With a heavy heart I must announce that we have lost another of our cherished dogs. Stone was one of my own personal fosters since I got him out of Columbus, GA. with grossly deformed and swollen paws, and fur loss. I nursed him for the last 15 months, trying to cure mange that went unrecognized for 5 years. He was a happy sweet fellow who loved his blue velvet doggy bed, teddy bear and the other stock pile of toys he squirreled away. We took delight watching him play, tossing his teddy in the air and running around the room. Unfortunately, mange left his paws scarred and permanently deformed. He remained very tender footed.
I think Stone was stung by a wasp this past weekend. I saw it happening and got Stone to safety. He was fine on Sunday, no swelling, no trouble breathing. On Monday he had a couple of episodes of vomiting. Each attempt to give him Benadryl was unsuccessful. Because he had vomited during the night on Monday, I took him to the vet Tuesday morning. He had a temperature and continued vomiting. Chest X-rays were clear. He was treated with steroids, antibiotics, and anti nausea medicine. He was discharged home in satisfactory condition after monitoring him for 10 hours.
On the drive home (90 minutes in rush hour traffic) he was comfortable but began to have louder breath sounds. We got home and tried to settle him in, the breathing got worse…10 minutes later we are back in the car heading to the ER vet (40 minutes away) On the way, his breathing got progressively more labored. We made it to the ER, carried him into the procedure room at the very moment he stopped breathing. All extended efforts to save him were unsuccessful; we went to great lengths to resuscitate. My Stoney Ba Woney crossed at 7:45 PM, May 31, 2011.
He’s in a better place,running outside with perfect paws. He couldn’t do that here on earth. I bet his blue velvet bed is bigger up there, too. He loved it so.
We don’t know exactly what happened or why it happened. This reaction from a wasp sting, 2 days earlier is very unlikely.
My family and I are grieving over this loss. Please keep Stone and my 2 daughters in your thoughts and prayers. – Ruthann
