Our sweet, sweet Maggie died really unexpectedly.
Magnolia Lane Alliston came into our lives with SO much energy, there were times we would have traded her for just about anything. And then, just as quickly, she would do something so sweet, I wanted to just snuggle up and never let her leave my side! She was not the smartest girl, but she made up for it in so many other ways. I don't even know if Clay and I realized how much we loved her and needed her in our lives until she was gone.
I put Maggie and Reed outside around lunchtime yesterday to get some stuff done around the house. At about 3:45, I opened the back door to let them in. Reed immediately ran in, but Maggie had been sleeping in the shade and was sort-of sluggish coming up the stairs. I really didn't think much of it because we've seen this from her many times. I became concerned when she still looked really sluggish and unstable once inside, so I made her walk over to her water bowl and tried to coax her into drinking. She wouldn't do it. She just stood there, eyes glazed over, teetering back and forth a bit. I called Clay and had to leave him a message to call me back immediately because something was wrong with Maggie. As I was leaving him the message, her swaying got worse, so I called the vet to describe what was going on. They advised me to bring her in right away and mentioned that it could be a heat stroke. Clay called back and I told him to meet me at the vet. Right about then, Maggie's swaying had become much worse and she just sort-of fell over on her side. I completely lost it. I ran and got her leash, put it on her and tried to get her to get up and get in the car. She wouldn't budge. I had to pick her up (and she was dead weight) and put her in. Traffic was, of course, horrible and it took as twice as long as usual to get to the vet's office. The entire way there, I had my hand on her to make sure she was still breathing and to try and comfort her a litte. I also told her, repeatedly, how much I loved her and I begged her to just hang on until we got to the doctor. Once we turned onto the road the vet's office is on, I felt like she had stopped breathing; however, I felt her body rise and fall a few more times, so I was still slightly hopeful. I pulled into the parking lot and Clay and a nurse were waiting for me. Clay came to the door of my car, took one look at her and started crying. (That did NOT help my already hysterical crying.) The nurse took her inside and we waited. The vet came out a few minutes later and led us into an exam room to tell us that the nurse was still administering CPR, but that Maggie hadn't made it. We lost it. I guess I knew that was coming, but it was still unreal to actually hear it and know that it was true. It just happened so fast! Maggie's temperature was 107 degrees (normal for dogs is 101 and anything over 103 is bad). The vet reassured us that there was nothing we could have done and said that he suspects there was something else to it (maybe she was sick). Maggie was brought back in so that we could have a few minutes alone with her. We cried and told her how much we loved her and missed her already. It was terrible. It's so strange that animals can become such an integral part of our family and warrant the same type of sadness that normally seems reserved for a human loss.
We will miss our sweet, beautiful girl so much!
RIP Magnolia Lane Alliston
11/19/05-5/26/11
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