Saturday 2 July 2016

Our brave wee Piper.


Hi everyone,
Sorry for falling off the web, it's been a long time, I've been missing you but my art and crafting mojo had almost absconded since my last post, I haven't been creating much until recently, sorry I've nothing ready to post today but I have a few photos I promise to share soon.

Since the beginning of last year, I had been spending much of my time with our lovely dogs and nursing our wee Piper helping her back to being able to get out for her walks again, which she achieved gradually over last summer, though she could only cope with shorter walks since her cancer treatment. I know a lot of you sent love and well wishes for her, and I was asked by Pam how she was doing. Sorry Pam, for not replying sooner, but I wasn't ready to talk at the time as you'll probably understand if you read on. Sorry this is a bit of a long post.

I'm writing this with sadness, our lovely Piper was unwell towards the end of last summer.

She had been diagnosed with glaucoma, a painful eye condition, mid August, she was given pain relief medicine and eye drops to reduce the pressure in her eyes. 
We noticed around this time, she was beginning to be a bit fussy eating & we put it down to side affects of her new medicine.
On the Sunday evening later that week, we recognized she had another infection in her womb which had been treated with antibiotics the previous month. After the medication she seemed to get better for a short while, but it was back. This time it was worse than it had been before.
She was still off her food, normally she had a great appetite, quickly clearing her dish. We tried giving her flaked fresh fish, then roast beef and also tried chopped breast of chicken to encourage her to eat, but she only ate half leaving remaining half in her dish.
We took her to the vet early on the Monday morning, and were waiting outside the surgery when she opened.
The vet recommended surgery straight away, without the operation she wouldn't last much longer and treating with more antibiotics  wouldn't help, as infection would reappear, so it was arranged for her to go through surgery later that morning. 
Our vet phoned a bit later, to say she wouldn't be strong enough to survive this as her heart developed problems when they anesthetized her.
This was devastating, after her battling so bravely with cancer and dealing with going blind, to suddenly be given this news. We couldn't watch her go through any more so I'm sorry to say that we had the very difficult decision to make to let her go. We know it was the right decision, but it was heart breaking, I'm glad she had her family with her when she slept her last sleep. I'm now writing this through tears. We still miss her terribly. She almost reached her 10th birthday.
Amy, our blonde girl was a great comfort, giving us a bit of normality with walks and our doggy routine, though I'm sure she wondered where Piper was, and was missing her too. They'd always been together since they were puppies, they were the best of friends and always had each other's company. 
Here are Amy and Piper at the entrance of Chatelherault located in a village near Hamilton.
This was the area of one of their favourite, bigger, 2 hour walks.

Wonderful memories will stay with me.

It has taken me a long time to be able to talk about this. 
Thanks for your kindness and well wishes.

We miss you loads and will always love you, our brave wee "Pippa"

Love Alexandra x

6 comments:

  1. Alexandra, my heart breaks for you at this news and I know how hard it was for you to write this story. I don't know how I'll handle it when the time comes. I'm glad Amy is taking it okay and is giving you some comfort. The sadness is beyond what words can express, so just know I understand, having lost a dog before. Take care and continue to heal with Piper in your heart forever.

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  2. Oh Alexandra, your news is so desperately sad and I really feel for you. She really did have a hard time and I am so sorry that she did not recover from the initial cancer.... As Leslie, above, has already said, there are no words that can express the sadness you must be feeling. I do hope that 'talking' about it gives you some release. You have my sincerest sympathy. Big hugs, Anne xx

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  3. So sorry to hear about this, and the struggles she went through. We lost both our cats last year and I still mourn them too, they are so much apart of our lives. Wishing you peace and strength as you remember your sweet baby, Hugs!

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