Sad News

Sparky is in the animal hospital this weekend in really, really bad shape. The vet told Aubrey that Sparky was to the point now where he could go to sleep and not wake up again. He has a really bad case of heartworms, kidney failure and he's showing symptoms of tick-carried diseases. The vet assured us that we had not neglected him (although I know that we should have been giving him heartworm prevention medicine) which helps me feel a little bit better. He's not sure, though, if Sparky really does have lime disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but he's giving him antibiotics right now anyway and he's on an IV to help his kidneys, but the vet doesn't know the cause and effect of it all. Sparky's a purebred and, like all breeds, was born with inherent problems. Could bad kidneys be one of them? As for the heartworms, the vet said a full-force treatment for heartworms would kill him. By Monday, we should know more about his condition. If he's getting better, then the vet will look at options for treating heartworm, but if things don't improve we're going to have to put him down. It makes me sick and breaks my heart to think about it. Sparky is the sweetest dog we've ever had. Who will Olivia play with now? We got her sidewalk chalk for Easter and she really likes to use it to make Sparky look pretty. In fact, when Aubrey took Sparky to the vet this morning, he still had some green eye shadow on.

I bet Aubrey never thought he'd spend this much money on a dog in his life, but y'all know how I feel about my dogs. I'll keep everyone posted, as I'm sure you will all be sitting on the edge of your seats this weekend waiting for an update. Hopefully things will look up. Sparky's got a lot of zip.