Lucy

I've had many dogs in my life. There was Brownie- she was my birthday gift when I was nine. But no matter how much we played she was attached to my dad. I didn't realize dogs attach to the person who feeds them..and dad really did take care of her. My mom called me my freshman year to tell me she walked over to my dad, made a strange noise and just fell over. Probably a heart attack, dad spoiled her rotten. I was sad, but it broke my dad's heart.

Then I had Ginger. She was a cairn terrier that I got from a pet store. I was just out of college and had no idea how these dogs were treated. She was way over bred...she had an allergy to everything and was a little off. No matter how vigilant I was I could not get her completely house trained. And she was cranky. I finally had to have her put down and though it made me sad I was not heartbroken.

Maggie came next. By then I knew a pound puppy was the only way to go. She was a black lab/german shephard mix. She grew to over a 100 pounds at her heaviest. Maggie was a bull in a china shop if there ever was one. But once she got over her adolescence she was so smart. She took commands easily - she was housebroken till she was a very old lady and she was so embarrassed then. When the vet and I had exhausted our options I held her till she was gone. That broke my heart. I vowed..never to go through that again.

Then my daugher insisted I get another dog..she was at college and she didn't want me to be alone. Finally, I agreed to go look for dogs. But I knew it needed to a dog that chose me. And finally we went to the Paulding Animal shelter and this little brown dog wagged her tail when she saw me. I took her out of her cage- she gave me one kiss and put her head on my shoulder. That was Lucy. Since then she and I are as close as you can get. We go to the park, for walks, to Starbucks (they have dog bones)... she is always excited to see me.

Friday, she got sick- during the largest snow storm Atlanta has seen in years. She was sick all night and I was so worried she would get dehydrated. So yesterday, I called all the vets in the area to see if they were open. None were. I finally decided once the ice melted off the roads I would take her to the emergency clinic (terrible reputation) but luckily, I remember Petsmart had a clinic in the store- they had just opened and told me to bring her in. I thought what she had was respiratory since she was breathing heavily and her nose was running...but it was not. In fact, after many tests it turned out that her liver is not functioning properly. The Vet (who seemed better with animals than people) that it was very serious. She said she didn't think it was failing - yet- but we were heading in that direction. She sent us home with antibiotics, some serious de wormer treatment (just in case) and instructions to take her to my regular vet on Tuesday. I broke down right there..the nurse said not to worry that Lucy will be ok and then looked at the vet who said that she couldn't be so sure. (again, better with animals than people)

So I'm waiting. Lucy is no longer throwing up. And she has eaten a bit. But she is still lethargic.

She is only three. This just hurts.