Then There Was One

It's taken me several months to write this tribute post, but it's important for all pet owners to know and learn from our story.  Do you know the signs of anaphylaxis in dogs?  Thursday, September 20th, 2018 was one of the worst days of my life, but it started out as a good one.  I got my windows cleaned, had a foodie event with good friends, came home for cuddles with my girls and they fell asleep on the big bed next to me while I researched dog food, making sure I was feeding them the best quality.  I was recovering from bronchitis in September so we hadn't walked much the last few weeks, but we were getting back to our routines that day.  

At 705P I left the house with my Caitie on harness and leash.  She was lagging a couple feet behind.  We exited our home about ten feet.  The path has a few turns as we live in a guesthouse at the back of the property.  At the turn towards the gate and street I remember noticing a bee crawling on the ground.  I elected not to kill it, thinking Caitie would step over it, like I had done, like she had done so many times before.  As I turned right and stepped forward, Caitie screamed.  Caitie was dainty but not a screamer.  Her leash had been under her tummy, so I thought perhaps she stepped in the crack in the sidewalk and somehow broke a leg.  I scooped her up and carried her back inside to the couch, setting her down so I could remove the harness.  She wouldn't put weight on her front left paw, and continued to scream, running in circles.  With the leash off I took her into the bedroom, where I could hopefully get her in my lap to figure out what was going on. 

Caitie stopped yelping on the bed, and after a few seconds began to put her foot down.  I was able to palpate the leg, and it clearly was not broken.  But she was still pacing and uncomfortable.  Very quickly, she began to throw up, or so I thought.  It was stringy saliva, not acidic bile.  She had gotten it on the comforter, so I left her on the bed, figuring I was going to have to wash it anyway.  I thought perhaps she'd worked herself into such a state that it was stress that caused her to vomit.  Pretty quickly, the vomiting stopped, but just a beat more, and she was pooping on my bed.  She wasn't in a full poop stance, it was just falling out of her.  Solid poop, not diarrhea.  I picked it up with a piece of paper towel and threw it in the toilet.  When I turned and came back, there was another piece of poop.  Her breathing was labored, but she was breathing, and not crying.  By this time I knew we'd be going to a vet.  I wanted to show the vet how she was positioning herself, so I took a short video--literally two seconds.  She had voided all the poop inside her, and was still standing but was still.  I picked her up and set her down again to see if she could still walk.  She took just a couple steps, looked up at me, weaved a bit, and fell over on her side. 

Because we had been prepared to go for a walk, I already had Claire sequestered in the bedroom.  So I was able to scoop Caitie up and run.  I went to a neighbors and pounded on the door, yelling for a ride.  She didn't respond so I jumped in my car, putting Caitie on a blanket on the seat next to me, and drove a couple blocks to another friends, calling her on the way to say I needed help.  When I got to Betty's I was in a full panic.  Caitie was barely breathing and I thought she was going to die in my arms right there.  Betty drove to the emergency vet in Studio City.  It was dark, and Betty is an older lady.  She drove more cautiously than I would have, but that is also a reason I shouldn't have been driving.  I held Caitie in my arms, and did give a couple rescue breaths when it seemed she was not breathing.  

At the ER vet she was whisked to the back and emergency procedures started.  She was breathing when we got there, if slowly and shallowly.  I described what had happened and which paw to inspect.  The tech was able to find a stinger in her paw, so we knew conclusively it was a bee sting.  I had no idea.  The records state that when they began mechanical respirations, then she went into cardiac arrest.   They worked on her for twenty minutes or so and were able to get her back, once.  The vet came out to speak with me, and while we talked, Caitie arrested a second time.  They continued emergency measures.  They made me make the call when to stop.  Of course, I couldn't do that - so they brought me in to see her.  The CPR was violent on her tiny body.  I made them stop immediately and wanted all tubes disconnected so I could hold her.  I was in complete disbelief, but she was gone. 

The ER vet has us clocked in at 7:33.  The drive was probably fifteen minutes.  So all that happened at home was in a matter of ten minutes or less.  

I had a friend bring some sculpey from my home to the emergency vet so I could make a few pawprint castings and took photos of her nose in case I wanted to have a silver necklace made.  In reality I needed that time to absorb what had happened, though it still didn't seem real.  Caitie's body stayed at the emergency vet overnight, and a friend and I came the next morning to transport her body to the crematorium.  Both the emergency vet and the crematorium did noseprint and pawprint castings, in addition to my own that had not turned out well. 

the wound from the bee

the stinger that was pulled from her paw

 

taken just the night before Caitie died, the girls looking at me quizzically because I'd just dyed my hair so I smelled funny to them. 

Caitie was my joy; I adopted her in April 2014 when Chance and Claire were becoming seniors.  At the time, both of them were stable and relatively healthy.  She and Chance played and played.  She kept him young.  I referred to her as "Chance's puppy."  But she snuggled with me too.  She came from North Central shelter at approx six months old, yet her ears weren't standing up, and her baby teeth fell out months later.  She had been abandoned at a vet when she was left at a spay/neuter mobile unit, and then someone who had put a CTA on her failed to pick her up on her adoption date, so she was at the shelter for a full three weeks before the rescue could pull her.  I fell in love instantly.  I was in school, working in film and temping when slow.  Less than a year later, Chance's kidney issues surfaced.  My dad was in the hospital for four months.  My pups got me through.  Even at the end of his life, Chance still occasionally played with Caitie.  When I lost him, she and Claire were my reason to continue getting out of bed.  Caitie was my hiking buddy.  She sat on my feet and was attached to me at the hip.  I could swim in her dark brown eyes.  She would put her head down into my chest and nuzzle when she wanted to be petted.  She loved her Aunt Betty's house.  

All of these photos are fairly recent.  She was tiny at just 5.5-6 lbs.  She had three black spots on her body, but if seen from one side appeared all white.  I can't put what she meant to me into words, so I'll stop talking.  She was my heart. 

Caitie's nose and paw prints created by Brenda Kessler Designs

I hope other pet owners can learn to recognize the signs of anaphylaxis.  If I had not hesitated to see what was wrong, had just gotten immediately into my car and driven myself directly to the vet, perhaps they could have saved her.  Bee stings should be responded to immediately.  Best case scenario, the pup will be in a place where they can get help if needed, and if not, you'll come home relatively soon, no worse for wear.  If they have a severe response time is of the essence.

Once again I was thankful I had vet insurance.  Emergency treatment and cremation for Caitie came to around $2,000.  The insurance didn't cover cremation, but refunded me about $1,000. 

Thursday, October 11th, was two years since I lost my precious Chance, and three weeks since losing Caitie. I have done a blanket drive for East Valley shelter each October in Chance's honor, and the 2018 3rd Annual Blanket and Food Drive was in honor of both Chance and Caitie.

Caitie and Chance