Spirit, our little paralyzed Yorkie who we adopted out in early January to a wonderful couple in Florida, died this weekend after a sudden deterioration in her spinal condition. Nicci and Glenn Bennett, who flew to Montana to adopt Spirit, told us on Friday that she had begun to exhibit pain last week, along with increased anxiety and rapid breathing. They had taken her to the vet, who said X-rays showed Spirit’s spinal condition had worsened and was now affecting other parts of her spinal cord.
The vet put Spirit on steroids for inflammation and pain medications, but cautioned that the prognosis was not good. The vet said that given the type of degenerative problem Spirit had, surgery probably wasn’t an option. By Friday she couldn’t hold her head up and couldn’t sit up, and her back legs — once the little powerhouses that propelled her along — were suddenly weak, too. On Saturday morning Nicci and Glenn took Spirit to see a neurologist at Florida Veterinary Specialists, who reviewed the X-rays and concurred with their primary care vet’s findings. During the course of Saturday the pain increased even as the pain meds were causing Spirit to throw up.
By Saturday evening Nicci and Glenn decided they didn’t want their tiny girl to suffer, and their vet came over to the house to let Spirit go peacefully. Nicci emailed us a short while later to say, "We love her so much and miss her so much already."
Alayne and I talked with Nicci and Glenn this evening. We told them how sorry we were and that our hearts went out to them. But we also told them that they had given Spirit the best life she could ever have enjoyed … even if it was so short. The Florida sunshine, the rides in the convertible, the rolling around on green grass (in February!), the round-the-clock love and care … and being treated like a princess. The top photo is one Nicci took of Spirit in the convertible just two weeks ago.
For a little no-name dog who was being kicked down the street in Butte, Montana … well, Spirit had come a long way. Dogs live very much "in the moment," and I think how they spend their final weeks or months — even after a lifetime of misery — can more than make up for everything that went before. And I know that’s certainly true in Spirit’s case. When Spirit took her last breaths Saturday evening, all she really knew was the life she had just enjoyed with Nicci and Glenn … and that’s all that mattered.
We told Nicci and Glenn that we couldn’t imagine Spirit being with anyone else … and she couldn’t have been in more loving hands.
This last photo is how we’ll remember Spirit the most … the sheer thrill and excitement of her first wheelchair ride. We took this photo shortly after she arrived at the ranch, on the day she was fitted with her new wheels. The wheelchair gave her mobility and independence after years of hopping on the ground. It was the start of a new life. But Nicci and Glenn gave her the rest … and the very best … of that new life.
Bless their hearts … and Spirit’s, too.
(Click on photo for larger image.)
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