She eventually fought off the kennel cough but she never really recovered her appetite or her strength and we knew there was something much worse going on inside her. Surgery revealed a damaged spleen, cysts on her ovaries but also, most significantly, a thickened bladder and stones that had moved down into her urethra causing a blockage to the release of urine. Agnieszka spayed her and removed the stones but we suspect that it was all too much for Izzie’s kidneys and they shut down. Izzie died the following evening at home with myself and my other dogs. I would like to thank Agnieszka for everything she did for her, and all the staff at the dogs’ home who helped Izzie and me during these weeks. There was nothing Izzie liked more than to totter around the garden and follow us down the lane to wander around the field behind my house for 10 minutes, now known in my family as ‘Izzie’s Field’, never needing a lead and happy to stay close by me. She had soon realised how desperate I was to get her to eat and before the anorexia set in she had manipulated me into giving her all the gravy bones she wanted! She was so utterly loveable, stubborn yet uncomplaining, a delight to have known for the six weeks she was in my life, a much too short six weeks that will never be forgotten. By Ann Draj Home/Kennel Assistant at Manchester Dogs’ Home Her newly released body was now moving with a freedom denied to her for some time by her rigid armour of hair, and although her wobbly legs did improve they remained stiff – we called it her ‘zombie walk’ as she moved by splaying her front legs out like a new-born foal! N O R T H E R N TA I L S W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 1 7
Northern Tails, Feb 2016
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