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Roxie was a Hurricane Katrina orphan that we received in September 2005. Like so many of the Katrina dogs, she was heartworm positive, and she was also quite underweight. After many months of veterinary treatment and good healthy food, she was ready for adoption. Many of us volunteers got to know her at the adoption days. She seemed to have her own rules about what was correct behavior for humans (only one person giving her attention at a time and no goofiness) but as long as you abide by her rules, she was incredibly sweet. Her life was cut short on Monday 5th June 2007. This is what our trainer, Lisa Reid, wrote about her:
Yesterday our beloved "Roxie" passed away. About two weeks ago she was rushed to Dr. Clark's as she was very lethargic and her gums were white - her body was in shock. It was a sudden onset of symptoms - she was fine the night before. She spent a couple days at the hospital and we were able to get her stabilized enough to go home. All the tests that were done came back and we still did not have an answer as to what was going on, although Dr. Clark suspected she had a tumor somewhere. She was slowly showing improvement and her blood work at her rechecks were encouraging. We still needed to get her strong again before we pursued any further diagnostics.Although she was fine on Sunday night - Tony found her on Monday morning once again in a shocky state. We rushed her to Dr. Clark, set up appointments for an ultrasound, and hoped for the best. Dr. Clark was pretty sure she had a mass on her spleen, which the ultrasound would have proved. We would then have needed for her to stabilize enough for surgery to see what we were dealing with. We never got that chance. She passed away at Dr. Clark's peacefully at around 3:30 Monday afternoon. Dr. Clark did an autopsy and Yes, she had a malignant tumor on her spleen that had spread to her liver. Even if we had gotten her to the surgery stage - once they would have seen what it was - we would have had to make the gut wrenching decision as to whether to let her wake up or not. She would not have had much time no matter which course of action the SPCA would have decided on.Many of you may not have gotten to know Roxie very well as she was a bit of a pill at adoption days. With those she knew and trusted though, she was an awesome soul! It was only in the last six months that she really seemed to be coming into her real personality. I fully believe that although dogs live in the here and now, the unimaginable horror of what she went through in New Orleans, did cause her post traumatic type issues that she was finally beginning to overcome. Her heartworm disease almost killed her in the beginning, but she persevered. She was a strong soul, a survivor and this is what I will always remember about her. Tony's kennel is not the same without her and he has to learn to cope with that - it's very difficult to say the least. Although we will never know if the short time she spent with us were the best days of her life or not - we can rest comfortably in knowing she was healthy, happy, and very loved.
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Miracle was a female rottweiler who first came into our care in1999 when it was a miracle (hence her name) that she survived horrendous neglect. A wonderful man adopted her, and for many years she had a wonderful life, until her fantastic dad (Tom) died in May 2006. Since he had no family, she ended up in a rural shelter, where another miracle occurred and someone recognized her as a former SPCA dog so she was back with us once again. She has been written about twice in our newsletter, Paws to Consider. Click here for her Alumni entry. Her life was cut short on Sunday 1st July 2007. This is what our trainer, Lisa Reid, wrote about her:
As I'm writing this post the sense of loss is almost overwhelming. Our wonderful brave Miracle did not make it through last night to live in THIS world another day. Last night I took her out to potty around 11:30 - she was lethargic, but her gum color was OK. I got her back in on her bed and made her comfy. It was obvious she did not feel well, but she did not seem to be in any pain. I checked back in on her around 2:30 this morning. She had not moved, but she was alert and not struggling in any way. She closed her eyes and went peacefully about 3:30 AM. The only comfort in this that I can find is the KNOWING that she is now reunited with Tom. They had five wonderful years together here on earth, and now they have eternity.Spaceship Mire, as I loved to call her was so very special to me. She was one of the first dogs to come to me when I began taking care of the SPCA dogs in 1999. Her life was about miracles, hope, survival, and coming full circle. I will write more to honor her, but my heart is too heavy right now. She made a lasting impression on my life and I will never forget her, and she will always have a special place in my memories.To loose two of our kids so close together from the same thing - spleen cancer - is really surreal to me right now. Lets hope and pray "the dark days" are over for the SPCA Kids.
If you'd like to make a contribution in Memory of Roxie or Miracle(or in Appreciation
of Lisa and Tony), please mail your check or money order to
SPCA of Northern Virginia,
P.O. Box 100220,
Arlington,
VA 22210-3220
Or you can do it right here
with your credit card:
Thankyou, Lisa and Tony, for taking such great wonderful care of our dogs. This is for you: Rescuers Rainbow Bridge
