War Lord
04-04-2008, 12:03 AM
http://www.armageddongames.net/warlord/zoei_web.jpg
I bought Zoei as a surprise to my wife. We already had a 3 year old fawn male pug and she had always wanted a black female pug. She was absolutely thrilled at the addition. Our other pug was weary at first but they quickly became best buddies.
Zoei started acting abnormal on Friday March 28th, 2008. She wouldn’t jump down from the bed, or the couch. She was also very hesitant to go down the stairs. She had no problems jumping up on the bed or couch, nor going up the stairs. Our other pug had sprained his back and did similar things, so we just gave Zoei a little children’s Tylenol and monitored her. She was very sleepy all weekend, barely playing with our other pug. Normally, all she did was play with him during her waking hours, even if he didn’t want to.
On Sunday, my wife awoke to Zoei apparently choking. She rubbed her throat and it seemed to be fine. I awoke later that day to Zoei throwing up on the floor. It was mostly brown liquid, so I just assumed it was her reacting to the Tylenol, and I wouldn’t give her any more. I was in the kitchen this day as well, when Zoei walked in and just peed on the kitchen floor. This was unusual for her as she would always go on one of the puppy pads throughout the house if she absolutely had to go now. Later this afternoon she also pooped on the kitchen floor. Again, very abnormal.
Monday morning I took Zoei to the vet. I told them all that had been going on, and they gave her a shot and sent me home with some pills. Later this evening Zoei seemed to be back to normal, though still not jumping off of the couch, she was very excited when we came home or a guest came over and she even was playing with a toy along with our other pug.
I was at work Tuesday morning when my wife called and said she came back from the bathroom to find Zoei sitting on the bed shaking and just staring at the wall. I told her to calm down and see if Zoei would eat or drink. She sat Zoei on the floor by her food bowl and she just collapsed to the floor. My wife said she also would not stop craning her neck as if it were hurting her. Our vet wasn’t in that day, however the vet her parent’s use was. I told her to calm down and that Zoei would be fine, just to give me a call when they found out something.
My wife’s mother called me which I immediately knew was a bad sign. She said Zoei’s shaking had gotten worse and she was not reacting to any of the seizure medicines. She was on a constant valium IV. The only time anything seemed to work was if she was sleeping because of the valium. She said the vet was fairly certain that she had Pug Dog Encephalitis. She said we could go to an emergency animal hospital and have her spinal fluid checked to see if she did indeed have it. I immediately lost it. The thought of losing that beautiful little girl was too much to bear for me. I rushed from work to the vet’s office.
After speaking to the vet, my options were to leave her there on the IV and see how things went, or rush her over to the emergency place to have the tests done. My wife asked me if I wanted to see Zoei now, and I couldn’t do it. There’s no way I could have handled it. I decided to leave her on the IV and go home to read a bit about PDE. As I got home and read a bit more, it seemed Zoei had just about every Pre-Seizure symptom that comes with PDE. The only difference being that most dogs have a seizure for a few seconds then it’s gone for a little while. Zoei had been seizuring all day long basically. We could pay to go have those tests done, to find out she did indeed have it, and then my option would be to have her put to sleep. I figured it’d be better to bring her home, and see how it went for a day or two.
I spoke with the vet when we got back and told him what we planned to do. He said it wouldn’t be any more of a charge to leave her on the IV and monitored until they closed at 6 so we chose to leave her and come back again. I did however want to see her so they brought her out. When they brought her out I lost it again. She was just shaking and whining constantly. It was horrible. After we got home and I read more I was almost positive she had PDE. I spoke with my wife and told her that if we brought her home and she was just going to shake and whine all night, that wasn’t fair to Zoei.
We went back to the vet around 5:30 and the vet said she was still just shaking and not reacting well to much of anything. If we took her home, it would be a sleepless night of Zoei shaking and crying. We made the decision to put her to sleep. I couldn’t let her go through that anymore. This is for sure the hardest decision of my life. A 7 month old pug should not go from happy and full of life to hanging on barely in a matter of a weekend. This was our baby girl, but we had to do what was best for her.
We held her in our lap as she took her last breath, crying and shaking. I know it was best but I just can’t believe it. She was such a great dog, and just plain amazing. I feel like there’s this empty part of me knowing she won’t be there anymore. It’s slowly getting better but it’s so hard day to day. The first night was the worst. I had no composure whatsoever. Pugs are lickers, but Zoei licked all the time and everything. She would always lick my pillow for at least 5 or 10 minutes every night before bed. Our other pug had never done anything like this but that night he licked my pillow for a good 10 minutes. I absolutely cried like a baby as he did it.
I’ll never be able to bring Zoei back, but I would much rather have known her for the 6 months we had her then to have never had her at all. She was an amazing little dog, and will be loved and remembered forever. We chose to have her cremated and should have her back home where she belongs next week. We already had what pictures we had of her printed and got 2 frames that hold 9 4x6 prints each and filled them with her pictures. I also had the vet get a lock her hair so we could have it custom framed with a picture as well.
I miss you Zoei, and I hope you’re happier now, and resting peacefully.
I've been a wreck all week, and though it is slowly getting slightly better, I'm not sure sometimes still how I'll get along without her. I think having our other pug has been great for support, but he isn't Zoei.
