Tweet
Many of you knew that my 16 year old Miniature Pinscher, Ziggy's health has been failing due to Chronic Kidney Disease. The disease affected his kidney's ability to filter out the toxins in his blood. The damage to his kidneys is irreversible, but the progression of the disease can be slowed by diet and medication, which we have practiced since the disease was diagnosed in the summer of 2014. Ziggy would have good days when he was active and seemed to feel fine, and bad days when he would lay down all day. I understood that this behavior had to do with fluctuations in his kidney function. Over the past few months, I have been surprised by how quickly his condition deteriorated. In September, we could walk to the post office and back home, a round trip distance of about a mile and we could even run (or jog) part of the way. By the end of the year, Ziggy could only walk slowly for about a block.
About a week ago, Ziggy developed a bad case of diarrhea. The vet said that toxins building up in his bloodstream cause his intestinal tract to become irritated. He received medication that brought the condition under control and he seemed to be recovering and seemed normal on Saturday. On Sunday, he did not eat anything, and he fought me when I gave him his medications, but it wasn't unusual for him occasionally to behave like that. On Monday, he continued to refuse food, water and medication, which alarmed me because he never did that before. On Tuesday, he continued to refuse to eat or drink and I stopped trying to get him to take any medication. He became weak and was unable to stand. All of these are signs of the end stages of kidney failure.
Ziggy passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning at about 9:45 am PST. Earlier, I had placed him on his sleeping pad and positioned the pad in the sunlight streaming through the south facing window—one of his favorite resting spots during the winter. When I checked back shortly before 10:00 am, he appeared to be sleeping but he had passed away. I gave him a sponge bath and then took him to a local pet cremation service. He will be cremated Thursday.
In the seven years that I’ve known him (I picked him up from the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter in 2009), Ziggy has joined me on trips as far north as the North Slope of Alaska, as far south as Cabo San Lucas, and as far east as the Carolinas and Pennsylvania. We have run dozens of Jeep trails in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. We have hiked to the Teahouse above Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies and to the Wave on the Utah/Arizona border. We have traveled about 180,000 miles together. Now Ziggy has gone to the Rainbow Bridge where he can once again see through both eyes, hear what is around him, and run and play without being bothered by his heart trouble, back trouble or kidney trouble.
Rest in Peace, Ziggy. Happy trails--until we meet again.
(Click on this picture to see the video)=====>
https://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm
About a week ago, Ziggy developed a bad case of diarrhea. The vet said that toxins building up in his bloodstream cause his intestinal tract to become irritated. He received medication that brought the condition under control and he seemed to be recovering and seemed normal on Saturday. On Sunday, he did not eat anything, and he fought me when I gave him his medications, but it wasn't unusual for him occasionally to behave like that. On Monday, he continued to refuse food, water and medication, which alarmed me because he never did that before. On Tuesday, he continued to refuse to eat or drink and I stopped trying to get him to take any medication. He became weak and was unable to stand. All of these are signs of the end stages of kidney failure.
Ziggy passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning at about 9:45 am PST. Earlier, I had placed him on his sleeping pad and positioned the pad in the sunlight streaming through the south facing window—one of his favorite resting spots during the winter. When I checked back shortly before 10:00 am, he appeared to be sleeping but he had passed away. I gave him a sponge bath and then took him to a local pet cremation service. He will be cremated Thursday.
In the seven years that I’ve known him (I picked him up from the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter in 2009), Ziggy has joined me on trips as far north as the North Slope of Alaska, as far south as Cabo San Lucas, and as far east as the Carolinas and Pennsylvania. We have run dozens of Jeep trails in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. We have hiked to the Teahouse above Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies and to the Wave on the Utah/Arizona border. We have traveled about 180,000 miles together. Now Ziggy has gone to the Rainbow Bridge where he can once again see through both eyes, hear what is around him, and run and play without being bothered by his heart trouble, back trouble or kidney trouble.
Rest in Peace, Ziggy. Happy trails--until we meet again.
(Click on this picture to see the video)=====>
https://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm
Comment