Got baddog

I started blogging close to 15 years ago and I have never written an article that was this important or difficult to write; first, a little back-story.

Pictured above are my daughter Jess with her two Golden Retrievers, Heidi and Lauren. While most dog owners will tell you how important their dogs are to them; Lauren and Heidi were truly special animals. They helped my daughter through a tough divorce and they were very therapeutic for her in her personal life as she works as a social worker specializing in investigating the worst of the worst child abuse cases. The cases she works on are frequently in the headlines; the details of which would turn your stomach and make the toughest man cry. Lauren and Heidi provided an outlet for her and were the reason she took up running. They were frequently found at various running events with the Pasadena Pacers and everyone that interacted with the three of them seemed to always be positively impacted by the experience. As annoying as it sounds at times, these dogs were her children; they played an important role in her sanity. You may have noticed that I keep talking about Lauren and Heidi in the past tense.

On Monday, June 9 I received a frantic telephone call from my daughter; she had come home early from work to discover Lauren lying on the floor of the bathroom soaked in her own urine, breathing heavily and bleeding from her mouth. It was clear she had experienced a seizure. She was limp, listless and unable to lift her own head even with assistance. Jess got help from a neighbor to get Lauren in the car so she could be transported to her veterinarian a couple blocks away from her home. Lauren was immediately put on oxygen, given plasma and Vitamin K via an IV as her blood would not clot. After about a half hour of working on Lauren, Jess was sent home to get Heidi to have her checked out. By the time she got home, Heidi could not get up off the ground and had to be carried even a few steps to the car and into the vet where an IV was started and she was given oxygen. Continue reading →