of learning to hold your urine?!) and he would use his blankets for a potty during the night. I bought some puppy training pads. The first night I put down some clean blankets and a couple of the puppy pads for him, he stared at them quizzically and then picked one up with his teeth and began tossing it up in the air and catching it. He’s just a big happy puppy, I thought. How could it be, after all he had been through? I imagine he had never gotten to be a puppy before. He learned about treats. We played a game where he would have to guess which hand the treat was in, and he usually guessed correctly. I have a bumper sticker on my vehicle which reads, “My rottweiler is smarter than your honor student”. If he would guess incorrectly, I would comfort him saying “That’s OK, the honor student wouldn’t have gotten it either”. (I’m a chemistry instructor at the local community college, so I know!) He absolutely stole my heart.
At his next appointment, we had a minor setback. Dr. Cheryl found an internal infection and anemia, so another course of antibiotics and some multivitamins with iron. His heartworm treatment again had to be postponed. We went home, where his recovery continued. He continued putting on weight and getting more energy.
Mac had his first heartworm treatment August 1. He tolerated it well and continued in good health during the following month.
He had his second heartworm treatment on Aug 29. Eight days later, my Mac-Mac died. Dr. Cheryl says his system was too weak to handle the heartworms and the treatment. He was such a sweet boy and I miss him terribly!
Although, I still cry every day day, I am beginning to take comfort in the fact that Jim and I gave Mac a good life, if only for a couple of months. His short time with us was filled with affection and new experiences and he didn’t die alone or among strangers.
And my promise to him, kept.
| Mac |
| Janice Kadis |