We only had our little Zoe, a.k.a “Mini”, for 14 months. She was a rescue Husky adopted from Free Spirit Siberian Rescue from Harvard, IL. She had come to them from Chicago Animal Control in Feb. of 2003. My husband spotted her at the March 2003 pet expo, where the rescue had a booth and the rest was history. Both he and I fell for this very small wonder Husky. Small for her size she may have been, but boy did she not let the big dogs push her around for a minute. Zoe loved her belly rubs and constantly rolled over on her back for instant belly rubs at a moment’s notice. Right after adopting her I took her in to two different vets to find out the problem of constant loose stools she was having. The first vet simply gave her pills and did not find anything.
The second vet, my long-time vet, finally ran an ultrasound and found she had very small kidneys he said. In addition, he ran a blood test and found her levels showed kidney disease. After, only having her a month or so, we were told her life expectancy would not be long.
The Doctor said it may be a year, or it could be several years. We shed tears at that point but continued on to give her the best life we could. The Doctor reassured us that had she not been adopted by us her fate may have been bleak awaiting adoption at animal control.
He told us there was nothing we could do other than special food. She was on dietary food for renal dogs, KD, she received nothing but a bland diet. She had non-salted crackers for treats and we checked
her blood levels every 6 months.
In January 2004, we had her levels checked and we were told that she was doing good and that we should keep up what we were doing.
I still wanted to do more to help prolong her life. I joined a list group online for renal disease in canines and found holistic methods I could do for her. With my doctor’s approval, I gave Zoe vitamins in addition to her food.
She was an active dog and showed no signs of illness, other than loose stools, which we were told is common for renal deficient dogs.
She bonded quickly with our other dog Zena and was equally accepting of another Husky, named Jake we took in as a foster, (my husband & I have volunteered for the rescue she came from since we got her) in Jan. 04. We soon adopted, Jake too, as of course we fell in love with him.
The three of them were the best of playmates. Zoe was the one that got the two of them up and about to play. Zoe loved to lounge on her sofa, relax on the bay window ledge, where she often quickly emerged from behind the curtains, looking like a little star performer. And boy was she ever, she always managed to make us giggle. She had character, and was an extremely unique & a well behaved Husky with immense love in her heart.
She loved kids and other dogs. My husband, Zena, Zoe, Jake & I often participated in expos and other events for the rescue in which all of our fur babies went along in hopes of getting other dogs adopted.
We enjoyed so many fun times together and made so many happy memories.
Out of nowhere on Sunday, June 13th Zoe’s stomach became very distended, she would not eat or drink. I tried sweet potatoes and rice and even offered her vanilla icecream. She turned her nose at all of my offerings. She just wanted to lay down. We rushed her to a board certified internist the next morning, one that I found via the AVMA.
His initial diagnosis, was she was dehydrated and placed on fluids. He found via an endoscopy that her stomach’s small intestine was severely fragile and was bruising as he passed the scope through it. He also indicated after doing an ultrasound that her abdomen was retaining large amounts of protein infused fluids. Her body was not processing the proteins into her bloodstream correctly.
He ruled out Chron’s & Addison’s Disease and was at loss for what the problem could be as he kept her on fluids, while he awaited the stomach biopsy which would be due back on June 22-23. He said the kidneys at this point were not the issue at hand and that the problem was stomach related.
She had already been under the Board Certified Doctor’s care for 3 days. He said he did not know what the exact problem was and would have to await the biopsy results to come back. The costs at the board certified specialist for mere boarding & fluids as we awaited the biopsy became to be VERY costly.
My husband and I consulted with the rescue, of which we adopted Zoe from, of whom we are close with. We made the decision to transfer her to the veterinarian the rescue depended upon.
I drove her there on the morning of June 17th. She was very sluggish and tired on the way, laying down the whole trip. Normally she was attentive and standing up on car rides. She just seemed overly uncomfortable and very tired. She lifted her head to enjoy the warm sunshine on her face as it beamed in on her through the truck window. This is something she always loved in the past,
sunbathing on our deck.
Once we arrived they hooked her back up to the fluids and the head doctor there aggressively searched for his own prognosis, ruling out ecoli and other probable underlying illnesses. He was treating her for irritable bowel syndrome and keeping her on vitamin infused fluids and antibiotics for a bacterial infection in her urine, while awaiting the biopsy results which would arrive the following week.
On Saturday, June 19th, Zoe took a turn for the worse and she became anemic and required a blood transfusion. We were told she was not responding to any of the
treatments of meds & fluids.
On Monday morning, June 21st at approximately 5:30am Zoe passed away. The doctor said her organs shut down. He said he was really at loss for a true cause, as she was not responding to anything he was doing for her. He did an autopsy at no cost. We learned of the results last Tuesday, June 29th. The doctor said the liver shut down due to canine active hepatitis.
After reading much about this, I still am deeply lost for closure on why we lost our little girl. We suspect it was a barrage of many problems attacking her system at once. She had pre-exisiting kidney disease, an intestinal problem and the liver problem was something that came out of nowhere.
We believe the kidneys were not innocent in this outcome. However, I cannot understand why the liver problem did not show up in the blood tests or ultrasound. The doctor told me today that her liver enzyme levels were high, but not high enough to indicate liver problems.
The doctor did say that in any case he was already giving her the same treatment used for liver problems had it been evident prior to her death. At just under 4 years old, we lost our “little Zoe” and it bothers and pains me deeply.
I see the depression in Zena and Jake’s eyes. They are not the same without our little “Mini” either. They too grieve for her. I know she is not suffering and at peace and happy at the Rainbow Bridge. I am grateful for the time we did share with her in our lives. Everyday is difficult
without her here with us.
I know we did all we could for her and gave her much life while she was with us for 14 months. I will always hold her close to my heart, until we are together again.
We love you & miss you dearly “Zoe.”
| Zoe |
| 21, June 2004 |
| Wendy B. |