Cheyenne's Pages

The Cheyenne Story - part 11 - Cheyenne slows down:

<--Back to part 10


     The years passed, and we all got older. We first noticed it with Cheyenne when we were out walking in the snow, and she would lift one of her hind legs and start to cry. We would take our gloves off and warm her foot, and then she would be fine. A couple houses later, she would do the same with another foot. It was obvious that the cold was bothering her feet. We had seen the little snow booties at the pet food store, so we thought we would pick up a set.

     First, we had to find them. Both of the "pet superstores" in our neighborhood were sold out, and didn't know when they would get more. We tried putting socks on her feet, to protect them until we could find the booties, but that turned out to be a hilarious mistake. Not only did Cheyenne not want them on her feet, but they really would not stay. We have pictures of her with little white socks on her back feet, but I wish we had a picture of her trotting down the sidewalk, with the unraveling socks trailing behind her. We couldn't stop laughing.

     We finally did find a set of the booties, but Cheyenne never really liked them. She was constantly trying to kick them off, and she was very uncooperative when trying to put them on. We finally had a system, where we would basically wrestle her to the ground, after we had already dressed to go out, and as soon as the fourth bootie was on, we had to get her outside as fast as possible. We found that she either she didn't mind the booties when she was outside in the snow, or she was distracted enough outside that she didn't realize that she had them on. Once we figured that out, the booties became just another part of winter walks.

     A couple years later, we took Cheyenne to a local pet fair, and they had an animal masseuse there. While she was massaging Cheyenne, she noticed a couple lumps up high on her back leg. We had them removed, and it never quite healed right. We had to use the cone (which I called her "high starched collar") right after surgery to keep her from licking, but she wouldn't leave it alone. We tried the Bitter Apple spray, which I think she liked the flavor of, but ultimately we had to keep using the cone. Now our apartment is decent sized, but it is not designed for a 65 pound dog with a two-foot plastic collar to be lumbering around in. No one was very comfortable during that time.

     In an effort to resolve the problem, we changed doctors. Our landlord recommended his vet, Dr. Palmer, who works out of the Burr Ridge Animal Hospital. We eventually had Dr. Palmer remove the scar tissue that had built up from almost a year of licking, and that seemed to solve the problem. Whatever was irritating her leg must have been removed, and it was able to heal.

     But time was taking its toll on our little pal. Cheyenne had a problem with arthritis for years, and it seemed to be getting worse. On top of that, the doctors discovered she had Cushing's disease, a chronic condition that could be fatal, according to what we read on the Internet. Fortunately, the doctor explained, while it could be fatal in some circumstances, it was similar to diabetes, in that if we treat it properly and do what the doctor ways, she should live for quite a while longer.

     So for a year, we were taking Cheyenne to the vet every couple weeks, for shots for her arthritis, for checkups for her Cushing's, for the usual dog stuff, and the people at the vet were great. They always fussed over Cheyenne, and made her feel welcome. And Cheyenne responded extremely well to the treatment. The medicine they gave her made her seem several years younger. She was able to get up the stairs better, she had more energy, and just seemed happier. And I have to admit, I really enjoyed the Saturday morning trips to the vet, just the two of us. It was like our special time together.

     But after a year or so of all this treatment, Cheyenne took a turn for the worse. Her stomach started to swell, and the doctors were not too optimistic. They drew some fluid, and were briefly encouraged by what they found. They planned surgery, to drain the fluid and see what was in there.

     What they found was pancreatic cancer. They said that her internal organs were in such bad shape that there was nothing they could do. They said that they were surprised that she had lasted as long as she did, that it must have been her love for us that kept her going.

     So with us holding on to her as tightly as we could, without waking up from the anesthetic, our best friend went to sleep one final time.

On to part 12 -->

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