For the past 16 years and two weeks, we have had a dog named Mattie. We got her on December 20th 1998 for my daughter Emily for Christmas. She was 8 weeks old and we drove 65 miles to get her because the ad in the paper said she was a black lab puppy. She wasnt. At best she was a lab terrier mix. She never got to be more than 48 pounds and was only medium height. She was a spot licker . She licked EVERYTHING. Especially the spot on the sofa that you wanted to sit on. My husband would say. Shes like a timex watch. She takes a lickin and keeps on lickin. She grew to be a part of our family and loved us unconditionally. On June 6th of this past year, she was diagnosed with oral melanoma in her mouth, jaw and behind her eye. At 15 and a half years old, she was given 4 weeks at best to live with little hope of any effective treatment. I decided that at least a second opinion was worth a try. I took her to the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Clinic and they told me that age is not a disease and given her profoundly excellent health, radiation and the new Oncept Vaccine could erradicate the melanoma and give her potentially another couple of years of life. We went for it. Six weeks later, she was cancer free. She was happy, youthful, beautiful. Since then, for the past almost 6 months, Mattie has been amazingly healthy. On July 4th, we found out that she wasnt a Black lab terrier mix at all. She was an Australian Cattle Dog/Lab mix. That is one of the smartest and in my mind, one of the coolest dogs there are. I felt like I had cheated her out of 15 years of respect for her coolness. We never thought that Mattie was too bright. My husband used to say that Mattie had one thought and it died of loneliness. I always thought she was stupid like a fox. I think I was right. On October 20th, it was her 16th birthday. We took her to Petco and let her roam around and smell and walk around and just have fun. We left with lots of treats and then went to McDonalds and got her a burger, a 10 piece McNuggets and an ice cream cone. It was a great night. Last Monday the 27th, I took her to the vet and they did blood work. It came back perfect, just like that of a young dog. Tuesday was a great day, and then on Wednesday, she didnt eat too much. Thursday either. Friday, she didnt eat at all. I took her to the vet Saturday morning and asked for an ultrasound of her belly because something was not right. They admitted her because she was dehydrated and kept her overnight. On Sunday morning, her oncologist called and said that the Mattie she saw on Monday and the Mattie she saw on Saturday were two different dogs. The ultrasound revealed our worst fear. She had a tumor the size of a raquetball in her kidney, a free floating tumor in her belly, three small lesions in her lungs and two enlarged lymph nodes by her kidney. The vet said that the insane speed that these tumors grew, meant that they were likely hemangiosarcomas, the most aggressive and untreatable cancers there are. They are time bombs. They are basically balls of blood vessel tumors that eventually explode and render the dog with a horrible internal hemorrage that will kill the dog within minutes. Knowing that this ticking time bomb was in my sweet precious Mattie was devastating to me, Shawn, Emily, and Jonny. On Sunday we brought her home to spend her last day of life with us. On Monday evening, we had a vet come to our house to bring Mattie to a peaceful death. It was absolutely gut wrenching to lay on the floor with my children surrounding Mattie who lovingly and trustingly laid on her cushy bed. She was feeling awful. She laid there almost all day and it was obvious she was beginning to shut down. Her last act before she closed her eyes was to lick my face and my tears in her usual spot licking fashion. She licked, and licked and licked. I know she was telling me she loved me. I hope also that she was saying thank you. Mattie, thank you for loving me so well when I truly didnt deserve it. You have made me such a better person and showed me what unconditional love and joy looks like. I love you so much my Mattie Pattie. I miss you so bad, but I know the reunion in heaven with Daddy has been a sloppy one.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 02:16:55 +0000
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