She Was a Good Sheepdog
A week ago today we lost our sheepdog, Burcwen. We were camping, and on Wednesday she had been swimming in the afternoon like she loved to do. Then we played ball, and soon after she was participating in her other favourite camping activity: digging holes under the picnic table. Suddenly while in the midst of digging she seemed to stumble and collapse on her front paws, and lost her bladder! It came out in quite the torrent. Initially we thought we had just missed her asking to go for a walk, so we tried to get her up, but she refused to budge, and it was then I noticed she was breathing hard, her gums were very pale (but her nose was ice cold!) We initially thought she had perhaps swallowed too much water while swimming, and maybe had air or water trapped in her tummy. This seemed confirmed by how much her stomach was rolling and gurgling. So we tried to get her to walk, to help move her system along. She did not want to get up, and when she did, her back legs were first dragging, and then just walking funny. Her head was hung low at a weird angle, and along with the very heavy panting she was drooling uncontrollably. I feared that maybe more than an upset tummy, maybe it was a small stroke. As we walked her though - slowly and gently - her walk slowly improved, and so I concluded it was not a stroke. She spent the evening laying down, breathing heavy, and intermittently groaning. I called a vet friend for advice, and she concurred that it sounded like a stomach all out of sorts. She was worried about her stomach having flipped, but since it had been a few hours and she was not "inflating like a balloon", we dismissed that. Before bed she was finally able to urinate, and just after bed she threw up her dinner, and after that seemed to feel a little better. She spent thursday curled up in our warm, dry car with bowls of warm chicken broth, and by thursday evening she seemed to be all better, totally back to normal! We were pleased that whatever it was seemed to have passed. We normally cut her kibble half and half with rice crispies so as to keep her weight down, and seeing how she seemed all better, I gave her some rice crispies, her first food since wednesday dinner. She ate that down eagerly, and seemed fine and happy. When we woke up Friday, however, she seemed sick again. She was laying flat with her front paws spread out, her chest appearing enlarged or splayed open, breathing heavily with the pale gums and unusually cold nose. I began to wonder if there was perhaps a blockage in her intestines somewhere, since she had seemed all better until she was given food. We offered her more broth, but she refused to eat anything, and refused to go walking either. Even if I could get her to stand up, she would dig her heels in and refuse to move, like a donkey. So unlike her! All day Friday there was no change, so I called our actual vet back home (as opposed to our vet friend), but she could offer little advice over the phone. We thought about driving to the nearest town to have her seen by an emergency vet, but over all she seemed to be in less pain than on Wednesday, and so I thought that, like before, it might just pass on its own. Plus, we were due to pack up and go home the next day anyway. We went to bed friday night and she seemed a little better, but at about 4AM she woke me up, breathing very heavily and rhythmically, groaning heavily with every breath! Her paws and chest were again stretched out, and she was raising her head, pointing it up into the air as if to stretch her chest as much as possible. She was in such pain! I massaged her tummy and chest (which seemed to help) until the episode passed, about ten minutes latter, and then we started packing up our tents and gear, having decided to get home and get to the vet ASAP. We arrived at the vet about mid-morning, and lo and behold, by the time we got there Burcwen was almost back to normal! It was like when you bring your car to the mechanic for a weird sound in the engine, only to have it not make that sound when you get there. The vet checked her over, palpitated her stomach and checked her colon to conclude that there was no intestinal blockage of any kind, did a urinalysis and concluded that she had a UTI, with some blood in the urine. She sold us some extremely expensive antibiotics, as well as some special digestive food, and said that if Burcwen was improved by monday to bring her back in for blood work. Burcwen improved all day saturday, and by saturday night she was 100% back to normal, she even made a (small) stool as well as urinating, so I gave her a serving of the special digestive food - her first food since the rice crispies on thursday. Sunday we woke up, and once again Burcwen seemed sick, laying still on the ground, breathing heavy, the same routine. We called our vet friend again, who disagreed that all of this could be caused by a