Rescue Journal

holly's story is really a just a bunch of question marks...

Carol · Jun 11, 2012

but i can fill in a few of the blanks with what i do know about her and a few things that i guessed.

about a year and a half ago holly was adopted as a senior dog from one of the spca shelters. i don't know how she come to be there or where she came from or why she was there tho. all i know is she was there and she was eventually adopted.

one night, several months ago, the spca after hours emergency line received a call from her adoptive family she was bleeding rectally, needed to see a vet and she was too dfficult in her old age for them to to handle anymore. the spca emergency officer had her signed over for treatment or euthanization, picked her up and took her to animal emergency. she was in pretty rough shape initially and really quite ill. she did quickly respond to treatment so the emergncy staff called and asked if we could take her and we did.

a few weeks on some flagyl and her rectal bleeding was under control. but there was definitely something mentally or neurologically wrong with her..i wasn't sure if it was a profound canine dementia, brain damage from head injury or from a major stroke when she was bleeding (they can stoke if their blood pressure gets too low) or was she just simply so stressed and overwhelmed that she was lost inside her head. i took her into both our vet clinics a few times for her bleeding bowel issues and then for her continuing anxiety. none of the bloodwork or testing showed an organic reason for her dementia so it was suggestd either she was a basically totally stressed out dog or a feral, unsocialized dog, or she had something organic going on like a brain tumor. we decided that the best thing to do for holly was find her a quiet and stable home and see how she did. this was a BIG mistake...48 hours out of here and holly had a complete and total meltdown so she came back again.

she settled back in amazingly smoothly and at least i now knew that she was in fact, better off here. but within a few weeks she started falling, and she became more and more uncoordinated and unsteady. then that first seizure struck about three weeks ago and on this weekend, she had six more. whatever was going on was quickly progressing. now we were pretty sure that it was some kind of cerebral disease or dysfunction that was messing holly up...could have been a growing tumor or i suppose the effects of multiple strokes or seizures or lesions that kept damaging her brain even further.

in any case thru no fault or choice of her own, holly's own brain was betraying her..it was time to let her go.....there was no way we could make it better for her.

anyway..that is what i know of holly's story..oh and i also know she was an incredibly sweet and gentle dog who deserved a far better end of life then she had.

Comments

Doreen

Thanks so much for the info Penny, that's great. I did a little search today when I got home and did not see anything in the area the racoon ran to . I will ask the neighbors if they have seen anything.

Penny

Doreen - the wildlife rescue place is in Abbotsford, and is as follows: Elizabeth's Wildlife, phone 604-852-9173. I've dropped off injured birds, and orphaned bush bunnies there, but don't know if she actually has the manpower to go out somewhere and do any injured wildlife trapping. She's a lovely lady, and may be able to at least give you some advice if you call her.

Doreen from Maple Ridge

Tell me about it. It bothered me all night and has made my day miserable.Nothing worse than an animal suffering at the hands of a human. The only wildlife rescue that i know of is the one in Burnaby. In fact 'ironically" it was their advice for me to google wildlife rescue in mission when I asked them if there was anything closer to Maple Ridge. I am always bringing injured birds to them and was curious if there was a place closer. I googled rescue in mission and stumbled across saints. Never did find a wildlife rescue in mission, but glad to have found saints. Well I have to be honest with you, i doubt the poor racoon is or would be easy to find at this stage. Might even be dead already from shock or a hungry coyote. The ravine is full of coyotes.

Penny

Hi Doreen - not sure if the SPCA could do anything, but they may give you the number of someone else that may be able to? It's heartbreaking to think of the poor racoon suffering like that.

Doreen from Maple Ridge

Hi Penny, I watched it run into the bush going down to the river area. This happened last night around 9:30pm. I guess i could of called the spca this morning.I did not think they would search for a wild animal. Does the spca deal with wildlife too? I felt totally helpless last night.One thing I know I can do and that is to ask my neighbors to make sure they baracade the rat traps they set.

Penny

Doreen, maybe if you reported this to the SPCA and gave them the location where you saw the racoon, they might be able to trap it and then remove the rat trap?

Doreen from Maple Ridge

egads, excuse my poor spelling. When I get upset about the harm to animals the tears blurr my vision.

Doreen from Maple Ridge

Last night I watched a racoon run across the street in front of me with a rat trap on his hand. the neighbors i guess set traps without a baricade for any other wildlife. This poor beautifil creature now has to suffer a slow angoniziing death . It probablay has youngs one at this time of the year too.

Brenda

Thanks for filling in the blanks on Holly, Carol - I don't know how you remember each of the SAINTS stories so well - It always amazes me. She was a sweet dog - but always seemed so lost and fragile to me. SAINTS did all they could to make her last days as comfortable and happy as possible, and I'm glad to have played a small part in that process too.

Catherine MacKinnon

Poor old girl

Curt

Ditto, I like it too

Fiona

What a lovely poem Virginia.

Penny

Beautiful, Virginia. It's one of those mornings - I've been in tears watching the news coverage of the dead beached whale, and now this lovely poem made me cry again.

Virginia

An angel came to see me, and stood beside the door.
As my body lay there failing, she beckoned me to go.
A field of green and flowers, a sunlit heaven day,
She whispered not to worry, as she would show the way.
And as my spirit rose, and I went toward the door
I felt the calm serenity, of feeling pain no more.

My angel cupped me in her arms and slowly walked towards
A bridge of many colours, that from the ground arose.
I licked her face with kisses and snuggled in my head,
As we tread through a mist of yellow, green and red.

Upon the other side, she placed me on the ground
And many little faces came from all around.
I sat and gazed with sad brown eyes, as she turned to walk away.
As an old dog came and nuzzled me, “Listen what I say.”

Your angel is a person who rescues pets like us.
It’s her love that carried you here, and brought you up above.
Her job on earth is painful, her tears they mark the way.
But while there’s more of us, what they call a stray,
She’ll give her hand to help, she’ll suffer in her heart.
As she counts the souls to heaven, as each of us depart. - Virginia

Thanks Carol for giving those with so little to live for a renewed hope and life in their senior years.