(no subject)

More sadness. Last night, I had to have my sweet, lovely black-and-silver German shepherd, Elphaba, put down. She was only 5 years old, and not only is my heart broken, and my roomie's, but also Elphie's sister Kita's. The two have never been separated since birth, and although Elphie's been gone a week - she was at the vet's that long, trying to save her - Kita still looks for her and is confused that she isn't where she's supposed to be.

This all started a few days before New Year's, when Elphie came in for bedtime, made a sharp turn in my den, and simply fell over onto her side like a sack of grain. We were terrified, but after a few seconds, she got back up and seemed fine. I made a non-emergency appointment with the vet, but by the next day, she was falling over seemingly every few steps, laying there breathing hard and paralyzed for a full minute or more. I got her to the vet right away, where she was diagnosed with either whipworms or Addison's Disease (the symptoms are the same). For six days, our vet fought to save her. The whipworms diagnosis was quickly discarded, but in some way, the Addison's, which is treatable, had affected her kidneys, and kidney failure isn't treatable. My vet called me early yesterday evening, broke the news to me as gently as she could, and let me make the call. I did it without hesitation, even though I couldn't be there; she never knew what was happening, went to her final sleep swiftly and quietly, and had loving hands all around her - everyone in the vet's office had come to love her while she was there.

Losing my sweet Elphie has left a huge hole in our world. As soon as I recover, I'll get another German shepherd to keep Kita company, but for now, I have to grieve for a while and cry a lot.