Magnolia Dumplin' 2002-2012

We had hoped that we had more months with Maggie, but the medication didn't seem to work for her and months became weeks. This morning, Maggie ended her journey with us by her side.  We at least had time for everyone to say goodbye.

She was there each time we brought a new child home from the hospital and she accepted each of them as part of her pack. They loved her fiercely in return. She's been a companion and a part of the family for 10 years and it's going to be hard to adjust to life without her.

We'll miss you, darling girl. You'll never know how much.

Baby Liam and Maggie

Liam's first Halloween; Maggie ashamed.

What *IS* this thing I'm wearing, Ma?!

A boy and his dog.

She always did love burrowing in blankets.

Ms. Flippy Ear

Maggie and her toy crocodile. It was the only toy she never managed to fully destroy.

Jamie always wanted to help feed Maggie.

Maggie is ashamed of her doggie Snuggie.

The Crisis Of Last Week

On Monday morning last week, I had a vet appointment scheduled for Maggie. She was due for her checkup and vaccinations but there were other concerns I had to discuss with the vet. She's been showing some signs that not all is quite right with her and it seemed more than just being a slightly senile 10 year old neurotic beagle.

I had thought that maybe I was crazy and I was imagining her symptoms. But then she stepped on the scale at the vet and she'd lost 4 pounds. Being as we have always kept a close eye on Maggie's weight so that she wouldn't give into Portly Beagle Syndrome, this was not a good sign for her. She really didn't have 4 pounds to spare.

The vet and I discussed possibilites and ways to go about diagnosing them. Then they got a blood and urine sample from her and sent us home to await the results.

Good gravy, it was a long wait. By the end of the day Tuesday I had a migraine so vicious that I would have thrown up except I hadn't eaten so there was nothing to come up.

When we finally heard back from the vet things were a little unclear.  We ruled out the most likely possibility but the remaining possibility wasn't sunshine and roses either. The vet said she would have the pathologist take a closer look at the cells in her urine sample to see if we could determine anything more and that she would let us know in a couple of days.

Thursday we found out we were still in limbo and the vet was recommending more expensive tests. We're talking upwards of $500 worth of diagnostic testing and we'd already spent a few hundred dollars on Monday.

This is the point where my parents being veterinarians comes in so handy. While they live too far away to treat Maggie, they have been so wonderful in helping us over the phone, talking over diagnostic options, talking to us about treatment options, and running the whole gamut of scenarios with us.

After a lot of conversations between Scot and I and my parents, we decided that we were 80% of the way there with diagnosis and spending $500 to get 100% there was not really smart. Especially when there isn't much we can do.

Maggie has bladder cancer.

It's not very common in dogs but it is slightly more common in beagles. It is generally inoperable because it tends to occur in a section of the bladder that makes it nigh inaccesible.  While chemo treatments might exist, I just can't put my dog through something so rotten that she won't understand.  There is one treatment available to us.  Many dogs respond to it and it is surprisingly affordable. But we cannot cure her. The treatment will alleviate her symptoms for a period of months.  Then the symptoms will return and it will be time to let Maggie go.  We don't know how many months she has. Dad has seen some dogs go 18 months to 2 years but the research literature says 6 months. So, it's anyone's guess.  We started the medication on Saturday and we'll see how things progress.

It was not an easy week last week and it was especially difficult trying to keep all of this from the kids until we had an answer. Once we did, we sat down and told Liam who was heartbroken. He took it as well as he could have and I think he understands that the loving thing to do is let Maggie go before it gets really bad.

In some ways, I'm so grateful for knowing we only have months because it means everyone has a chance to say goodbye and make a few last memories with her and to adjust to the idea that we are going to lose her sooner rather than later.  But no matter when it happens, we will all miss her terribly.

So. That Happened.

Maggie the Wonder Beagle is Maggie the Sickie Beagle.

We started to notice last night that something wasn't quite right.  She had to be coaxed to eat her dinner which, if you've ever met a beagle in your life, you know this is more than a little unusual.

This morning she completely ignored her breakfast.  She was acting lethargic and just not right.  Then, as I was getting everyone out the door and heading toward the bus stop, Liam nudged her toward her crate and she YELPED in pain.  Suddenly, it was clear something was not right and it seemed as though she was acting like she had joint pain around her hips.