UTI, and was sure instead that this had to be some sort of intestinal blockage. She told us to start giving her caster oil to help move things along, warm water with corn syrup to get her electrolite levels up, and to get her walking to help get her bowels moving, and hopefully clear the blockage. Burcwen refused to eat or drink, so I used a syringe to feed her. Then around 6:00 I got her up to take her for a walk. She was extremely unsteady on her feet. Her back legs kept collapsing under her, and she was crashing about down the hall like a drunk might stagger. I carried her down the stairs and let her outside. She tried to walk around but had such trouble walking steady. She tried to squat to urinate, but couldn't hold a squat position. I carried her back upstairs and laid her back down. She was breathing very heavily, her gums white as a sheet, her nose so cold. Then, suddenly, something changed. Her eyes glazed over, she kinda rolled onto her side, her tongue lolled out of her mouth in a weird way, and her breathing changed into these quick gasps. My heart sunk as I realised something was seriously wrong. Her gasping breaths got shorter and further apart. I held her, stroked her head and told her what a good dog she was, and then she just stopped breathing. I don't mind admitting, it was (and is) pretty much the most painful thing I've ever gone through. We had called the vet emergency line when she looked to be getting bad, and a while latter the on-call vet phoned back. This was yet a different vet than either our vet-friend or our normal vet. He had a third opinion. He believed it was a previously undiagnosed heart problem, likely cardiomyopathy. Like our vet friend, this vet agreed that a UTI could not possibly explain all the symptoms, but unlike our vet friend he did not think it could have been an intestinal blockage, because the symptoms were episodic - i.e. twice she got feeling better and was perfectly normal again. The episodic nature of the symptoms made him conclude that it was necessarily an acute problem, and cardiomyopathy fit that bill, while intestinal blockage could not. Since then we've researched this cardiomyopathy a bit, and its symptoms do sound like what Burcwen went through. Either way, I suppose it doesn't really matter. The third vet says it likely could not have been diagnosed in advance, and even if it could have been, there wouldn't really have been anything we could have done about it. And anyways, none of that brings her back to us. So, there she was, a perfectly healthy dog, only ten years old, never any health problems in her entire life, and suddenly gone in just three days. If you're not already, take my advice and treasure the time while you have it; it ends all too soon. |
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| I'm so sorry for you and Burcwen |
| That is incredibly shocking and sad. I am so sorry for your loss. I am kind of glad that Burcwen got to do so many of the things she enjoyed before she passed. It sounds like a really fun day. What a nightmare though to have her life end so suddenly. My heart goes out to you. I am glad you shared your story here. |
| I am so sorry for your loss. Burcwen sounds like a wonderful sheepdog. |
I am so sorry your Burcwen passed so suddenly and traumatically. 
She sounds like a wonderful OES and friend. |
Special thoughts for you and your family for the loss of your sweet Burcwen.  |
| Thanks for your kind words everyone, I appreciate it. I'm just in the middle of uploading some photos, hopefully I'll be able to post them soon. |
| I am so sorry about your baby...
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| Oh this is horrible news.
I'm SO sorry for your loss of Burcwen and the trauma that you all went through. What a terrible thing. I'm thinking of you and will give Mulligan an extra hug tonight before bed. |
| Im so sorry |
| So sorry about your terrible loss. |
| I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your sweet sheepie. |
| You must be heartbroken. I am so sorry. |
 Oh, I'm so very sorry! What a trauma.
One thing caught my eye though, swimming. Hopefully not in an algae prone area. There is something about or in association with bluegreen algae that is toxic to dogs. A lake here has had several dog deaths to where they've had to post signs banning all swimming, especially for dogs. While 10 years is a "long" time, it is never long enough for such a devoted family member. Once again, I'm sorry for your loss. |
| I'm so sorry for your loss |
| i am so sorry for your loss...how devestating... |
Thanks for the kind words everyone, we appreciate it. My wife wrote a nice tribute to our girl on her blog here: http://juniper23.blogspot.com/2009/07/great-sadness.html, if anyone is interested. She posted a number of pics there as well, some of which I'll drop in here so you can see what a great girl she was. Thanks again!
