Chihuahua Pin attacks and Rainy diagnosed with terminal cancer

August 2013 -June 12, 2016

8/13 Mini Schnauzer SmokeyHaze passed away.
 
Life has a tendency to go on whether or not we want or like it.  Rainy worked hard along side my wheelchair until spring of 2014.  I had my first total knee replacement April 2014 and Rainy helped me so much during my rehab at home.  I had my second total knee replacement in June 2014 and Rainy eased into retirement.  She loves being an in house service dog helping me with chores.  

Spring 2014 was a very hard year too.  Back in 2010 I got my Chihuahua KamelRose Enchanted Twig "Twig"'s sister KamelRose Pinch of StarDust "Pin", as a used Chihuahua with no manners/socialization and not house broken.  Pin, like her brother Twig did agility but by this time Twig could no longer do agility due to the AA luxation that had to be surgically repaired.  Pin was a problem in this house and with her pack from day 1.  
Over the next few years we learned how to live together though not always in harmony, Pin was always the problem. Due to Twig having a genetic deformity, before starting Pin in agility I took her to the UofM to be seen by Twig's orthopedist.  Pin was found to have bilaterally bent femurs, given the okey dokey to run agility but that I had to be watchful.  Should Pin start hopping in the hind end she had to stop agility as she would develop luxating petellas. I had wanted Pin to finish her block of April '16 classes but that was not to be.  

As I got ready for my total knee replacement I was working with a personal trainer at Courage Center to build my strength, the strength needed for this major surgery.  When I got home I found Pin had attacked Cally, my old in house service dog, and Cally could no longer walk.  Cally was rushed to her vet then up to the emergency clinic where she stayed for 5 days as they helped her learn to walk again.  Cally went back to the emergency clinic for a week while I had my second knee done.  Although she could walk now, Cally was never the same and she lived only 5 months after the vicious attack by Pin. In my house Agility is a reward so with Pin's bad behavior she was no longer entitled to that reward and I dropped her from class immediately.

Early December 2014 I purchased a wonderful small red/white smooth coat Chihuahua from a breeder in Missouri.  As I was now learning to move/walk/balance etc without the use of a wheelchair or crutches I wanted to start a new dog in agility so that I could learn the moves while using my feet.  In the electric wheelchair I was a master handler...without the wheelchair I was lost.  My new puppy, Magic Cricket is simply wonderful.  I am writhing this 6/12/16 and Cricket has completed her Agility Foundations Classes I, II, III and will start Novice agility on 6/15.  She is so fast and can work from distances...what a smart little dog.  Whispy is still running agility along side me minus the wheelchair and she is having more fun than ever.

July 2,2015 I developed Osteomyalis an unknown bacterial infection involving my L4-L5 vertebrae and ended up in the hospital July 27-29, home infusions of heavy antibiotics for 9 weeks and then switched to the oral versions for many more weeks. On bed rest for 5 months.  Rain helped me so much during this terrible "down time".

Skip ahead to Feb 2016.  I found 4 large lumps on Rain's throat and rushed her to the emergency clinic.  It was determined that she had at least Stage III Lymphoma cancer which is incurable as all her lymph nodes were involved. The first most conservative treatment was started Feb 21 and if it was going to work it would have diminished the size of the lymph nodes within 24 hours.  This did not happen and Rainy stayed in the hospital until Tues when the oncologist came in.  After careful consideration I decided that Rainy would have the 5 IV Chemo treatments to put her into a remission of 9-12 months.

Rainy worked so hard for me and continued to work in house after my knee replacements.  With this cancer diagnosis I want Rainy to have retirement and the best summer of her life being able to pick ripe cherry tomatoes from the garden, walk in the garden amidst all the plants and flowers without being scolded.  I owe Rainy my life!

June 5, 2016 I was awakened in the wee hours to a horrible smell.  I thought Pin had a UTI because when I wiped her hind end the fluid was clear and pale pink. It was the beginning of a very quick end.  While I washed my hands Pin left the bedroom leaving 2 "black" teacup saucer size puddles on the floor. I wiped them up immediately to find they were both all red blood but one had large blood clots in it.  I called the emergency vet and went to find Pin though finding 2 more "black" puddles and two puddles of clear frothy vomit in the dining room entrance and 1 more "black" puddle beneath the footstool. Pin was lying on the couch pillow.  I bundled her up, turned the heat HIGH in the van and drove to the emergency clinic 20 minutes away. Pin was cold and shocky.  I had packaged the bloody paper towels in a zip lock bag to show the vet.  From the time I left home at 1230a to approx 120a Pin continued to bleed, her temp was 97.  I held her as she died.  Pin survived a little over an hour after I smelled what I thought was a UTI.  Pin's vet medical opinion of what caused this was that Pin was a feces eater, had been all her life and that she probably developed a bacterial infection that compromised her small intestine causing the hemorrhage.