I bought Zoei as a surprise to my wife. We already had a 3 year old fawn male pug and she had always wanted a black female pug. She was absolutely thrilled at the addition. Our other pug was weary at first but they quickly became best buddies.
Zoei started acting abnormal on Friday March 28th, 2008. She wouldn’t jump down from the bed, or the couch. She was also very hesitant to go down the stairs. She had no problems jumping up on the bed or couch, nor going up the stairs. Our other pug had sprained his back and did similar things, so we just gave Zoei a little children’s Tylenol and monitored her. She was very sleepy all weekend, barely playing with our other pug. Normally, all she did was play with him during her waking hours, even if he didn’t want to.
On Sunday, my wife awoke to Zoei apparently choking. She rubbed her throat and it seemed to be fine. I awoke later that day to Zoei throwing up on the floor. It was mostly brown liquid, so I just assumed it was her reacting to the Tylenol, and I wouldn’t give her any more. I was in the kitchen this day as well, when Zoei walked in and just peed on the kitchen floor. This was unusual for her as she would always go on one of the puppy pads throughout the house if she absolutely had to go now. Later this afternoon she also pooped on the kitchen floor. Again, very abnormal.
Monday morning I took Zoei to the vet. I told them all that had been going on, and they gave her a shot and sent me home with some pills. Later this evening Zoei seemed to be back to normal, though still not jumping off of the couch, she was very excited when we came home or a guest came over and she even was playing with a toy along with our other pug.
I was at work Tuesday morning when my wife called and said she came back from the bathroom to find Zoei sitting on the bed shaking and just staring at the wall. I told her to calm down and see if Zoei would eat or drink. She sat Zoei on the floor by her food bowl and she just collapsed to the floor. My wife said she also would not stop craning her neck as if it were hurting her. Our vet wasn’t in that day, however the vet her parent’s use was. I told her to calm down and that Zoei would be fine, just to give me a call when they found out something.
My wife’s mother called me which I immediately knew was a bad sign. She said Zoei’s shaking had gotten worse and she was not reacting to any of the seizure medicines. She was on a constant valium IV. The only time anything seemed to work was if she was sleeping because of the valium. She said the vet was fairly certain that she had Pug Dog Encephalitis. She said we could go to an emergency animal hospital and have her spinal fluid checked to see if she did indeed have it. I immediately lost it. The thought of losing that beautiful little girl was too much to bear for me. I rushed from work to the vet’s office.
After speaking to the vet, my options were to leave her there on the IV and see how things went, or rush her over to the emergency place to have the tests done. My wife asked me if I wanted to see Zoei now, and I couldn’t do it. There’s no way I could have handled it. I decided to leave her on the IV and go home to read a bit about PDE. As I got home and read a bit more, it seemed Zoei had just about every Pre-Seizure symptom that comes with PDE. The only difference being that most dogs have a seizure for a few seconds then it’s gone for a little while. Zoei had been seizuring all day long basically. We could pay to go have those tests done, to find out she did indeed have it, and then my option would be to have her put to sleep. I figured it’d be better to bring her home, and see how it went for a day or two.
I spoke with the vet when we got back and told him what we planned to do. He said it wouldn’t be any more of a charge to leave her on the IV and monitored until they closed at 6 so we chose to leave her and come back again. I did however want to see her so they brought her out. When they brought her out I lost it again. She was just shaking and whining constantly. It was horrible. After we got home and I read more I was almost positive she had PDE. I spoke with my wife and told her that if we brought her home and she was just going to shake and whine all night, that wasn’t fair to Zoei.
We went back to the vet around 5:30 and the vet said she was still just shaking and not reacting well to much of anything. If we took her home, it would be a sleepless night of Zoei shaking and crying. We made the decision to put her to sleep. I couldn’t let her go through that anymore. This is for sure the hardest decision of my life. A 7 month old pug should not go from happy and full of life to hanging on barely in a matter of a weekend. This was our baby girl, but we had to do what was best for her.
We held her in our lap as she took her last breath, crying and shaking. I know it was best but I just can’t believe it. She was such a great dog, and just plain amazing. I feel like there’s this empty part of me knowing she won’t be there anymore. It’s slowly getting better but it’s so hard day to day. The first night was the worst. I had no composure whatsoever. Pugs are lickers, but Zoei licked all the time and everything. She would always lick my pillow for at least 5 or 10 minutes every night before bed. Our other pug had never done anything like this but that night he licked my pillow for a good 10 minutes. I absolutely cried like a baby as he did it.
I’ll never be able to bring Zoei back, but I would much rather have known her for the 6 months we had her then to have never had her at all. She was an amazing little dog, and will be loved and remembered forever. We chose to have her cremated and should have her back home where she belongs next week. We already had what pictures we had of her printed and got 2 frames that hold 9 4x6 prints each and filled them with her pictures. I also had the vet get a lock her hair so we could have it custom framed with a picture as well.
I miss you Zoei, and I hope you’re happier now, and resting peacefully.
I've been a wreck all week, and though it is slowly getting slightly better, I'm not sure sometimes still how I'll get along without her. I think having our other pug has been great for support, but he isn't Zoei.