Scooby Doo

The journey to the rainbow bridge is complete for Scooby Doo.  A most precious soul has left this earth and his failing body to shine with the stars. All wrapped up in his tiny 8lb frame. The courage of the biggest mastiff and dignity to match. His life was the epitome of courage and strength.  For the most part unremarkable until he was 6 years old and paralyzed by a ruptured disk in his back and given up on by traditional medicine.  I found the phone book and a vet who would do acupuncture and a day later he was walking to everyone's amazement that was the first of the many miracles Scooby was to receive. Over the course of the years he had bouts with his back one being so bad it landed him at the vets for a week and once again he proved to everyone that his strength was from within his tiny 8 lb frame and recovered with extensive daily treatments.  He was always eager to please and always vying for my attention. His competition was his dad.  We have been thru many trials together. His parents and siblings passing before him with heart failure. He was not escape that diagnosis either. He had many bad teeth removed and suffered a fractured jaw and recovered from that.  Bouts of his back and being on prednisone.  We sought help from a holistic vet who helped us get him off the prednisone and save his life once again.  June 27,2006 he was diagnosed with kidney failure. We were given a bag of fluids and told to keep him comfy that the end would come swiftly.  I did some searching on the net and joined groups there. I had already belonged to the heart group. I got myself armed with tons of information but felt like I was over my head in the early days of his kidney failure. We learned quickly and supplements and diets consumed my thoughts and we were off. The week passed and he was still with us. No one could explain it but we continued to make numerous visits to the vet to get everything he needed.  I learned a lot along the way and Scooby happily went for the ride. I treaded easy with giving him the fluids at first because of his heart and I feel it made his initial recovery longer but once he recovered he was back as good as ever.  Always proud when he would come to wander into the kitchen for something to eat. Like he was saying here I am mummy I'm going to eat my food!  He continued to flourish with setbacks which we dealt with . He had a badly infected canine tooth removed this June. He had 4 vets working on him and they did it in 10 mins. and brought him right back to me. Within a few days he proved to them what he was made of.  I can't remember what number this miracle was.  I lived for him and he lived for me.  Fourteen months have passed and just this past week he had suffered from seizures and pancreatitis and ulcers.  He had been getting lumps from the needle sticks.  He was such a brave little soul, never complaining only happy to be.  He was larger than life.  Becoming boss of the bed. I would lay around him even if that meant i had 2 inches of the edge of the bed. Many nights I woke with a backache but that was ok  because he was comfortable.  The last week of his life he was true to form in fighting with all he had to be with mummy.  That is all he ever wanted and all I ever wanted.  He fought bravely but the infection and seizures were too much for his little body. He had also been diagnosed with pancreatic tumor and brain tumor and had so many meds it was like balancing a see saw.  I knew after the last seizure he was no longer the same sweet little one here. He only whined and wandered. The vet came over a few hours later. We sat out in our garden in the sunshine.  She only had to look at him to know I was right about him. She had gotten only 1/10th of a cc of a 10cc injection in him and he yelped twice and was gone. She had said she had never seen anything like it in all her years of practice that he was so ready to go but his heart was on auto pilot.  In the end it wasn't even his heart or kidneys that failed but the total breakdown of his immune system.  His kidney values had been perfect right up til the day before he left us. His courage and bravery and dignity will forever be burned in my heart and soul.  He touched many lives around the world with the story of his courage.  I know there is such a chasm of pain right now.   I wish many blessings to the ones are still fighting their battle. I am going to look towards heaven tonight because a shining star in the form of a tiny little beige dog will be there.  Bless you all. 

Love from Susan and Scooby Doo