Tuesday, March 5, 2013

For the Love of Maggie


Those of you who see my blog know that I usually only post my cards on it, but I hope that you will indulge me and appreciate that I am posting this picture of my beloved Maggie as a way to heal the hurt and remember the time that we did have with this very special dog.

Beagles have always been my choice for a pet, friend and companion.  I’ve had a beagle in my life since I was 14 years old.  The above beagle came into our lives as a puppy of 6 weeks and just this past Thursday, we had to say good-bye to a very special friend.  Maggie went by many names:  Maggie-Girl, Maggie Mae, and my husband’s name for her, Bug!  Maggie was one of the smartest beagles I had ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with, she was a pure joy to have as part of our lives.  She was a diva, an excellent rabbit hunter and never had a problem getting along with other dogs (although she would rather that they just leave her alone).  She even taught our other Beagle, Tucker how to hunt rabbits and they made a great team. 

Maggie was just 11 years old when we lost her to the horrible disease of Kidney disease.  I never knew that by just getting your dog tested for Lymes disease can help in determine if your dog has kidney disease.  Maggie didn’t have Lymes but she must have had the bacteria that caused kidney disease.  The bacterial also causes poor teeth and excessive shedding which Maggie also had. We had her to a local vet who never tested her for Lymes or even suggested that we test her.  I was so disappointed in this vet that I went to another vet in another city and found it was too late.  If had I had went to a better vet back in December (when I took her to the local vet) we might have had a chance in stopping this awful disease.  You can be sure that Teddy will be tested just shortly when he goes to his new vet.  We figured out that all our local vet was doing was treating the symptoms that WE told him about, he really didn’t check Maggie apparently.  In December, we had Maggie to the local vet because “she just wasn’t herself.”  I suggested that perhaps it was her teeth, so what does the vet do?!  He supposedly pulled 4 teeth, sent her home with pain meds and that was it.  Fast forward to February 25, Maggie is more ill and can’t keep food down, we again took her to the local vet who only prescribed anti-nauseous medication; and he never did any tests he did take an x-ray of her stomach.  By the following Sunday, Maggie was now so week that we had to either carry her or help her walk.  We decided that we needed to find out WHAT WAS WRONG!  We made an emergency visit to the new vet thirty minutes away on a Sunday (I knew it would be expensive but I didn’t care), she took blood, checked Maggie over and then came back with verdict that I didn’t want to hear. Kidney disease and it was severe enough that all we could do was make Maggie comfortable, there was no help or cure.  I told this vet what the local vet had done, the new vet couldn’t even find where any teeth had been pulled!  Maggie only made it four more days.  My husband and myself were devastated, we blamed ourselves of not knowing what to do; although we did take her to the vet and trusted him to know how to treat her.

So have your pets checked for Lymes, its not that expensive and you’ll be so glad that you did if you find out that they have kidney disease.  I wish I had. 

In closing, I just want to say:  “I love you Maggie, and I’ll never forget you, you were one in a million.”

As always, take care,

Cindy