Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sadly, I must inform everyone that dear Lola passed away this morning. It was noticed that she was not well yesterday morning and she was taken to the vet at that time. Her breathing was labored, gums pale, and her movement was not normal.
The vet felt sure as soon as she saw Lola that she had Immuno-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, a condition not totally uncommon in canines where basically the body's own blood cells attack and destroy its own blood cells. Blood tests soon confirmed the diagnosis and she was found to have extremely low white and red blood cell counts.
However, the vet felt that since Lola had no heart murmur, there might be a chance to turn her condition around. Because red blood cells carry oxygen througout the body and she had so few of them, this was why her breathing was so labored. She was also dehydrated. She was given IV fluids in the office and an injection of time-released steroids to try to ease her breathing and build her up to try to turn the condition around.
Her condition was discussed with the vet and it was determined that she deserved a chance to go home and see if her condition could be improved with the medication over the next 24-48 hours. It was also agreed that Luke and her needed the chance to say goodbye if need be and that we should not just take her away never to return.
Lola seemed to improve slightly overnight and drank a good amount of water when offered it by Jean this morning. We thought this to be a good sign. Jean checked on her again just before church; she was resting and seemed about the same. When Jean returned from church, Lola had passed. So she went fairly quickly and Jean's impression when she found her was that she had not struggled, but simply passed on.
We are truly sad at her passing but glad that we gave her the chance to be at home with her Luke when she went. We will miss her but can be content in knowing that she was very happy during the last year or so of her life and knew love from us and love and joy from Luke.
Janet
