(Collar Tryout Pictures Taken June 19, 2010)
One year ago today was the end of a pretty bad week, when we had to say goodbye to our Beautiful Trixie. Trixie joined her brother Tucker and her kitty sisters Trouble and Pooh Bear over the Rainbow Bridge.
Despite her terminal illness, she was still smiling until the very end, and enjoyed love and attention from the staff at the office before retiring with her Mama and Dada to a comfortable bed in a quiet room to await one last visit from her veterinarian.
About a week before Trixie went to the Rainbow Bridge, we began seeing blood in her stools. Actually, Saya the Mighty — who continues to do wonderfully living with her grandmother, mother, and sister, and enjoys finally having dogs in the house who will play with her — was the first to detect the blood, when she suddenly took an unusual interest in Trixie’s deposits in the yard. (But the less said about that, the better.)
At the time the blood appeared, Trixie was winding down a course of prednisone, which she had been taking to prevent the recurrence of an aural hematoma after we’d had it drained a couple of times. (Yes, about a month after Saya’s aural hematoma, Trixie had one too, although hers was much smaller and didn’t require surgery.)
What we and the vet hoped was that the prednisone had caused the bleeding by irritating her stomach. We stopped the treatment immediately, and started giving her sucralfate to heal any ulcers that the prednisone may have caused. Normally we wouldn’t be hoping that our dog had a bleeding ulcer, but the alternative was that her intestinal sarcoma had finally ruptured or had otherwise caused something to go very wrong, and that, of course, would be much, much worse than an ulcer.
For the first several days of sucralfate, it seemed to be helping. Saya became less interested in her sister’s deposits, which seemed firmer and less tarry. A sigh of relief was breathed by all. But it didn’t last; on Thursday the tarry stools returned. And on Friday, the Beautiful Trixie didn’t want her breakfast.
The vet couldn’t see her until the next morning, but that evening we ran down to their office and picked up some anti-nausea medication. It didn’t help; Trixie declined to eat her dinner, and even turned down her favorite treat, vanilla ice cream. Needless to say we were getting very worried about our elderly girl.
On Saturday morning, she ate a little bit of freeze-dried chicken treats, so we were slightly encouraged by that when we took her to see the vet. They confirmed that the blood in her stool was back, which we already knew, but her vitals seemed good and the vet thought she might have a little time yet; he said that as long as there was no vomiting, it was likely that the intestinal sarcoma had not yet blocked the intestine, which was everyone’s big concern. He suggested giving her a drug to stimulate Trixie’s appetite and encourage her to eat. We considered this, but remembering an earlier experience with giving such medication to Tucker — which made him hungry, but left him still unwilling or unable to eat — we decided against it, hoping that she would start eating again on her own instead.
Not long returning from the vet, I bundled Trixie out to the car for her weekly Saturday visit to her good friend the chiropractor. And that was when I discovered that Trixie had, undetected by the inobservant humans in the front seat, vomited up the small quantity of treats she had eaten that morning, as well as some of the small amount of canned food she had eaten the day before. This was the red flag we didn’t want to see. I cleaned up the back seat and then, while I took Trixie to what would be her final adjustment and goodbye visit, mama called to the vet to make arrangements for Trixie’s last vet visit at 2:30pm the following day.
We still harbored some slight hope that things would turn around; Trixie did accept a small amount of dried beef lung — another favorite — from the chiropractor, who sent us home with an entire bag full of them.
But the next time we offered Trixie some of the beef lung, she declined. Sunday morning came, and Trixie showed no interest in any food or treat we offered. At this point we were sure that anything she ate made her sick to her stomach. Trixie spent a leisurely morning at home, being showered with affection. When it was time to leave for her appointment, she shared a last sniff with Dennis and Saya, and then we went out to the car. She set a leisurely pace, smelling whatever she wanted to smell, for as long as she wanted to smell it.
Back at the vet’s office once more, Trixie went peacefully to the Rainbow Bridge at 2:39pm on 12/6/2015, with her Mama and Dada in attendance. We knew we were doing the right thing for her, but that didn’t make it any easier. We found some comfort in an article posted by Dr. Jennifer Coates, who says:
My clients frequently tell me how worried they are that they might step in too early. To this I reply, “Better a week too early than an hour too late.” I have seen what the “hour too late” looks like and would do anything to spare pets and their owners this level of suffering. In my 12 years of veterinary practice, I have never had a single owner tell me that they wished they had waited longer to euthanize, but countless people have said that they wished they would have stepped in sooner.
Looking back on it now, I don’t think we were a week too early with The Beautiful Trixie, but if we had waited we may well have been an hour too late. Trixie went to the Bridge when she was still our happy girl, and we’re grateful for that. We’re sure that she has made lots of new friends there, as making friends is something that The Beautiful Trixie was always good at.
Run free, Beautiful Trixie, until we see each other again.
These are the very first pictures of The Beautiful Trixie, taken in New York in 1999
In Trixie’s honor, I finished the vanilla ice cream she left behind. It was indeed the finest of the flavors.
I remember this time… and your triexie is still in my heart… like Tucker… hugs to you all…. I still have the cheese cubes in my fridge, the last thing what our frosty could eat in 2009 before we lost him, I will keep them there forever… like easy’s last chicken&rice dinner what’s now in the freezer…
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This is Kristiina, Kosmo’s mom. All our comments were spammed for about four days, so I don’t know did you get any. We have been with you in your heartbreaking sorrow, it is so difficult to find any words…
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I will look in the spam folder to set them free. Many thanks for your kind words… it’s not our year this 2016…
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great post. I also wonder sometimes if I said goodbye to Maggie too soon, but I was way too late with Chips and vowed I’d never do that to a dog again.Cyber hugs
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We’ll miss Trixie furever.
