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Kate's
Story
Kate is a German Shorthair Pointer. She
was
about 13 years old and has
been at Pets-Haven for 8 years. We intended to keep her with us for the rest
of her life. She did not adjust well to changes and had seen enough heartbreak. Kate
was very easily scared and only liked to go for walks, if Baby,
her companion went with her. Then they would both have a
good time.
Why Kate came to Pets Haven:
Kate was supposed to be a hunting dog, but turned out to be
gun-shy, which made her "useless" to her owner, who brought her
to the vet to have her put to sleep. The veterinarian is a kind hearted
man, who didn’t want to euthanize this young healthy dog, so he kept
her at his clinic . But Katie
got restless and unhappy at the clinic, she had to spend too much time in
a cage. Pets Haven really didn’t want to get into the dog saving
business, because we didn’t have the room. However, we had taken in Baby
about 6 month earlier (Baby’s
Story) and were looking for a good
companion for him.
Katie was first very anxious and spent most of her time in their
outside "doghouse"( insulated and with heat and air, we don't like regular
doghouses, dogs should live inside as family members). After a few months she
started running around
freely, giving Baby a hard time, when he thought he could get bossy.
Katie was doing very well over the
years, she had no serious health problems. During the last
year she had been on Adequan shots for her Arthritis but she still
could hunt squirrels and have a great time.
Then one Saturday night without any
warning signs when we were feeding her and Baby, she didn't want her
food and walked to her bed. There she suddenly collapsed and
went rigid like she was having a seizure. We immediately drove
her to our veterinarian who was waiting on us when we got there.
A blood test showed her red blood cell count was very low and had
caused her to collapse from lack of oxygen to her brain.
Charles had to get some blood for Kate so she could have a blood
transfusion and then be opened up to check for cancer. Her
blood and biopsies were brought to the human hospital nearby and we
got the results back at noon on Sunday. The diagnosis was
Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Katie had no time left. With
very heavy hearts we held her while she crossed the bridge.
Kate soaking up some sun in
her favorite place under a big Oaktree.
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