Four Weeks with Ava: My Time with Her by: Emily Clark clarkei@goldmail.etsu.edu for Advanced Composition, ETSU, May 2016 Whether it s a cat or a dog or maybe even a goat, a family pet usually develops a bond to the point where they are more like a sibling or kid. That s the type of bond I developed with Ava. To me, she was my child that just happened to have fur, walk on four legs, and bark at almost everything. And even though a pet isn t human, it isn t the same when you lose them. It s like losing a piece of your family. Late May of 2014 in Kingsport, TN: We re getting a puppy! Excited did not even begin to describe how Lori, Josh, Madison, and I felt as we pulled into Lori s co-worker s driveway. When April, Lori s co-worker, announced that her Labrador Retriever Gracie was having puppies, Lori and her husband Chad told their daughter Madison that they would be getting one, and they told their son Josh that if he and I wanted to get one, we could. Since Josh and I 1
were dating, we had a lot of things to figure out before we decided to get the puppy. Who would she live with? How would we split the cost? Et cetera. Et cetera. We finally came to the conclusion that she would live with Josh, since his mom would allow the dog to live inside. After settling that and all the other things we needed to figure out, it was time to pick out a puppy. What could possibly go wrong? When we walked in April s door, we were immediately greeted by little yellow and black puppies, who had just turned four weeks old. The problem was as we were surrounded with yellow and black Labrador puppies, I fell in love with the runt of the litter, and Josh fell in love with this stubborn little black puppy. Both of them were girls, but he and his mom were concerned about the runt because her head was shaped a little differently from the other dogs. She was so sweet and pretty, and I just knew that I wanted to take her home with me, funny shaped head and all. She may have looked slightly different, but she was just as rambunctious as the other puppies. By the end of our visit, Madison had picked out a black boy and named him Bane, and Josh (happily) and I (reluctantly) had decided on the black girl and named her Talia. Since the puppies needed to be eight weeks old before they left home, it would be four weeks before we could take them home, and I just knew that I had to convince my mom to let me get the runt. Mid-Late June of 2014 in Mount Carmel, TN: Can the puppies come home now? By the time I had convinced my mom that I could take care of a puppy even with work and school responsibilities, it was almost time for the puppies to come home. For the next week, I worked on buying all the supplies I needed, such as a leash, collar, dog bed, crate, etc. I even had my dad help me create a pen for her using some extra pieces of wood we had in our basement and chicken wire. I had everything planned out and taken care of. The only thing that was missing was my new puppy. On one bright and hot Late-June day, Lori, Madison, Josh, and I had made plans to go see the puppies. Lori was saying it would be a while before the puppies could come home because they 2
still needed to get things set up at their house. It made me sad that we would not be able to bring them home, but I was also excited to get to see her again. During the car ride over, they asked me if I had decided on a name. Yeah, I said, I think I m going to call her Ava. They asked me why I chose that name, and I said, I don t know. She just looks like an Ava to me. As soon as April opened the door, the puppies greeted us with tails wagging. We spent around an hour playing with them before Lori decided it was time to go. With Ava in my arms, I tried to sneak out the door, but Lori insisted that I handed Ava to her. I was sulking out the door, when I realized that Madison and Josh did not have to put down the other puppies and that Lori was still holding Ava while following me Josh & Talia, Ava & I, and Madison & Bane, June 2014 at April s in Kingsport, TN out the door. I shouted, You liar! And everyone was laughing as I took Ava back. I should have known that they were trying to trick me. Early-Mid July of 2014 in Mount Carmel, TN: My Time with Ava After bringing Ava home, I spent every possible minute with her. The only time I was not around her was when I was working, sleeping, or using the bathroom. Since it was summer time, we spent a lot of time outside, and I took her over to Josh s grandparents every other day to swim. At first 3
she did not like it very much, and neither did the other puppies. We would carry them into the pool (at first it was just two feet from the stairs and gradually we went farther out) and turn them toward the stairs where they could climb out. After letting go of them, we walked beside them and made sure they were swimming towards the stairs and not the pool edge. We could only do this a few times each swim day because it wore them out to swim even that far. After the first week of swimming, they would automatically go to the pool edge every time we went over there. Late July of 2014 in Kingsport, TN: Ava gets sick Ava and I after a swim with Josh in the background. We spent so much time together that I considered Ava more my fur child than my pet. I loved her, and I couldn t imagine not having her in my life. But the last Sunday of July, Ava began to do odd things, like occasionally walking in circles. The first time it happened we thought she was trying to chase her tail, but it got to the point where the only way she could walk was to walk in circles. Because she could not eat solid food, my parents and I had to feed her canned food because it was softer. Of course, when she first started turning circles, we took her to the vet. He thought she had a possible virus or ear infection and so he gave us an antibiotic for the ear infection, but he also Ava playing with her favorite toy- a purple cow. told us it could be something else called hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is a condition where spinal fluid builds up in the skull and causes the brain to swell. It is also referred to as water on the brain. The only way we would know for sure if it was that or not was to get a CT scan, but in order to do that we would have to take her to Knoxville. So, we took her home and prayed the antibiotics would work. 4
