Callie,
We love you and we miss you.
Our Sick Little Girl
We bought our first English Bulldog as a gift to each other in April of 2002. After having her for about six months, we started having difficulty maintaining her health. She began having skin allergies and mange, but we didn't worry too much about it because many Bulldogs have skin problems. Looking back now, that seems to have started the ball rolling. Shortly after her mange was sucessfully treated, she developed a sudden severe limp. We were unsure of what was causing this behavior so we took her promptly to the vet. We found out that our sick little girl had two luxating patellae. We also learned that Banfield, our current veterinarian, was a nation-wide alliance of ignorance and incompetence so we began seeking better care for Callie.
A friend with a bullie turned us on to our current vet, Dr. Joel Fisher, who specializes in English Bulldogs. We visited Dr. Fisher and learned so much about Bulldogs, their health, and the insanity of the treatments Banfield had perscribed. Dr. Fisher turned Callie's life around. Things started looking great for our baby girl. About the time that Callie turned eight months old, we started noticing little differences in her. She became more and more lethargic. She quit responding. Sometimes, she wouldn't eat nor drink. We took multiple trips to see Dr. Fisher and he tried everything he could to help her but deep down, we were sure that Dr. Fisher knew what was really wrong with her. He was just making sure. When he was sure, he ordered some bloodwork. I was on my way home from work when he called me with the results. He never actually told me the results that day, but I heard the quiver in his voice as he made idle conversation trying to delay having to tell me. I just thanked him very much for his help and I pulled over to think for a while.
Dr. Fisher suspected all along that our sick little girl had kidney problems. He was right; it was acute renal failure. Our baby was going to die. We knew that we only had a few weeks left to have her, but it would be so selfish of us to keep her in so much pain. Dr. Fisher agreed to meet us at the office late to put her down. Our family solemnly loaded into the car and drove silently to the vet as Callie slept. We got to Dr. Fishers office and Callie mustered every bit of energy she had left to wag her little, weak rear end to greet Dr. Fisher before she collapsed to the floor. I picked her up and carried her into the examination room; my family followed behind. We petted her and we gave her so much love to keep her comfortable as Dr. Fisher prepared the injection. I held her firmly against my chest as he took her little arm and injected her. I remember that she didn't even flinch as the needle sank into her vein. I remember trying to turn her towards me so that I could be the last thing she'd ever see in this world before she was so early taken. I remember her going limp in my arms before I could turn her around. She was gone.
At the time of writing, it has been more than a year since we had her put down. The pain is still unbearable. Callie, we love you and we miss you.
Love,
Mom and Dad