Hi Baby Boy

Hi my sweet boy!  I thought of you today.  Like always.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you.  I know you are happy and healthy and running free with all the sweet dogs that went before you and after.  I am sure Bailey is still missing you.  She looks from room to room still.  I think she is looking for you.  We are both grieving.  She isn't eating again.  I worry about her.  I can't believe on March 5th you will have been gone for 6 mos.  It just seems like yesterday I was rubbing your sweet face as I was helping you to The Bridge.  My sweet sweet boy.  How I grieve for you.  They say time heals all wounds.  I don't think that is really true.  My heart aches to touch you again.  To hug you and to put my face in your fur.  I long to see your sweet smile again.  I can't wait to see you run to me when I join you.  I can't wait to be with you again.

This is a short post.  I just wanted you to know I am thinking about you....always.  I love you Montana boy!

Only One Video

The one and only video that I have of both Montana and Bailey together.  This was taken at the Dog Park in Michigan on January 12, 2007.

Montana's Final Bill

Montana, I have been thinking a lot about you.  Well....I think about you every day but it seems like most of my day is consumed with my thought of you.  After 5 1/5 mos I finally had the nerve to look at the bill from the emergency vet.  It spelled out everything.  More then I really wanted to see.  Of course I sobbed when I read it. This is what it said:

CLIENT INFORMATION

Beth Winchell

PATIENT INFORMATION

Name:  Montana                                 Species:         Canine
Sex:     Male, Neutered                       Breed:           Siberian Husky
Deceased:   09-05-11                         Age:              D@9y
ID                                                       Rabies
Color:   Black and White                   Weight           102.20lbs
Reminded:  (none)                             Codes:           D

MEDICAL HISTORY

Date              By              Code            Description               Qty (Variance)
____________________________________________________________

09-05-11      JH             001         Emergency Exam Fee

    Age:  9y     Weight:  102.20   Temp:  106.00     Pulse  180.00
    Other:  mm - pale pink

SUBJECTIVE SECTION

Surgery to amputate tail last Wednesday.  Has not eaten since.  Was on Deramaxx and Tramadol.  Vomiting dark brown fluid.  Tonight panting, weak, lethargic.  Dr. Harper on duty.

OBJECTIVE SECTION

mm- pale pink, pulses thready.  Chest - tachycardia, heart muffled.  Abd - distended.  Laterally recumbant, panting, very weak.  Febrile.

ASSESSMENT SECTION

               RULE - OUTS
               Gastroduodenal Ulcer Disease                  


              DIAGNOSES
              Sepsis and Bacteremia

              Septic Shock

              Acute Abdomen

PLAN SECTION

            NOTES

                 I-Stat EC8+- See report; metabolic acidosis
                 Oxygen 5LPM via mask
                 IV placed, bolus 2L Norm-R, 300ml Hetastarch IV; pulses improved,                                   HR decreased
                 U/S FAST - large amount of free fluid in abdomen - 1L of brown pus
                 removed via abdominocentesis          
                 Cell counts - WBC 78K, TS - 3.8; cytology degenerate neutrophils and
                 pleomorphic bacteria.  BG of fluid 45,  Diagnosis - septic abdomen

                 (perforating ulcer?), septic shock

                Discussed poor prognosis with owner, the need for immediate

                surgery 

                and the risks associated.

                Owner requested euthanasia

                Euthasol 15mg IV

                          1005             Informed Consent
                          HETA          Hetastarch (HES) 6%                 300
                          NORMR      Normosol -R 1000ml
                          611              IV Extension Set
                          601              IV Catheter & 1st Bag Fluids
                          EFFUSION Automated Cell Counts - Effusions
                          GLUCOME Blood Glucose - Glucometer
                          420              I-Stat EC8+
                          USFAST     Ultrasound F.A.S.T. Exam
                          117             Abdominocentesis
                          OXY5         Oxygen per minute @ 5 lpm          15
                          ACUTEAB Acute Abdomen
                          D1016         Septic Shock
                          D6058         Sepsis and Bacteremia
                          1112           Euthanasia
                          EUTH         Euthasol 390mg/ml                       15
                          1110           Ashes Returned:  100-140# 


