You were a very unique looking dog. (Our vet thought you were probably the result of inbreeding.) The minute we saw you, we knew you were coming home with us. You had been abandoned–tied up outside our local Humane Society. And boy, you were a mess! Your coat was matted and filthy and you had a severe ear infection and smelled something awful. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed. We brought you home,cleaned you up and treated your ears. A beautiful boy appeared! We figured you were about a year old and such a lovable guy, we couldn’t understand how someone could abandon you.
You were so happy and playful and full of life. You loved to be loved and gave love in return. It was fun to watch you–you were so comical and strange looking. People told us they thought you were the ugliest dog they had ever seen, but to us you were beautiful; inside and out.
One day you started acting strange. You would sit and stare and the wall and howl and you became very uncoordinated. We took you to the vet and he thought it was something neurological. We made an appointment at the Animal Hospital for more detailed tests. They took X-rays, drew blood, did everything and found nothing. Finally, Dr. Chavez (the neurologist to whom we are forever grateful) had an idea to check your liver. We had an ultrasound done and it revealed you had a liver shunt. That explained your behavior, your ammonia levels were effecting your brain. We were told that this can be easily corrected in most cases with surgery to repair the shunt. Without hesitation you had surgery, figuring the problem would be solved and things would return to normal.
To this day, we are still asking why–but when then opened you up, you had hundreds of shunts not just one, they didn’t show up on the ultrasound. They were unrepairable. We were told this is seen in maybe 1 in a million dogs. You were the one. Nothing could be done and we were sent home with medicine, the prognosis of maybe six months and broken hearts. The medicine seemed to work and your life was pretty normal–for exactly six months to the day. You started acting strange again and vomiting profusely. We knew it was time. You were with us for such a short time but brought us so much joy and love. In so many ways to us you were a 1 in a million and we know we will never
see another one like you.
We know you are happy and at Peace and that we will have an eternity to spend with you. We miss you terribly–you left your pawprints everywhere. We’ll never forget you.
Until we meet again—-
LOVE ALWAYS AND FOREVER,
| SPARKY |
| 2, Oct 1997 |
| Helen Malinauskas & Joe Bielinski |