About a month ago, I had just gotten back from a little road trip. My mom mentioned to me that our almost 10 year old Basset Hound, Barq's wasn't acting herself; she was a bit slower than usual. Now Barq's was very spunky for her age, infact many believed her to only be about 5 or 6. I noticed she had a hot spot on her rump, so as a vet tech, I figured she might just have a low grade fever, I brought her to work with me the next day to have one of the vets look at her, she didn't have a fever, but he sent home some antibiotics anyway.

A few days later, my mom rushed her back into the clinic, saying she couldn't walk. She was obviously in a lot of pain. We took x-rays and found a ruptured disk in her neck; it would require back surgery to fix. My mom took her to the local specialist that very day and the next day, they did the surgery. I went to see her the day after and besides looking a little groggy, she seemed fine. The orthopedic vet told us she'd have to stay there for 10 days to fully recover, but we could visit as often as we'd like. A few days passed and everything was fine.

Then, come the weekend, everything changed. Her kidney values started to skyrocket and she developed a deep kidney infection. She and the specialist staff fought as hard as they could, but a few days later, she went into cardiac arest; we desided to let her go at that point.

As a vet tech, I've seen countless pets pass on. I'm constantly asked how I handle it, and the truth is, I really don't know, but somehow, it doesn't phase me too much. But it's completely different when it's your own personal pet that you've had from a puppy. For at least a week, I had to cry every day. For the past few weeks, I keep expecting her to just be laying in the corner or on my bed like she usually did. I really do miss her.

Barq's 1998-2008
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