Hi, My name is Cathy I had a precious Dog named "Sassy"..she was my best friend. I loved her very much, we took her camping, and fishing, not as much as I would have liked, but we also have her sister Sheba..the 2 did not get along. So we couldn't take them too many places together. They are Border Collie and Chow Mix, I was told the fighting was probably due to them not being spayed, or possibly the Chow in them made them territorial. Anyway to get on with my story of Sassy, she was a beautiful dog, orange in color like the chow, curled up tail on her back and, black tongue, but looked much more like the border collie. Beautiful long nose and some of her coloring was the darker brown around her nose and ears. one of my favorite things was the fur on her back legs, it hung down and looked like bloomers. Anyway, I lost her to a disease called Pyometra, to those who don't know what that is...its a disease a female dog can get from not being spayed while in heat. I always planned on getting them fixed, but never rushed because they were always in the house. the disease is an infection of the uterus, it can be taken care of by Emergency spaying, but which also costs between $800.00- $1,500.00. and is not a guarenteed success. So needless to say, "Sassy" had a swelled spleen besides the infected uterus, so the vet told us there was probably something more going on then just the Pyometra. So they told us it may be better to put her to sleep, rather than spending all that money for something that may not be a guarentee. So my husband and I searched for the answer, and decided to let her go, she was very sick by the time we had gotten her to the vet. It was a very hard thing to do, she was only 7 and still had the puppy look in her face..I cried that whole afteroon, As did my Husband, we felt so guilty for not having her spayed, but neither one of us had ever known of that disease or ever were told by the vet about it. So the Vet came in with the needle, I was sitting on the floor next to her, the Vet shaved her paw so she could get to the Vein, and "Sassy" just layed there, it was like she knew what was happening, I was sobbing, telling her I loved her, and I was sorry that I didn't take better care of her. Like a peaceful calm was in the room, and she was gone. I cried hard, I couldn't get up off the floor I just leaned over her crying, I'm sorry, I love you. it was one of the worst things I have gone through in my life, how could I let my baby get so sick, and not be able to help her, how could I let her go. I still cry every day, wishing I had taken better care of her, I blame myself, I am so guilt striken, and people tell me it isn't my fault, but I still blame myself, I can't move past this. Even her Sister Sheba isn't enough to help me move on, I miss my dog so much. If someone out there has ever gone through this, please email me and tell me how you dealt with such a thing, I can not come to grips with how I failed her. Cathy
