Monday, December 29, 2008 after a week of medications to stop an infection of both Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, Babe stopped responding. I took her back to the vet. By the time I got there she could not even stand up (she had lost weight..about 12 pounds over the last 3 months, she was 65 pounds). She had a temperature of 106 and a very elevated white blood cell count (18,000 last week to 25,000 yesterday). The vet put 1.5 liters of fluid in her via IV as well as medication to reduce fever. Within an hour her temperature dropped to 103.4, but she still could not stand.

At 4:45 PM when the clinic was about to close (I had already decided to have them keep and monitor her for the night), we put her in a kennel. She immediately started gasping for breath. So we whisked her back to the "emergency room" where, in less than 5 minutes, she died of respiratory and heart failure while I held her in my arms. She did not suffer. I could see in her eyes she was resigned to leave this earth.

I will miss her terribly and so will the many people who have known her over the years. She was a kind, loyal and loving dog with self-assurance and dignity. I know she knew she was dearly loved.