Last night when I took Abbey out of her area she was messy so I gave her a
warm bath.  I then towel dried her and placed her on the rug where Nancy
could watch her.  All of a sudden she started screaming, and screaming.
Nothing I could do would calm her.  He eyes were dilated and unseeing.  I
called the vet and we rushed out the door with her.  She intermittently
screamed the entire 45 minutes.  As I stepped out of the truck she screamed,
Dr. Snyder came over with a genuine look of concern on his face and said
"that doesn't sound good".  We took Abbey inside and after a long exam and
discussion we made the decision that was best for her.  The diagnosis was a
brain lesion on the right side.  She'd lost all her senses - sight, smell,
hearing, and touch.  She felt no pain and could not feel me or hear me
trying to calm her.  She was frightened.  Her only way of expressing herself
was to scream.  But the most amazing thing was that when Dr. Snyder touched
her, she was calm.  She screamed only a couple times the entire hour we were
there.  We sedated her and Nancy and I were finally able to hold and cuddle
her without her screaming at us, then it was time to let her go.  She was
strong and it took awhile - she didn't want to leave us.  She never felt the
needle, never flinched.  It is so difficult to let them go, but there was
nothing more we could do for her.
 
Hugs to all.  tle
[Posted in FML issue 1587]