by [email protected]
In 1992, I rescued from death row and adopted my dog who
outweighs me by 20 lbs. I named him Forte. He was about 9 or 10 months
old at that time. He grew into a wonderful dog who reminds you of
�Strongheart� of the �50s. A dog so strong yet gentle and fair, who
protects little ones from big bullies in the doggie park, who teaches us
how to appreciate what we have instead of feeling self-pity, who shows
us true spiritual strength � as his name indicates.
After giving me 6 years of joy, Forte had a serious
spinal surgery last July, but it turned out to be the vet's intentional
misdiagnosis, rather. What Forte actually had was Degenerative
Myelopathy, and any surgery would make it worse. The vet knew it, but
because he wanted to gain more experience in operating big dogs, he
decided to practice on Forte. As a result, it took most of his walking
ability. He, however, started to do better thanks to weekly acupuncture
and homeopathic treatments. His hind legs were [so] extremely weak that
he could no longer run or jump, but could still enjoy walking around in
the neighborhood and the doggie park.
Then, on the 6th of January, he had a bloat, a stomach
turn. As you may well know, the bloat is very common among big dogs,
especially Great Danes. It happens when a dog has much water or food in
his stomach and jumps around or runs around. So, it definitely caught us
by surprise since he could hardly walk now. But we figured that when he
loses balance due to his neural problem, he sometimes swings his body
and spins 360 degrees trying to catch himself, and the centrifugal force
must have worked against him...
Most dogs do not survive the bloat primarily because
people do not catch it soon enough. The dog has to be operated within a
few hours. They open the dog to untwist the stomach, and even if the dog
survives through the surgery, some of them do not make it over the
following few days. Forte was hospitalized for 4 days under critical
condition, and the vet said that he had a 50% chance to live. The vet
techs, however, said that they had never seen a dog with such a strong
will to live. He wanted to live. He wanted to come home. He wanted to be
with me.
This incident worsened his Degenerative Myelopathy as
expected, and he is now on a wheelchair. We knew that to put him through
any surgery again would make it worse because of the effect of
anesthesia, but we did not have a choice. He cannot stand up by himself
anymore, and I now have to feed him 3~4 times a day and make sure that
he stays calm for a couple of hours before and after every meal; i.e.,
it almost requires a full-time attention.
He now walks around the block on his cart and is very
appreciative about it. It requires a bit more work on my side, but as
long as he is happy and wants to live, I will do anything to support his
will. Many people have commented that most people would put him down by
now. But if you see his happy face, you would not be a human if you
could do that. People should consider putting animals to sleep only if
the animal was miserable, in pain or wishes to go.
Above all, the past nine months have taught me to
perceive hardship as part of experience but not as my life itself, and
to appreciate and respect �life� more than ever.
Go on to Carnegie
Science Center Chick Hatchery Promotes Animal & Child Abuse
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