Star

Star was my beautiful Siberian Husky puppy, that I got at just 5 weeks old. Her owner was going to take her, her siblings and their mother to the pound because they didn't want to deal with all the mess and feedings anymore.

Luckily, my friend Jerry had Star's brother Bear, and he knew I wanted one of the puppies.

Star & Bear and their brother Boots, were the only other pups they didn't take to the pound.

I brought Star home that cold November day, and introduced her to my then 1 year old lab mix, Annie, that I had rescued from the Humane Society at 2 months old.
It took a while for Annie to learn not to play to rough with the new baby, but soon Star was giving as good as she got!

Star would tease Annie no end, and then run & hide in places that Annie couldn't reach her at :O)

Since she was Siberian Husky, she had the most beautiful blue eyes, and her ears were floppy down at first, but then one day, I noticed that one of Star's ears was starting to stand up!

Eventually, both her ears stood up, but they looked so big for Star who was still only a baby.

People would always say, "She's so beautiful, she has really big ears!"
I would just answer, shhhh, she will grow into them.


My sweet baby Star never got the chance to grow into her ears.

I took her on a road trip with me & my niece, to go see my sister (my niece's family) in Idaho, from Washington State.

Along the way, we stopped at many rest stops for Star to go potty in the doggy area- I will NEVER EVER take one of my dogs potty in the doggy area of a rest stop again! (breeding grounds for germs and diseases)

Star was fine the whole trip there and back, and had a blast playing with my sisters 3 family dogs; climbing on top of the dog houses (she was only 4 months old remember, but she could CLIMB lol).

One day while in Idaho, I saw Star trying to climb the 4 foot tall chain link kennel my sister would put her dogs in at night to sleep.

By the time I was able to run and get my camera, Star was standing at the sliding glass door waiting for me lol.

Husky through and through!


When I first brought her home, she was to sleep in the crate on the back porch at night (landlords rules, no dogs in the house- if the landlord only knew :O)

Her first several nights, she HOWLED.

I peeked through the blinds to the back porch, and there was my little husky girl with her head thrown back, howling as if she were a wolf in the wild, howling at the moon. Talk about adorable!

Oh how I wish I had taken more pictures of her.

Anyway, after we returned from Idaho, a couple days later, Star went over for a play date with her 2 brothers, Boots & Bear. She stayed there for a day or two.

When she first got home, she was still all playful and excited, but as the day wore on, I noticed she was just laying there, sleeping sometimes. But not eating or drinking.

I had her upstairs in my bed where I could watch her, I was just so happy to have her home again!

At first, I just thought she was (dog) tired from all the excitement of the past couple days.
But when she wouldn't eat or play, I started getting worried.

It was Friday, I called the vet.
They said since she wasn't getting sick, not to worry.

Saturday, Star started getting sick.

At first, it just looked frothy, like watered down milk.
Then it started turning green (it turned out to be her bile).

I immediately started calling vets.

Several mentioned Parvo.
I had no idea what that was, or that it could kill my baby.

I was on disability, I didn't have the money to take Star to the vet, but I knew she had to go.

I found a charity that helps cover vet expenses, and they told me to take her in, they would cover it.

As I was sitting in the exam room, with Star's head on my lap, I heard a plop.
I looked down, my baby was bleeding out of her rectum.

I ran into the hall to tell them this, and was told not to leave the room, as Star had Parvo and Coccydiosis, and it was highly contagious.

The vet finally came in, and she was sooooo COLD. She told me I would have to put Star down.

She didn't care that this is my baby, and I love her more than life.
She told me that it would cost me upwards of $10,000 to try to save Star, and since I didn't have it...............

She did say that even then, Star might not make it.
She told me that she had called the charity, and since she told the charity that Star was so sick, and that she might not make it, the charity would only pay for me to put her to sleep.

I called my mom (who is no animal lover, but knows how much my dogs mean to me), and asked her to please come up. (The vet had told me that I could take Star home, and bring her back to the vet 3-4 times a day to be rehydrated, and that might help, it would ONLY cost $300 a day to bring her back to be rehydrated (for 7-10 days). I was going to ask my mom to please charge it on
her credit card, and I would pay her back- this was MY BABY!)

When my mom got there and saw Star, she said "Honey, you need to let her go, she is in so much pain".

I had asked the vet assistant what she would do if this were HER dog, and she said "Honestly, she's so sick, I think the kindest thing you can do for her is put her down".

I looked at my baby, whom I had made a commitment to love and protect from the moment I first laid eyes on her.
I felt such guilt that I hadn't protected her.

Star's beautiful eyes. I could see such pain in them.
I could almost hear Star saying, in a confused little voice, "Mama, I hurt".

I couldn't help her.
I couldn't protect this sweet baby of mine.
And I had put her in this pain, by taking her to a doggy rest area, where someone else had taken their dog with Parvo.
And now my baby was going to die from it.

I let them take my baby and put her to rest.
I could not hold her, as I had done my gramma's dog when they put her to rest.

I could not pet my baby, and ease her fears, as they gave her the shot that would make her sleep for ever.

I could not do that one last thing for my baby, as my heart was so broken, I wanted to remember her alive, not in a sleep from which she would never awaken.

My beautiful, beautiful Star, who will never have the chance to grow into her ears.






Afterword~~~~~~~~~~~

My friend Jerry, who had taken Star for a playdate with her brother Bear, called me a few days later.
Bear had contracted Parvo also.

Jerry was very lucky, I had called him immediately and told him about Star, and said that he needed to get Bear checked, as Parvo is so highly contagious.

The first vet he took Bear to, said Bear was fine.
What we didn't know until the next day, was that Parvo may not show up right away after the dog has been exposed to it.
Jerry called me the next day and asked me what it looked like when Star got sick, and I told him.

Jerry immediately started crying.
Knowing what that meant, I just yelled, get Bear to the vet RIGHT NOW!

Luckily, Jerry found a different (better) vet than I had entrusted my baby to.

Bear did end up with Parvo, but Jerry's vet, took Bear in for about 4 TO 6 days at a cost of only $600 TOTAL, and saved Bears life.

To this day, Bear is a beautiful, healthy dog.




The moral of this story?

ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION, AND IF YOUR VET IS NOT CARING ABOUT YOUR ANIMAL,

OR YOU DON'T HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THE VET,

GET A NEW VET!!!!


PLEASE!




Just a few months ago, with the feeling that my dog died unneccessarily (all these years), because I didn't have the money for her care, I finally called the vets office, and actually got to talk to someone who does care.

She did me the kindness of looking over Star's charts, when I told her I have been feeling like I failed Star all these years.

She told me that Star, having the Coccydiosis, in addition to the Parvo, was indeed very sick, and that yes, putting her to sleep, WAS the kindest thing I could have done for her.
The chances that Star would have made it through this were soooo soooo slim.

Still, I can't help but wonder.




Love to you and your pets from me & my dogs, Annie & Brooklyn, and the memory of Star
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