By that Thursday, Ava had not gotten any better, and we decided to take her to a different vet. That vet told us the same thing, but we decided to get a third opinion. For the third visit to the vet, we ended up going to Colonial Heights Animal Hospital, which is the animal hospital all the puppies were taken to for their initial visits. The only problem was that it was close to time for them to close and we were worried that we would not make it in time. After calling their office and explaining our situation, they agreed to see Ava if we could get there as soon as possible. My parents and I were grateful that they were willing to stay past their closing time for us, and we quickly piled into my car and headed that direction. When we arrived at the vet office, it did not take long to get her paperwork filled out because we were the only ones there due to the fact that their office closed at five. It was five past five when we arrived, ten past five when I completed the paperwork, and fifteen past five when the vet stepped into the exam room. I guess I was hoping that he would give us different news than the other vets had, but part of me knew that he would not have a different answer. He took his time examining Ava and running tests, but ultimately, he told us the same thing the other vets did: it was probably hydrocephalus, but the only way to know for sure would be to get a CT scan. He knew that was the only way we could really have peace about the situation as well because we would know that we had done everything to help her. He called a friend of his at the UT Animal Hospital and scheduled an appointment for us for the next morning at around ten. Friday, August 1, 2014, Knoxville, TN: UT Veterinary Medical Center The next day, my mom and I grabbed the supplies we would need for Ava: a blanket, a few water bottles, some dog food (for after her test) and a leash. From our house, it is only a two hour drive to Knoxville, but with Ava, it took a lot longer. We had to stop every thirty minutes to give her a 5
potty break, and she cried the entire ride. Let s just say, we were all happy to finally arrive at the medical center. It was a rough trip. After checking in at the front desk, we waited in the lobby with several other pet owners. There were several cats, dogs, and birds waiting, but Ava did not pay attention to the other animals. The wait in the lobby took around fifteen minutes before we were taken to an exam room. There were two veterinarians who talked to us about the different options of what we could do if it was hydrocephalus. If she had hydrocephalus and it hadn t progressed far, then there was a surgery they could do. The surgery would require them to put a stent in her brain that would allow the excess fluid to drain. They also informed us that in addition to the CT scan, they would also do an MRI. It was going to take a couple hours, so they suggested we go do something instead of waiting in the lobby. Looking back it was a good idea because it forced me to think about something besides Ava. But it did not help too much. Through lunch at Chick-fil-a and walking around at the mall, my mind kept wondering back to Ava and what her test results would show. It felt like the longest two and a half hours of my life. Back at the medical center, we had arrived just in time. Ava was awake, and they had an exam room ready for us. They brought her to us first. On her left front leg, there was a bandage where they had shaved down her fur to give her an IV. A pink bandage was wrapped around it. Shortly after they gave Ava to us, the vets came in with her results. As soon as they put the MRI up for us to look at it, I knew. I knew that I knew that there was nothing we could do for Ava. There was nothing I could do to help her. there was nothing we could do for Ava. There was nothing I could do to help her. The image showed that there was too much fluid built up to the point where she had very little of her brain left. If we did do the surgery, there was a strong possibility that what little of her brain was left would just collapse. 6
I didn t really listen to what the vets were saying because I was trying too hard to focus on not crying. It didn t work though. I still cried. I asked them if she was in pain, and they said no. The only thing left for me to decide was when to put her to sleep, because I knew there was nothing we could do to help her. Instead of putting her to sleep there, I decided to take her home and let everyone say goodbye to her. The ride home was quiet, but Ava did better than before because the vets gave her some medicine to make her sleepy. It was hard saying goodbye to Ava. We were hoping she would last for Monday, but the next day I knew it had to be then. Even though she wasn t in pain, I didn t want her to live like that, unable to walk straight or get a drink without a medicine dropper. We brought her home to be buried, and my dad dug a grave for her underneath the tree we always played under, and I put her favorite toy, a purple cow, in her little casket. On the inside I wrote, Dear Ava, I love you so much. Funny shaped head and all. Thanks for being the best fur baby ever. I m going to miss you. Xoxo, Emily 7