FOR:  Beth Winchell                                             Printed:  09-05-11 at 4:25am
                                                                                Date:      09-05-11
                                                                                Account: 34720
                                                   
                                                                                Invoice:  62944


Date              For                  Qty      Description                              Net Price
 _____________________________________________________________

09-05-11      Montana              1   Emergency Exam Fee                        82.00
09-09-11                                  1  Informed Consent                                0.00
09-05-11                              300  Hetastarch (HES) 6%                        69.00
09-05-11                                  1  Normosol-R 1000ml                         38.00
09-05-11                                  1  IV ExtensionSet                                 16.00
09-05-11                                  1  IV Catheter & 1st Bag Fluids             86.00
09-05-11                                  1  Automated Cell Counts - Effusions    50.50 
09-05-11                                  1  Blood Glucose - Glucometer             12.50
09-05-11                                  1  I-Stat EC8+                                        53.55
09-05-11                                  1 Ultrasound F.A.S.T. Exam                  92.00
09-05-11                                  1  Abdominocentisis                              60.00
09-05-11                                 15 Oxygen per minute @5 lpm                 2.25
09-05-11                                  1  Euthanasia                                          55.00
09-05-11
                        We are truly very sorry for your loss

09-05-11                                15  Euthasol 390mg/ml                            20.40
09-05-11                                 1  Ashes Returned 100-140#                 250.00

09-05-11                                Care Credit                                           -887.20

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Balance           Charges        Payments                             New balance
        0.00                   887.20           887.20                                           0.00

Montana and Dakota

My sweet boy, Montana, had just had is tail operated on in May 2009 and this was July 2009.  His hair was still growing back in this video.  Montana very rarely would howl or woo.  This video shows one of those rare moments.

I miss you baby boy!

Another Little Hero At The Bridge

I hope Montana was there to meet you at The Bridge little one! No more seizures....no more suffering!

All Pets Go To Heaven

All Pets Go To Heaven
Can you imagine a heaven without pets?
There is a very special place where beloved pets go after they die. This is only a temporary location. But there are trees and grass and lakes, and everything they love. Here they can play and eat and sleep, even better than they did, before they died. Now, there are no aches or worries or dangers of any kind to trouble or threaten them. The only joy missing is their beloved human companion, you.
All health is restored completely, and all injuries are healed. Dogs and cats play with each other like youngsters, and they do not have time to feel lonely for you. They miss you, and with the special wisdom that animals have, they trust that this condition will get better. And they confidently wait as they frolic.
A wonderful day will come for each of them, when in the middle of playing they will suddenly feel something is different. And all their senses will be at the height of excitement and exuberance. They will sniff the air and look off in the distance where they recognize that dearly loved special presence. Then they will call out in elation, and with eyes shining and tail going wild, tear off at a full gallop, almost flying over the green grass.
Your expected arrival has been sensed, and now there is nothing that can keep the two of you apart, ever again. As you run toward each other the tears flow from your eyes. Your pet leaps into your arms, and you cling together in jubilant reunion. The joyous kisses are all over your face, and you kiss back, just as ecstatically. Your hands so lovingly caress once more the beloved fur, the head and neck and body you knew so well. And you look into each other’s loving eyes, and all those old, wonderful shared feelings are back, again.
And then something will call the both of you on, to a different field of warmth and nurture, where all the love you knew now comes to fruition. With your pet, you leave that special waiting area, walk into the main part of heaven, and begin a new existence there, together.
If you accept that pets can love us as much as we do them, then the logic is clear and cannot be denied. If you believe that there is a heaven for people, then they must be there, waiting for us, when we cross over. Heaven is love, and pets always share that with us.
— Wallace Sife, Ph.D. The Loss of a Pet (Third Edition, 2005), Chapter 16

So Sweet

I just have to share this picture of Montana. To me he looks like the most gentle creature on Earth. He was!