On December 5th we lost our sweet Lassie. Her loss was very sudden and unexpected for us. She had slowly been losing weight over the past month or so, but was eating well and up and about as was normal for her. On December 2 she didn’t hop up to greet us as usual, and seemed a little “off”. Worried, we decided to have Dr. Bader look at her when he arrived on Dec. 4th. He went immediately to see Lassie on the way back from the airport. In a matter of a few hours between the morning and the time Dr. Jim saw her, Lassie had lost almost all strength in her hind legs and had great difficulty in walking. He wanted to get blood work done, suspecting liver or kidney failure. We planned to take her for the testing the following morning, but by 3 AM it was clear to Terry that she was slipping away quickly. Dr. Jim came up the mountain and euthanized our sweet girl early Saturday morning before our week of sterilization clinics began.
Lassie was rescued by Terry many years ago. She was being tormented by children in the street, and they were pelting her with slingshots and had struck her in the eye. Terry swooped in and took Lassie to the vet, but there was nothing that could be done to save her eye. She was spayed and the eye was removed.
When she had recovered, Terry found a home for Lassie with an older woman who lived in Antigua. All was well in Lassie’s world for about 5 years. The woman bought a ShiTzu and he (Tuck) and Lassie lived with her uneventfully until her death in 2014.
We brought both dogs into the rescue after their adopter died, and Tuck was placed with a lovely family quickly-he was a pure bred and younger than Lassie.
Finding a home for a one-eyed eleven year old dog is difficult. Lassie joined our other grey-muzzles and became one of the “Porch Dogs” in Terry’s home. She had age related urinary incontinence which we were able to control with daily Incurin, and otherwise was in good health.
Lassie was a sweet, gentle soul who loved to cuddle. She got along with everyone, both canine and human, and she left a very big empty space behind her when she left us. RIP sweet Lassie. We miss you.
