FAREWELL GABIE

Gabie passed away last week.  

Their story was that their family became homeless. They gave the three dogs to someone else to care for them...they didn't. They were surrendered to the shelter. They went so long without care. Too long for Gabie.

Sherry said, "With an extremely heavy heart, we had to let our sweet Gabie cross the rainbow bridge. We did everything possible to save her, it was just her time. I feel somewhat better that you are not in pain and struggling. You were fed well, learned about lap time and had unconditional love. I will miss you my big girl."

 Her foster mom, Sherry, wrote a beautiful tribute to her.  I am including it below.  I could not have written a better farewell for this sweet girl.  

"Gabie came into rescue on January 13, 2022.     She, along with Taz and Cyclone, had been surrendered to the Amherst shelter.  It was immediately obvious that she was tiny-- 6.1 pounds-- and her back legs were severely impaired.  It was noted that she had severe IVDD.  At the shelter, she could not stand even with assistance.  She saw our vet immediately when we got home.  Our vet confirmed IVDD and noted other neurological issues.  

Her bloodwork showed that Gabie had renal disease.  She began taking meds to, hopefully to slow down the progression of the renal disease and she was started on a renal support soft food diet.  She came in Lyme Positive and was given a long-lasting antibiotic injection to address the Lyme disease.  

She also had a grade 4 heart murmur, and her mouth was a mess.  But, the dental could not be done until she could gain some strength and the kidney meds could have some time to begin working.

During the first week, Gabie began to walk around the house.  She would occasionally fall, but she could get back up on her own.  She would walk, then rest, then walk.  After two weeks, her bloodwork showed improvement with her renal values.  The meds and food were helping.  

However, her motor abilities began to decline.  Her back legs were getting worse and her front legs began to give out, too.    During the evening of February 1, Gabie fell over and became totally limp.  Her eyes were glazed and she was unresponsive to us.   She was taken immediately to the vet, wrapped in a blanked.  It was suspected that Gabie had some type of seizure.  That evening and into the next day, Gabie was falling at a much higher rate.  She was unable to get back up.  

 That's not the quality of life she deserved.   

The difficult decision was made to hold her as she crossed the Bridge.  She was gone so quickly. Now,  she is running with abandon and playing with all the other fosters we've lost.  She was 6 pounds of love and spunk and beauty.  It amazes me how you can fall so in love in only a few weeks.  RIP Gabie." 💜  

Sherry said, "Rescue is hard. It's very, very hard to let a foster leave you. It's even harder to accept that you can't fix them, that you can't save them........no matter how hard you try or how badly you want to."

RUN FREE, SWEET, PRECIOUS GABIE.