A Tribute To Our Beloved Scotty

Our little Scotty lost his struggle with chronic renal disease and anemia Monday afternoon, July 13th, 2009. That little dog with the big heart fought hard and kept his spirit up and his devotion to us strong right up to the end. But all we were doing to try and help him maintain a good quality of life ultimately wasn’t enough. The periods between bouts of nausea and lethargy were becoming shorter, and each time we had the kidney panel bloodwork done his numbers were still getting worse, until finally the vet told us that there was nothing more we could do and that the treatments were even having a negative affect on the anemia.

So last week we made sure we had enough fluids and his other medications, and Cerenia to counter the vomiting, to get him through last weekend. The three of us enjoyed those final days together, and he was still always ready to go for a walk as soon as he heard the jingle of the tags on his harness, even if he wasn’t always able to go the full length of our former route. As we walked around the pond and told his friends that we usually met on the walks, word spread around the neighborhood and other people expressed their concern. One couple and their dog Buddy, who live in another nearby neighborhood, heard about our impending loss from someone else and made a point of coming by the house to say goodbye and let Scotty and Buddy play in our back yard. And of course if one of us left the house, he was right there at the door, tail wagging with joy when we returned as always, whether it was from an absence of a couple of hours or just a couple of minutes to get the mail or take the trash out.

When we took him in to the vet Monday for his final visit, and had been sequestered in one of the exam rooms, first one of the vet techs who had attended Scotty in the past, then one of the receptionists from the front desk, came in to say goodbye and cry with us before the procedure could be done. Even the vet who administered the injections was not very successful in controlling her emotions.

Scotty was so loved by us and so many other people who met him during the all too short time we had. Thank you so much, MSPMSR, for bringing him into our lives.

“Scotty, you were the embodiment of love, devotion and joie de vivre. And all you ever wanted was to please us and to be loved in return. Well, little one, you did and you were, more than we can express. We miss you, silly dog, funny face, Scotty Boy.”

Bob Garrett and John Novak