After I got the kids off to their respective schools, I called my Mom.  (Have I ever mentioned that my parents are veterinarians?  Well, they are.)  I talked with her a bit about what might be wrong with Maggie and whether or not she might need to see the vet.  She thought Maggie might have wrenched her back while at the kennel while we were away last weekend but said "Take her temp just to rule out something else."

So I took her temp and she was 104.5.  That's 2.5 degrees above normal for a dog.  Instead of ruling something out, we ruled something in: a vet appointment.

I called our vet and they were able to get me in quickly (thank goodness!) so I trotted off with Maggie who was clearly feeling like a pile of you-know-what by this point.  Once there they took a quick history and re-temped her (still 104.5) and then sent the Doc in.  Once the doctor started examining here, all sorts of weird things started emerging.

She looked like she had massive amounts of bruising over her hips and some along her back.

The vet found a spot that looked like a wound and was oozing pus.

She was clearly in pain from all this.

So, out came the clippers and they started shaving down a couple of areas to get a better look.  They started with the wound that was oozing.  They kept shaving and shaving and shaving, finding more and more sores all over her back.  She ended up with the majority of her back shaved down (the reverse mohawk!) to reveal that her back was a mass of hundreds of sores (now oozing because of the clipper blades) from shoulders to hips.  But just her back - not on her sides, stomach, face, or legs.  So, the placement was kind of odd.

They decided to do some blood work and took a slide of what was oozing out her sores.  It became clear that she has a doozy of a bacterial infection going on.  While we can't trace the genesis of this little issue we can treat her for it so treat her we did.

Two hours, 3 medications, and a melting credit card later we were headed home.  Tonight her fever is down, she ate her dinner, and seems to be feeling more like herself.  She is sporting the most ridiculous haircut and an even more ludicrous bright green t-shirt to keep her (and bugs, ew!) from getting at the sores on her back.

Maggie definitely puts the "special" in "a special kind of crazy."

Dog-eared

Literally.

I have no idea how she managed to do that.

I Wonder If I Could Have Paid Them In The Form of the Beagle

Perhaps you've noticed that the name of this blog is "Two Kids and a Beagle." You might have also noticed that I haven't posted about the beagle much lately.

Here's where that all changes.

Magnolia Dumplin' aka Maggie the Wonder Beags is in deep doo doo with me to the tune of $360. See, Maggie has this joyous little habit of peeing in the house. She started doing it when we moved in to this house 3 years ago (three years!? What?!) and we've tried a number of things to make her quit. About the only thing that has made a dent is putting her on anti-depressants. While she still isn't perfect, at least I'm not cleaning up 3 pee spots a day.

However, she still has two rooms in the house that she considers her personal pissing ground - the library and, of all places, Liam's bedroom. I have a spot steam cleaner and I use that to clean up after her. We've tried sprays to deodorize and keep her from going in the same place. I've had the carpets in the whole house cleaned by a less than reputable company because I was trying to save cash. I've used baking soda to kill the odor. Despite it all, the pee smell lingered. Liam's room got to a point where I smelled it every time I walked in. On damp days, if I walked in the front door, I could smell it coming from the library.

It made me absolutely mental.

I finally couldn't take it anymore and I called in Stanley Steemer. I knew they would be more expensive but I figured they would be more thorough and have better products for cleaning and deodorizing the carpets. So, I scheduled them to clean the library, Liam's room, and the family room since that room was just gross from baby urp. The thing I didn't count on was just how much more expensive they would be.

See, the problem is that most of the rooms in my house are what they consider to be "oversize" - more than 250 square feet. This applied to both the library and the family room. That meant an extra charge. Plus labor. Plus tax. Plus the extra deodorizing spray. So yeah. The $217 quote turned into $360 when all was said and done.

Now, don't get me wrong - I have no bad things to say about Stanley Steemer. They came in with two guys, did all three rooms in about an hour flat, and still managed to clean under most of the furniture. They were professional and awesome and the carpets look great now. But my wallet is substantially thinner as a result. If only I could have paid them in body fat - then I would be substantially thinner.

Which leads us right back to Magnolia Dumplin'. If she so much as sniffs around looking for a place to squat, I'm going to have her hide for a pair of slippers.

*angry eyes*