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What a beautiful post for a lovely dog. Thank you from all of Trixie’s fans.
Glad to hear Saya is doing all right.
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****sniffullsss**** oh Dennis what a LUVLEY tribute to Sisfur Trixie. LadyMum iss cryin all so….
What wonderful Pawentss you have to do all they could fur Triixe an knowin when to say ‘Goodbye’. It iss not easy fur Hu’manss to do this….
Now Trixie iss runnin free inn Pure land with tucker an Truubull an Pooh Bear katss an Nylablue an so many otherss!!!
**nose rubsss** Siddhartha Henry xXx
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A beautiful post for a great dog. What is the right time to make the most difficult decision with your pet, we have had this question many times, and I don’t know the right answer. But I know that the decision is most heartbreaking to do.
Kristiina
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A lovely tribute to one of my greatest heroes.
I miss you Trixie,thanks for being such a great example on how to be a strong female alpha who can control(or rescue) her brothers..while still having fun!
Hugs,
Dory
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It’s so hard to say good-by. We miss them forever. Hugs to you and your family, Dennis♥
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A wonderful memory post of the beautiful Trixie. Thanks for the update on Saya. We hope Dennis is doing okay with his health problems. So hard to watch them age and then to say good-bye.
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She looks like she loved and was well loved. A sad day to remember!
Your Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
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Gone in flesh but still remains in your heart and memories. I make an Christmas ornamant out of a photo of our departed dogs and attach their name tag to the bottom so they come out each holiday to remind us of their love and joy. take care, Jim
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Prayers to you all. It still hurts when I remember the day I gave the vet permission to send our dog to ‘The Rainbow Bridge’ after she (the dog, not the vet) found a huge nest of yellow jackets (horrid, nasty wasps). She was only 12, relatively young for a small dog, but being so small she couldn’t recover from the many stings. I hope you are able to keep the happiness Trixie gave and received in the last hours in your hearts forever.
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Awe.It was nice to see photos of beeewoootiful Trixie but so sad. Its such a heavy price we have to pay for the love of a dog. But worth every cent. Trixie was so special. Loved her to pieces. Wish I could have met her.
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That was such a wonderful Trixie tribute. Hugs from all of us.
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It is so hard sometimes to know when the time is right, but then one day the sign arrives and you know:( We miss Trixie and we know how much you loved her and did everything you could for her. Bet that ice cream tasted good:) Soft woos and gentle hugs.
Woos – Lightning and Misty
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Trixie TRULY was Beautiful… Inside and Out…
We LOVE what your Vet said about that … SAD Gift of LOVE… Better too soon than too late.
We are sure that Trixie is having a Blast OVER THERE… with our other furends who have heard the call of the Bridge.
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Lovely tribute to your beautiful girl. I like what the vet said. That’s a good way to think about that horrible decision.
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Such a beautiful tribute to your special girl.
Millie & Walter
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Such a wonderful post for the beautiful Ms. Trixie. Seeing these photos and this tribute warms my heart.
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What a lovely tribute to the beautiful Miss Trixie. We miss her gorgeous face. I found the one year anniversary of losing our Abby very hard. Hope you guys got through it okay, and hope Dennis is doing well.
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A wonderful, touching remembrance of The Beautiful Trixie. I giggled when I saw the ‘corn dogs’ photo. 🙂 Your pets are so fortunate to have found their way to you. It is amazing how they touch our lives. ❤
Lindy
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what a wonderful memorial post to The Beautiful Trixie. We love her and miss her too. What a huge hole is left when they leave, but I couldn’t imagine how small life would be without my furkids.
Luvs to you guys
Marty’s Mom
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I loved this post – what a loving tribute to Trixie! It was also fun seeing a young Tucker.
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So is Saya living somewhere else now?
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hello dogear6 its dennis the vizsla dog hay yes over the summer wile i wuz going for speshul therapee and treetment for my hip displayzhia and arthuritis saya went to stay with her breeder so she wood not aksidently injoor me and long storry short she wuz so mutch happyer and better adjusted their that the hyoomans deesided it wood be best for her to stay so now she livs with her doggy mother and sister!!! it wuz a difikult deesizhun but all the hyoomans involvd agreed it wuz best for all of us dogs!!! i am glad i do not hav to mayk choyses like that!!! ennyway yoo kan chek in with saya at https://dennisthevizsla.com/2016/05/28/i-saya-the-mighty-am-going-to-summer-camp-for-a-while/ and https://dennisthevizsla.com/2016/07/17/i-saya-the-mighty-am-staying-put/ and at https://dennisthevizsla.com/2016/09/10/i-saya-the-mighty-am-learning-to-stack-and-gait/ !!! ok bye
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Thanks for explaining it!
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Its always lovely to see photos of the Beautiful Trixie, a wonderful girl we always think of warmly. I always used to think of it being so hard to say goodbye to a beloved family dog of my own but in the last year, its been just as hard to say bye to Trixie, Ludo, Sue’s Porties(tsar!).,.Kathy’s beautiful Huskies, so very many of the
pets I can’t name., several of the White Dog Army and they all hurt just like your very own. Stella is a teenager, and I think about my girl too. Thanks for sharing your sweet goodbye with Trixie!
Cheers and hugs,
Jo and Stella
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