Here she is goofing it up on the hammock with my wife: 
Her favourite winter pastime: eating snow! 
Attacking the legs of my desk chair (a little neurotic, she would race into my office and do this a couple times a day, then look to me for approval, so pleased with herself for vanquishing the evil desk chair once again!) 
Once we were camping on the north side of lake superior. I love cold water swimming, but there was almost ice on the water so we kept burcwen tied up thinking it would be too cold for her. Well, so desperate to be with me, she was, she kept barking and fussing till my wife untied her, at which point she raced in without any hesitation! Later I noticed her shivering, so I wrapped her in a duvet! Poor sheepie! 
playing in the water with my wife: 
Driving down the road, though she had enough room in the back of our honda CRV to play fetch (almost), she insisted on ignoring that room and instead squeezing as close to the front seat as her tether would let her so that she could rest her beak on my shoulder. 
She was my best friend, and I miss her terribly. |
| I am so sorry for the loss of your dear friend. She is beautiful. She was a wonderful sheepie girl. Time may ease the pain but not the fond memories. My thoughts are with you . |
| what a beautiful memorial your wife wrote and what a wonderful life she had with the two of you. i am so sorry for your devastating loss.
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| Wonderful memories.
Thanks for sharing them with us during this difficult time. |
Burcwen was certainly a very beautiful girl. In all of these pictures, and in all of the ones on your blog site, she was smiling like she was the happiest girl in the world. I'm so very sorry for your loss, and I feel your pain. 
Thank you for sharing her stories and pictures with us. Her memories will be with you always, as they should be. |
| I'm so sorry for this enormous hole in your heart.
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| What a beautiful gal....
I am so sorry! I wish there were words...
I can't think of a prettier picture of a Mom and her baby!!! You can certainly feel the connection in that picture... |
| I'm so sorry for your loss |
| The pictures really bring home the wonderful life you shared with your beautiful happy cozy girl and the magnitude of your loss. I wish she could have stayed with you longer. |
Donner's Mom wrote: What a beautiful gal....
I am so sorry! I wish there were words... I can't think of a prettier picture of a Mom and her baby!!! You can certainly feel the connection in that picture... I got chills just looking at this beautiful picture. You can see the strong connection and the love in both your wife and her baby. My thoughts and prayers are with you both. We all know what you are going through, because we have been there. Feel free to lean on us .... |
| Thankyou for posting those wonderful pictures. She was so beautiful and loving. Cherish the memories and know that she will live in your heart forever. I know your pain. I lost my sheepie soulmate 2 months ago. The heartache never goes away but it does become manageable.
I've been wearing a pendant of Sammy handmade for me by an artist. It has helped me tremendously in my grieving. People from all over the world (Im a flight attendant) has commented on my pendant and it allows me many opportunities to speak of her. I posted a thread on the "Loki Pendant" in the Rainbow Bridge forum if it is something that will help you. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this sad time. |
| I am so very very sorry about your loss she was just beautiful. The photo of her with your wife is absolutely fantastic. I am sorry you had to go through such trauma and I hope the happy memories will come flooding back soon and replace the last week or so. My thoughts are with all your family that is all I can say...xxxxx |
| so very sorry for your loss |
| so very sorry for your loss also. you were such good friends.
my heart goes out to you both |
| How awful! I am so sorry for you. |
| I cant believe what nightmare you've gone through in these couple of days! This on and off sign must be also painful for you aswell, as you were constantly in hope, "now she's better" and in hours your hopes where smashed and then it started all over again.
I feel so sorry for Burcwen to have all these pain, but I'm happy she died in your arms as she wished!! 
keep strong!! I know its hard! |
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